Out service boat for the whole island hopping trip - with the boatman and his 10-year old assistant. |
06:00 am
We woke up and prepare for our breakfast. We availed for the complementary breakfast for five. Breakfast options are Boneless Bangus, Ham & Cheese and their Alaminos Longganisa with free Coffee. I chose Longganisa because I want to try their famous bite-size longganisa. (It was delicious but bitin...)
Alaminos Longganisa |
07:00 am
Our Tricycle driver fetched us from the hotel and direct us to an accredited boat owner near the national park. We will not fit for a 5-pax capacity boat so we asked for the medium size in a fee of a service-type-rate since we will only renting it for half day. The owner agreed for Php 1, 400. We also paid for the life vest for Php 50 (free if you will not use it out of the boat) and I requested for a snorkeling gear for Php 100.
Standard fees and rates. |
We headed directly to the port of National Park. No need for us to fall in line and pay for the Entrance fees because we paid it in advance to the boat owner, his staff paid it for us for Php 50 (i think there is an additional 10 pesos.. which is fine with us :D).
Group pic before the Island Hopping Activity. |
07:30 am
START OF OUR ISLAND HOPPING!!!!!!....
The view in front of the boat. |
All are excited - loving splashes of water as we sail to the first island, |
First stop was at Governor's Island.
This is one of the three islands that has accommodation. Here we climbed to the viewing deck. This challenged each of us because it was too high and stairs is not on the same width. But once you're up there you will see more the beauty of the place.
The view at the Viewing Deck of Governors Island. |
The group at the Governor's Island Viewing Deck. |
We passes through an island with the PBB House (PBB Teens S1).
PBB House. |
And Romulo Island.
Romulo Island - first hour in the morning. |
Out boatman also showed us the Turtle Island and besides it was the Crocodile Island.
The Turtle Island. |
The Crocodile Island |
We also saw foreigners in one of the island fixing their tents and preparing foods for their overnight stay at Scout Island.
Tourists at Scout Islands, |
and our second stop was at Quezon Island.
The island was crowded due to its pretty shore and almost-white sand. We stayed there for a while took pictures and found out the there are plenty of jellyfish in the area.
The dead jellyfish at the shore of Quezon Island. |
Another Group picture at Quezon Island. |
Quezon Island view from the boat. It has a wooden bridge going to the next island. |
We rode to our boat again and we circled in Macapagal Island going to the Snorkeling area.
Macapagal Island. |
The boy grabbed jellyfish from the water and we tried to check it's body. |
Us, enjoying snorkeling with jellyfish. |
Two of us enjoyed snorkeling and the other 2 went down to experience and see underwater scenery as well. We again, saw plenty of Jellyfish and we swam with them. The 10-year old boat assistant grabbed 2 from the sea and showed us that they are not harmful. We touched them and they are really like Gelatin. After 15-20 minutes we again proceed to the next island.
We went near to Bats Island. Well, it has hundred of bats sleeping and flying around the island.
The Bats Island. |
Our boat visited Clave Island but the cottages are still under construction so we tried Children Island. The island is also crowded and noisy so we headed to Cuenco Tunnel (Island).
Clave Island - It has construction on-going. |
The crowded Children's Island, |
It has sort of a cave and we took plenty of pictures there. The end of the short tunnel has cottages but we opted to try some other island to swim and have our snacks.
The entrance to Cuenco Tunnel. |
Inside Cuenco Tunnel. |
The end of the short Tunnel of Cuenco Island. |
We went back to Romulo Island. There are few guests there so we have our space. We had a short snacks time and swim with it's white and pure sand. The water is so clear.
After enjoying the sand and water of Romulo Island for 30 minutes, we asked the boatman to take us back to the port.
The Group - going back to the shore. Feeling satisfied and Happy! |
11:30 am
Rode tricycle going back to Islandia Hotel.
We advised the front desk that we will extend for another hour. The hourly extension charge was 100 per person.
01:15 pm
Checked-out from the hotel and took a Tricycle ride to a Carinderia near downtown to try Pangasinan's very popular dish - Pigar Pigar. It is crispy beef slices with vegetables. But after waiting for couple of minutes "ate" said it is not available. And since we don't have a choice we ate what is available.
Because we are not satisfied with out lunch, we headed to Chowking accross the street to have dessert - Halo Halo!
03:00 pm
We also tried checking what to bring home but we failed to see souvenir shops so we headed to Victory Liner Terminal.
Presto! there is one bus almost full going to Cubao. After few minutes we departed.
08:30 pm
We reached Cubao Station after 5 and 1/2 hours. We bid farewell to each other and went home.
It was a very very good experience exploring Alaminos City's Hundred Islands Park with friends. Together we were amazed by the beauty of the place and learned a lot from this trip.
Travel Tips:
1. Make reservations specially peak seasons. I recommend Agoda for easy and hassle free reservations.
2. Check Hotel/Accommodation amenities and complementary stuff. So you will not anymore bring or buy stuff that you can avail free. Pack light!
2. Always bring water with you to prevent dehydration. Not all islands have stores for your needs.
3. Do comparison of rates and offers. Most of us are travelling on a budget. It will be helpful to ask for discounts.
4. Be Ready. Ready to discover and learn new things in your travel.
5. Travel with your friends - more fun and less pricey.