Calaguas, an island in Camarines Norte, Philippines is frequently visited by backpackers and campers for its surreal crystal clear waters, amazingly beautiful landscape, powder like white sand and profound tranquility. Everything a person like me is looking for. No signal-no phones- just you and mother nature.
Here’s my experience during the trip to Calaguas Island, Camarines Norte Philippines.
My long awaited vacation. I’ve waited for this break for a month and I wasn’t expecting to be broken at this time- literally! Because when I got off the bus (Baguio-Pasay), I was still sleepy (it was 3am when we arrived) so as I was reaching for my bag to put my malong inside it, I did not notice a smaller step after the first step, then tadaaaa! I stumbled! An injury right at the begining of the trip.
The moment I stumbled, I already felt the pain rushing through my right foot, it was throbbing. I tried to walk it off to ease the pain but the pain lingered. When we arrived at my cousin’s condominium unit I went straight to the kitchen, grabbed some ice from the fridge- and immediately applied it to my injured foot. Somehow, it relieved the pain.
That moment when you try to walk the pain off but every time you step,the pain aggravates.
I tried not to think about my injured foot and moved on with the plans ahead. My cousin slept until 9am while I was just watching a movie- The Greatest Showman. Since our trip to Paracale, Camarines Norte is at 8pm, we had time to spare.
I woke my cousin up to accompany me to the swimming pool where I spent 2 hours swimming while he went to fetch his girlfriend. I had the pool all to myself- but then it suddenly hit me, I was happy and lonely all at once.
It’s like embracing being alone but also needing someone to be there to share the delightful moment with you.
Photo was taken by my cousin’s girlfriend- Cath with my phone. She was asking me to pose but I don’t know how to so headache pose it is!
And so, after swimming. My cousins and I went to Basekamp Market Market to climb. Of course climbing is life! Anyway, it was a good experience since I got to try a different wall- higher and with different holds with different people-who taught me new techniques. Sadly, I only had an hour and 30 minutes to play since we have to prepare for our trip. I tried different routes until I got pumped (unable to climb or grip) and I forgot my injury for a while.
That’s me trying out the route, with a bruised knee, injured foot and broken heart! Haha
Then we went home for dinner- I cooked tinolang manok ( yes I do cook, sometimes haha) and waited for our ride to Camarines Norte. After eating, I wasn’t able to walk anymore so my cousin got me medicines for the pain and inflammation. The swelling subsided but the pain was still there.
No matter what you do or what you take, pain will always be present affecting every part of you.
At last! After waiting for about an hour, our ride has arrived! And so the journey begins! It was already 9:40 that time and I wasn’t able to join our family’s karaoke night because I was shy to sing in the van with all of them listening to me. (And because my data isn’t working properly, I couldn’thear anything from the discord voice channel).
After 6 hours of travelling and intermitent sleep with an additional stiff neck, we arrived at the port in Paracale, Camarines Norte where we ate breakfast, rearranged the supplies and bought other supplies like food (meat and seafoods) and drinks (drinking water and beer!). And we also bought big plastic bags to put our bags into to prevent it from getting wet during the 2 hours boat ride going to the island.
The boat ride was super scary, we rode a medium sized boat and the waves were quite strong and so we were getting wet from the splashes. Some of my companions were getting dizzy from the boat swaying and they were holding on tightly to their life vests. At first I was sitting at the front of the boat then it started to get cold- from being wet and the cool breeze- so I transferred to the back where I got a clearer view of the beautiful islands and Mt. Labo (the peak was covered with clouds-she doesn’t want anyone peaking on her beauty).
A picture of Mt. Labo
My cousin Dex enjoying the ride even though he got wet from the splashes of water- it looked like he already had a swim! Good thing he was already in his swimming clothes.
Do not forget to wear life vests even if you know how to swim!
At last! After hours of travelling by land and sea! Calaguas island baby!
From a far, I could already see the island’s white sand shore and pristine clear water! I wasn’t able to take a closer photo because I was already excited to swim and because my foot started aching again.
I saw it coming but I was focused on something else that when it came, the pain went rushing through me and reminded me how broken I was.
Anyway, we got off the boat then I was mesmerised with everything; the fine sand-I even took off my slippers in an instant to feel the soft sand, the clear water and the beauty of the island itself. I swear the feeling was different! I have waited for this for a long time and I can finally say “I’m here”.
