Alaminos City & Hundred Islands

1^st day - ALAMINOS

After office on Jan. 30, we (group of 4pax) set Jollibee 5^th Ave as our meet up point. From there we rode a bus to Victory Liner terminal in Cubao(P21). Upon arriving, we saw the long lines of people waiting for their bus to depart. We went straight to the counter and inquired about the trip to alaminos. Scheduled trips are 10:50PM and 11:40PM. Just imagine our reactions when they said that both scheds were all fully booked! Try na lang daw naming mag-chance passenger. So with worries on our minds, we lined up along with other passengers. First Bus came and we eagerly went near the entrance. Sabi ng kundoktor, unahin daw muna yun may mga reservations so naghintay pa kami. Nagdagdag na rin sila ng bus na bibiyahe so dun kami nakasakay. We left cubao at around 11PM. Trip was uneventful, mabilis lang and we reached Alaminos terminal ng 4:10AM. Pagbaba ng bus maraming mangungulit sa inyo na trike. P10/pax lang ang trip if around town proper but if to lucap wharf, P20/pax. Wag kayo magpapadaya. You can have early breakfast sa may Angies’, just beside the Victory Liner terminal. May bakery din na katabi so bili na dun ng bread pang-almusal.

From the terminal, I called City Hotel to inform them na mag-early check in kami. They said na ok lang since may available naman sila. Upon arriving at the hotel/inn, we were greeted by their receptionist and were led to our room. Basic room, 1 double bed, 1 double deck w/ cr, aircon, cabinet, chairs. Towels, soap and shampoo were provided. We were asked to fill up a form and there we learned that they’ll be charging us another P1600 for the early check in up to 12noon. I asked them if meron silang “short time” and they said meron, P500 daw for 3 hours. 4:30AM na noon, we’ll be checking out at 7:30AM. Sakto lang for our island hopping trip, so yun na ang kinuha namin. And because we’ll be checking in ulit after island hopping for the overnight, they allowed us to just leave our bags in the same room we’re staying in, instead of sa reception. So dun pa lang nakatipid na kami since for basically the same purpose (pag iiwanan ng gamit), we were charged P500 instead of P1600. Yehey! We were able to have a few hours sleep and recharged before island hopping.

At 7:30AM, we left city hotel for lucap wharf. P20/pax ang trike and travel is around 15-20mins. Pagkadating sa wharf, may mga tourism employees na that assisted us. May form na papasign, then you’d need to pay P20/pax for the tourism fee. Dun ka na rin pipili ng boat na kukuhain niyo ang what type (if Day tour or Service Boat). We chose service boat and got the small one for P1400. The boat fee will be paid sa boatmen na mismo after your tour. They’ll issue a receipt for that and then may mga magtatanong na sa inyo if may gusto kumuha ng snorkling equipments. Set is P250 with snorkel, mask, aqua shoes and lifevest. If lifevest lang P50. May lifevest din naman sa boat pero pang navigation lang yun, meaning if mag swim kayo, di niyo magagamit yun provided ng boatmen. You’d need to rent your own from the wharf.

Food can be bought from the wharf (carinderia). Pipili ka lang ng food and sila na magpa-pack para  sa group niyo. In our case, we bought some shrimp, fish, salted egg, rice and 2l water for P395 for the 4 of us. So parang P100 lang per pax, puwede na.  Sila na rin nagprovide ng plastic cups, spoon and fork.  Walked to the wharf and talked with the boatmen. Sabi nila naubusan na raw ng small boat and they’ll give us a medium boat na lang daw at P1500 (original price – P1800). We agreed na rin since baka di kayanin if small boat yun gamitin. Medyo malaki kasi ang alon since open sea na yun parts ng 100 islands.

1^st stop is Governors Island. May part dito na you’d need to climb 123 steps before reaching the viewing deck. Nice view, ok dito mag-pictorial. Nandito rin ang PBB house where the 1^st gen PBB teens stayed (kim chiu, Gerald Anderson, etc.). meron din dito maliit na cave. The island has a small store where you can buy some drinks (c2, coke, etc). 

stairs to the viewing deck

viewing deck

2^nd stop, Marcos island. This one has really nice white sand beach, parang boracay. Although short shoreline and mabato. You can go cliff diving here though at the time na nandito kami, binawalan kami ng boatmen kasi low tide. Delikado at baka tumama kami sa rocks sa baba. Stayed here for 15-30mins then alis na. 

cliff diving

3^rd stop, is sa may snorkling area near Marcos Island. We saw the giant clams that they are promoting. Ang ganda and nakaka-amaze since it was my first time to see something like that.

4^th stop is Children’s island. Dito kami nagtagal. Had lunch here and enjoyed the beach. Puwede din dito mag-kayak pero may rental nga lang. medyo maraming tao dito since Quezon island at the time was being fixed (bawal magdock ang boat), so yun mga groups sa children’s island lahat nag-stay for lunch. Tables are for rent P200. Yun cottages mas mahal. Since theres only 4 of us, we opted na sa sand na lang mag-set up. Nilagay naming yun lifevest naming apat paikot sa food then ok na. dun kami pumuwesto sa may lilim ng cave near the dock. Stayed here up to 2:30PM then called our boatmen. Before bumalik sa wharf, dinaan nila kami sa Quezon Island which is being fixed, Cuenco cave na parang may treasure hunting yata na ginagawa and other islands like Monkey Island, turtle island, etc. All in all, I think sulit naman yun binayad namin. If you’ve been to Palawan though, better lower your expectations. Iba pa rin ang rock formations sa Palawan.

dito kami tumambay hehe

Reached the wharf at 3PM. Nag ikot ikot kami sa souvenir shops dun and had merienda. Price of Halo halo ranges from 25-30 pesos. After that, went back na to our hotel to shower and change clothes. 

For dinner, nag ikot ikot kami sa bayan para tumingin ng makakainan. Ended up at Mang Inasal dahil ang aaga magsara ng mga tindahan and restos. Nag milktea rin kami sa “I Love Milk Tea” na shop above 7-11. 35-40 pesos per small cup. Bought another 2L bottle of water. Went back to hotel and slept early for our trip to bolinao next day.

We woke up at 6:30AM and prepared our bags. Took a trike to the town proper (market) para bumili ng Tupig. Was able to buy 1 pack(5-6 pcs) for P10. Mura na rin. Rode trike to bus stand, across 5star bus terminal for mini bus to bolinao. Sabi nung iba puwede na raw kami dumiretso sa CSI since dun din naman hihinto yun mini bus to wait for other passengers. Di na rin kami umalis kasi ang dami ng gamit namin and paparating na rin naman yun mini bus. Fare is P50/pax. Travel time is approximately 45mins – 1hr. Reached bolinao town proper at 8:30AM.