Sweet Escape to Zambales, Philippines

I mentioned in my previous post that every time I come home to the Philippines, I make sure that I visit a place I have never been to, and that I usually come home during summer vacations to spend time with my family.

This time, I went home as my (then) youngest nephew was moving up from pre-school to grade school.

Yes - I'm that kind of tita.

I believe in making time for the kids, and of course, for the whole family.

To celebrate my nephew's moving-up occasion, we had a quick getaway from Manila. We went to Nagsasa Cove, Zambales.

Initially, we were torn between going to Anawangin, which is also one of the most famous beaches, or to Nagsasa. We ended up choosing Nagsasa as Anawangin tends to be crowded due to its popularity.

Since we are a big group, we decided to hire a van instead of taking the public bus to Zambales.
One of the purposes also was to at least have a comfortable ride for my grandfather.

We left our place around 3am to avoid the traffic and also to catch the sunrise overlooking the sea.

We left our hired van parked in a guarded location in Pundaquit. It is the drop-off point for the boat rides to reach the different coves.

If you don't plan to stay overnight, you may opt to visit 5 coves in one day provided that you arrive early.

For our case, we have planned to stay overnight in Nagsasa.

From Pundaquit, we hired two boats to bring us to Nagsasa Cove.

Just like in Crystal Beach, Anawangin is one of the those places where pine trees meet the waves.

The next day, we hiked the nearby coast mountain called Mt Bira Bira where we saw beautiful wide-open trails, grassy slopes, and picturesque coves.

There is an area there where people can do cliff jumping or diving. I was planning to do it, but of course, I have 'parental guidance', I was not allowed to do so.
Yeah.

Anyway, it was still fun to hike with my brother and my dad. I rarely had this chance for a lot of different reasons.

After the hike, we maximized our remaining time to plunge in the calm waters of Nagsasa.

We took a few photos more before we left.

This family I love, fills my heart with joy!

And on that same day, we took the boat ride back to Pundaquit.
Waters and winds were so strong that day, one probable reason to is that we were against the current, that my mom almost took an oath to never go back to Zambales because of that experience. It was an enjoyable kind-of-scary part of adventure!

I hope this helps you work out your next getaway!