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| caramoan at last |
Kuya Ramil picked us up at Lutong Bahay and went to Paniman
beach, the jump off point to Caramoan island hopping. The sky was dark and we’re
praying hard not to rain and to give us even a little sunshine. Despite the
weather Jayjay and I were excited this will be our first island hopping
adventure. Kuya Ramil brought us first
to Cotivas Island, it was the farthest and took us around 40 minutes to reach
the island. We pass by a mangrove area that serves as a short cut going to
Cotivas. There was already one group enjoying the island.
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| mangrove short cut |
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| Cotivas Island |
The sky was starting to open up and the sun was already
peeking. Cotivas island has pure sands and very blue waters. At the tip of the
island waves from the left side and right side were meeting. There were also
boulders at the back of the island. There was a nipa huts at the beach where we
had our lunch. We stayed the longest at this island because Kuya Ramil told us
that the next place we’re going is the Manlawi sand bar and its best to go
there during low tide.
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| Cotivas Island |
After eating one of the plastic bags was blown away by the
wind and I ran after it and when I was about to go back to the nipa hut I saw a
lizard struggling in the sand beside the plants, I was wondering why and when I
looked closely there was a small green snake trying to wrestle with the poor
lizard, I shrieked and run away. Jayjay was asking what happened to me and told
him what I saw, he and Kuya Ramil went to the area and the lizard was able to pull
away from the snake. Be careful in getting to the area with plants you don’t
want to be bitten by a snake.
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| neighboring island of Cotivas |
According to Kuya Ramil the Manlawi sand bar appears around
2PM during low tide however with the unpredictable weather we should be going
so we can still visit other islands before it gets dark. We left Cotivas island
and went to the Manlawi sand bar.
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| Manlawi |
There were three nipa huts in the area and
sadly the sand bar was still submerged underwater. We went down and frolicked in
the water and there were people selling sea shells, Jayjay and I bought one
each for P50 each. As much as we want to stay and wait for the sand bar to appear
we cannot and stayed for just around 45 minutes in Manlawi and off we go to
Sabitang Laya island.
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| Sabitang Laya island |
Sabitang Laya was far from Manlawi sand bar. According to
Kuya Ramil this was where the Survivor show took place. There was no shoot as
of the moment but a new season will shoot by February 2012. He told us stories
how the Survivor show gave jobs to most of the people of Caramoan, it really
helped most of them and have also helped their town with road projects. I told
him that this might ruin the beauty of Caramoan, he told us that the good thing
about the Survivor crew was that they also care about the place. And that every
after shooting they make sure to clean up the place.
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| the other side of Sabitang Laya |
There were rock formations in the island and several crows
flying over head. We went the other side and the beach was beautiful, the group
we’re with in Cotivas island was also there. The sun was still peeking and we
took advantage of the sun and swim to our heart’s desire. We stayed for like an
hour at this island and Kuya Ramil told us that we’ll go next to Lahus island
but the water going there was so rough (as in! matatakot ka para sa buhay mo!)
Kuya Ramil then told us that we cannot dock in that island because of the water
and we’ll go directly to Matukad island.
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| Matukad Island |
This part of the Caramoan peninsula was breath taking (lalo
na siguro kung tirik ang araw at kalamado ang tubig) it was alos close to
Paniman, the islands we pass by has beautiful rock formations and we also
passed by the Gota Village Resort. We arrived at Matukad island at around 4PM
and the island was beautiful and this was where the famous lagoon is located.
We asked Kuya Ramil if we can go there and he told us that we need to climb the
rock formation and if it’s okay with us. Jayjay and I immediately agreed. For
us to see the lagoon we have to climb the rock formation at the end of the
beach. When we reached it I told myself what the hell I put myself into. The
rocks were sharp and a vertical 45 degrees climb, one wrong move or step might
cause your life.
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| kuya ramil showing us the way |
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| enchanted lagoon |
Kuya Ramil told us to follow his step and he asked us to
climb barefoot so we can feel the rocks. There was one part of the climb that I
got really scared, you need to pull yourself up and at the same time make a
step to move forward. I really focused on this and breathe a sigh of relief
when I did it. I looked down and Jayjay was struggling haha! When we reached
the top we saw the lagoon and Kuya Ramil told us the tale about the two giant
milkfish which the locals considers as sacred and one day a fisherman caught
one of them and brought to his family to eat and that all who ate the fish died
and from then on no one dared to fish in that lagoon. You just need to look closely and you will be able to see the giant milkfish.
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| "momot confused in matukad island" - jayjay |
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| "jayjay struggling in matukad island" - momot (hehe kwits) |
We then went back to Paniman beach and Kuya Ramil invited us
to have coffee with him and his wife. We thanked him for taking care of us
during the island hopping.
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| with kuya ramil |
Caramoan was totally worth visiting, each island was
cam-whoring perfect hehe… Sadly the battery charger for my camera stopped
working the night before. Aargghhh! With or without camera it was a trip worth
experiencing with your friends, family or loved-ones, it will stay for life in
my heart and mind.
BOAT RENTAL:
P2000 - Kuya Ramil at 09074351962
For list of complete expenses that we had you may also check my caramoan at last post
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