2014 gave me a great summer blast! After a great escapade of the Coron Island, me and my traveling buds visited a part of my ancestral town, Quezon Province. Little did I know, there are other beach hubs near our place in Agdangan.
5 AM call time. Me and my friends met in Mc Donalds, a few walk from JAC terminal Pasay. we had a quick catch up and breakfast before we took a bus going to Lucena.. It was a 4 to 6 hour bus trip and the drop off in Lucena Grand Terminal was our quick stop over to eat and use the loo's for 5 php for pee break and 10 php for number 2s. You can ask the security guard or barkers on which bus will take you to Mauban. They usually have uncertain schedule so better ask and gauge the free time you'll have or else you'll wait for few more hours for the next trip.
It was a two hour bumpy bus ride again going to the center of Mauban. You can take a tricyle ride to the market if you need to buy some last minute grocery or buying food and water or you can take a walk going to the port. If you're planning to buy meat make sure you buy enough coal. Make sure you drop by the registry in the port before asking or taking the boat ride.
Sunny morning and we set sail to our destination. It was approximately an hour or so from the port to Villa Cleofas, the resort where we booked our stay. As we come close the island, the water became thinner and we had to jump off the boat and have a long walk to the shore since it was low tide. Oh my, that walk.. ohhh..
We head off to our bunk and prepared our stuff for the beach and also for lunch and dinner. Since it's low tide, we were able to see and visit a sand bar which they call "bonsai island"maybe because it has a group of small trees and it disappears when the tide goes high in the late afternoons.
We talked to some of the neighboring guests and we prepared our dinner. It was a breezy night and we capped it off a little early since we were a little tired from the walks.
We woke up early to see the sunrise, they said it's the most anticipated thing in the island but just personal opinion, it's just a normal sunrise from the ocean. We were able to take a quick dip before the water of the beach gets drained again by the tide. We still managed to have a quick breakfast and oh by the way they charge for hot water and almost everything so make sure you bring what you needed so you can save more.
We head back to the town and had a quick view of the Lucban Church before we head home. The van going to Lucena is just a walk from the church.
Overall, Cagbalete Island is a good place if you want to experience something interesting. You need to have a great company if you will be going to this island and by the way no electricity during day time since it's an island, they are only run by a generator at night. I guess that's all I can share about our Cagbalete experience.