Our guide, Kuya Kiko and the other boatmen got our stuff off the boat to the resort where we stayed. We rested for a while and looked for a spot to pitch our tents- under the trees where there was sufficient shade to protect us from the heat. Then we prepared our lunch- Sies was in charge of the kitchen so he went on to cook while the others fixed the tents and got chairs and tables. We were 11 in the group so there were 6 tents in total. Since I was the only one without a partner, I had the tent all to myself. (11th wheeling at its finest!) hahaha
While waiting for the food to be cooked, I got the chance to roam around the resort and ask the rates for the cottages.
We paid 150 pesos per head as entrance fee in the resort.
Open cottages ( the one fronting the shore with white curtains) costs 3,500 pesos a night.
Air-conditioned cottages with own restroom, beds and breakfast costs around 5,000-8,000 pesos a night.
Tents are also available for rent for 350 pesos and if you have your own tent, pitching it costs 100 pesos per tent.
This is where we pitched our tents.
Before riding the boat, I remember Sies buying a brown-clay like block wrapped in plastic and he was telling us “this is the specialty in Paracale, it smells awful but the taste is unreal”.
Since I was curious, I asked Sies details about it and he even taught me how to prepare it.
It’s called Balaw or Dinailan (shrimp paste)- its made up of pounded dried krills. It is pounded and dried until it reaches the clay-like texture. And here’s how its cooked:
Firstly, Sies got a spoonful of “Balaw” and spread it evenly at the back of a metal ladle.
Next step is grilling it until it was kind of hard to touch. While he was grilling it, the other tour guide- “Ejay Falcon” look-a-like from head to toe, (an actor here in the Philippines) smelled the aroma of what we were cooking and immediately said “Ma’am masarap yan! Lagyan mo calamansi tas kanin lang solve ka na!”
(That’s delicious ma’am, put lemon on it then eat it with rice and youre fulfilled)
Finally, he scraped it off the metal ladle and into a container, squeezed lemon juice on it and mixed it.
Sies said that its better if you eat it with rice alone or mix it with vegetables. Hmmm I tried both! Haha
But wait here’s our lunch for that day:
Tuna head in tamarin soup, grilled tuna, green mangoes with alamang, rice, balaw
Lunch time!
Okay time for the moment of truth! So I got my mess kit- got rice, vegetables and balaw- I first tried it plain, ok its salty with a bit of sourness, then I tried it with plain rice (ooohhhh myyyy!), the flavour burst through my mouth- smokey, salty and fishy. Laslty, I tried it with vegetables and I almost cried because it tasted hella good (hahaha). It made the vegetable’s taste pop without sacrificing its own flavour.
And here’s us while eating! See? I’m the 11th wheel. Hahaha
After eating, we still had time since our island hopping would start at 1 in the afternoon, so I got my malong, spread it on the grass, opened a bottle of beer and sat while watching the lovers- well- be lovers. At least I had my beer with me that time so I was good. 😛
I sat there day dreaming until it was time for the next adventure- Island hopping and snorkelling. The island hopping costs 100 pesos per head plus if you want to rent snorkeling devices then its 150 pesos each. We got 3 snorkeling devices since my cousin and his girlfriend had their own snorkle and fins. Off we go to the next island!
After a 15-20 minute boat ride, we arrived at the next island- I forgot to ask what the name of island was-they said there’s a little bit of trekking involved- oh no! My foot! But the hike was just simple, it was less than a 5 minute hike from the shore.
I was trekking alone when I took this photo, amazing right? “Perfectly imperfect” is what went through my mind when I saw this view. The island has flaws but it surely is beautiful no matter what.
Imperfection is what perfection really is- just like in love, if you truly love the person, you’ll accept every flaw he/she has
Anyway, I got to the top and was bedazzled by the view. Ughhhhh! I want to stay here forever! Its like I’m in a different place- a place where I can just stay and think of nothing and just admire the creation in front of me. And since I’m a daredevil, I went to the cliff for this picture!
It was high, but not scary! I swear theres a step where I rested my feet and when you look down theres more rocks you can hold on to so when you fall it would be like rolling down a staircase. Haha
And so kuya Kiko got scared for me so he assisted me until I was safe.
After admiring the view and taking pictures we went back to the boat, sailed for 5 minutes to the diving spot-swimming!
Credits: Higio
A photo of me and my cousin’s girlfriend-Princess before jumping into the water.
I stood there just watching the waves, tried estimating how deep it was and when I saw the current was safe, I jumped off the boat without hesitation and without a vest. I felt the cold water through my not-so-sun-kissed skin and bam! I didn’t reach the bottom or even the corals beneath me so I asked my cousin (who was still on the boat because I was the first one to jump) to give me one of the snorkels we rented. I hurriedly wore it, looked under me then I realised how the deep it was- its like 20 to 30 feet deep and I saw the corals and different kinds of fish. Oh! If only I can take a photograph with my own eyes! Did I feel nervous? Scared? No! I was excited! Because swimming in deep water is what I love. And then the others jumped after asking me if its deep or how deep it was-they were wearing life vests.
