Bumming in Calaguas

9-hour cockroach-infested bus ride.

2-hour bangka ride.

1 beautiful beach.

This is Calaguas.

White sand beach

I have been putting off going to the beach for the last few years. With my ever increasing travel bucket list, I’ve been prioritizing traveling to places that is best visited while I’m still young (like sky-diving in New Zealand or trekking to EBC). But I’ve been reading a lot about the virgin beach Calaguas and how it’s starting to be commercialized. So, I wanted to visit it while it still isn't as massacred as Boracay.

Clear blue sea

I wanted to do a DIY trip but after reading several blogs, we decided it was simply more convenient to take a packaged trip. It was more convenient—the operator picked us up at the terminal, arranged our boat at Vinzons, and provided us with tent, food and drinking water on the beach. We even had them arrange our bus ride (yeah, we were that lazy).  And since there were only 4 of us in a group, it was more cost-effective.

Camping on the beach

When we arrived at the beach, the shoreline was divided according to the tour group operators. There was only one group (two guys) who were there on their own. There was one tour group who was blazing music all day long. Nevertheless, the water was clear and blue. And the sand was fine and white—just like Boracay, but without the dog shit and less cigarette butts on the sand. The strip of white sand is approximately 1.5 km long. Although we had to pump the water we needed to take a bath and sleep in a tent, we weren’t really roughing it out. There were cottages along the shore, a sari-sari store with all the essentials and several toilets in different areas of the beach.

Calaguas shoreline

My friends and I spent the entire weekend bumming around (except for Leo who did activities). Occasionally, we’d wade around the clear blue water. But essentially, we spent the entire weekend just sleeping and eating.

Beach bumming

Calaguas Photo Gallery

Expenses:

Expense	Cost (PhP)
Package (Travel Factor)	3,300
Incl.  permits, gear, food & transportation
Others	132
Snacks, toilet, etc.
Total	PHP  3,432.00

Peaking Pico de Loro

After trekking Mt. Pulag, I swore I’d never trek again for the next 10 years… But I wanted to set foot on top of this monolith…

The Monolith

So, I found myself hiking at Mt. Pico de Loro.

My stamina had already improved slightly. I could now run 300 meters once a week. I had completed 5 yoga sessions a few months back. And I had been thinking about exercising. Plus, this was only a day hike, so I was quite excited to conquer that monolith. I booked the trek with Travel Factor with my friends Leo and Luther (who agreed to sweep me, knowing that I was incredibly slow). And on the wee hours of one Saturday, we hopped into a van and off we went.

Forested trail of Mt. Pico de Loro

The trail to the summit—to the parrot’s beak—was mostly forested.  But although we were protected from the glaring summer sun, it was very, very humid. I consumed about 3 liters of water and Gatorade during the entire trek. Leo consumed about 4-5 liters. It was a good thing that there was a tindahan halfway to the peak because I only brought 2 liters of water. The trail was quite challenging (in my opinion) too… It was steep and we had to walk over boulders.

Steep descent from the Parrot’s beak to the monolith

A little bit of climbing was needed to get onto the monolith. Fortunately for me, I had Leo to step on from below and Luther to pull me from above. So, I didn’t really do that much climbing. We were on top of the monolith around noon so the heat was blazing. But the views were fantastic. On one side, you could see the green mountains and on another side, you could see the Pico de Loro beach.

Trekking + Me = ####

And so, after all the heat, the sweat, and a dead toe nail… I conquered the monolith at Pico de Loro and lost 2 lbs. Hurray!

Expenses:

Expense	Cost (PhP)
Package (Travel Factor)	1,810
Inclusive of permits, guide and transportation
Others	248
Breakfast at McDonald’s	78
Cab to/from pick-up/drop off point	70
Additional drinks: Gatorade and Coke	100
Total	PHP  2,058.00