I borrowed my cousin’s fins so I can swim deeper and maybe try swimming with the fishes. As I was swimming deeper, I was in awe at what’s under me- mother nature’s beauty with a heart full of surprises. But time was up and so we got on the boat and headed back to the camping site.
When we arrived at the site, Seis, together with the others prepared our dinner and I was left with a bottle of soda- I was sitting restlessly observing the people around me.
I was reminiscing the events of my heart break, questioning myself- my what ifs? Imagining him sitting next to me holding my hand or whispering sweet words to my ears then my cousin, threw a pack of fish crackers in front of me then I snapped back to reality and continued drinking my soda. Haha
If I could reverse time even just for a second then I would, I would hug you tightly and never let you walk out my life
Glad I got to take a photo of the sunset while we were walking on our way to the top of the mountain to see the sun set and of course the top view of the island.
We trekked for about 15-20 minutes and since the trail to the top is privately owned, we paid a total of 40 pesos per head for 2 entrance fees. When we got to the top, the sun was hiding behind the mountain but the clouds were beautifully aligning themselves- creating a spectacular view. We hiked down after resting for a few minutes.
Dinner time!
The most awaited paella by Seis! And grilled pork belly! Yum!
I scrapped the bottom of the pot because I was still hungry and because it was so delicious. 🤤
Following that, we positioned ourselves comfortably around the table sharing stories to each other with a bottle of wine- because why not right? Of course I preferred beer so I opened my last bottle of beer and joined the conversation. Kuya Kiko came in rushing telling us that there will be a fire dance performance by one of the locals that will start in 10 minutes. Oooh! Fire dance! It’s my first time watching it live and I was very excited.
Fire Dancing is a performance showing the art of manipulating flames with the use of different equipments like poi and batons which can sustain ample amount of fire which creates different visual effects.
The music started- an upbeat music that made me want to dance- so me and cousin hurriedly went in the open area, sat in front to have a clear view of the performance. Then, it started! The dancer first performed a warm up dance using 2 poi, he twirled it gracefully creating circles made of fire. Next is he used batons which he juggled then suddenly he placed one end of the lit baton into his mouth! Oh my! Then he drank something from a bottle then spat it in front of the flame- creating a dragon breathing fire effect. Its my first time so I was amazed. Finally he got an equipment with a longer wick, lit it then twirled it around creating the effect of a fountain of sparkling flames as seen below:
After the performance, we continued our socialisation with each other until we were sleepy.
Lights out!
The following morning, my cousin- Gio started waking us up for the hike for the sunrise, it was like 5am. I got out of my tent but I can’t walk- my foot is aching-maybe from too much walking from yesterday’s itinerary. So I decided to not go with them and went back to my tent to sleep after taking medicines. After 20 minutes, I woke up with the voice of Clarisse shouting “its raining!” So I immediately went out my tent, covered it with my fly sheet, covered my friend’s bags, threw their clothes inside their tents and covered our supplies then went back to my tent to sleep.
I woke up and its already 6:30 am, the sun was already up, glimmering. Gio and the others had arrived and they were preparing breakfast. My cousin kept on telling me that good thing I didn’t go with them to the peak because the trail became slippery and I might injure myself more. So yeah, I wasn’t able to watch the sun rise but still enjoyed sleeping in my tent. Haha
Breakfast!
Our breakfast was Pancit Malabon, grilled hotdogs and bacon by Seis and finally Gio and Kazu’s special scrambled eggs.
More swimming! Yehaaay!
After eating, we changed to our wet clothes and enjoyed the cool pristine waters the island has to offer! Of course my cousin-Gio took a a lot of picture of us before he went swimming.
Image Source
Our guide Kuya Kiko said our boat will be arriving at 11am, so after 2 hours of swimming, we packed our things, cleaned the area where we camped and waited for the boat.
I suddenly felt sad because I don’t want leave the island, I just want to stay there and be delighted with what’s in front of me.
Goodbyes are the hardest, but we do need to and move on happily with the memories shared together.
Until next time Calaguas! I will definitely come back, this time without any injuries- physically and emotionally haha! You made a huge impact in me- you made me realise that even if it still hurts, I will still be me- living a colourful life.
And that sums up my emotional journey to Calaguas Island. Where I thought things through- made the first step and finally let go.
I’m okay!
Mariam Yousuf
Catherine Linsangan
Gio Campos
