The Travelling Feet

Can you resist a beauty like this?

I am still not done with my Bangok to Siem Reap trip series and here I am again, starting on another one but this time it is about the awesome coves in the Philippines. Only a few tourists go here but I have a feeling these coves are going to be huge attractions in the future.

Now what am I talking about?

It’s actually my trip to Zambales – that trip I took a couple of days after our Bangok to Siem Reap trip. And again, thanks to Cebu Pacific’s reliable promo fares back then, we were able to book this trip for only P114.00/head for a round trip fare from Cebu to Clark. I hope Cebu Pacific goes back to selling those cheap roundtrip airfares for less than P500!

Almost 26 days after our Bangkok-Siem Reap trip, funds not yet replenished, I still doubted whether I should push through with this trip since I haven’t recovered from the previous one – financially, that is. In fact, 10 days after my Zambales trip, I was scheduled to go on another adventurous trip again, this time to Sagada…but this one’s for another series of travel stories I can’t wait to share with you guys

Looking back, I wonder what came into our minds when we booked those consecutive trips. I guess no matter what, I am still grateful for being given the chance to visit two of the most popular travel destinations in the Philippines: Zambales and Sagada.

So let’s talk about Zambales first. Honestly, there’s so little information I know about Zambales. Mt. Pinatubo and the Aetas. Who could ever forget Mt. Pinatubo when this sleeping volcano suddenly decided to throw up tons and tons of magma back in 1991? Then there’s also the Aetas, the indigenous people who live in Zambales. Other than that, I have absolutely no clue what to expect in this side of the Philippines.

sweet serenity at Nagsasa Cove in Zambales

Then I saw this blog post about the serene Nagsasa Cove from fellow blogger Winston Almendras last 2010. The photos I saw from his site were really stunning! And then I forgot all about it until the day we had to decide where we need to go for the Clark trip. You see, we only had two options: visit the coves of Zambales or go surfing in La Union. Upon further research, we discovered that it was cheaper to check out Zambales than to go to La Union. And with the limited budget we have for the trip, Zambales was the winner by TKO. LOL.

This trip was originally booked for 3 heads but since 1 head is now enjoying a new life found in Singapore, Ed and I decided to ask fellow travellers who were interested to travel with us to cut on the costs of the entire trip. Luckily, Anton and his wife were game to join us. There were also other travel buddies who promised to go with us but backed out the last minute.

So on the 18th day of February, we flew from Cebu to Clark, travelled from Clark to Olongapo, Olongapo to Zambales and started our cove exploration from San Miguel to Anawangin Cove and Nagsasa Cove on a very beautiful Saturday morning

Next…check out the video of the scary boat trip going to Nagsasa Cove first and stay tuned for more updates!

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This is a series of travel stories on my trip to Zambales last February of 2011 to explore Anawangin Cove, Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island. If you haven’t read on the first posts, please check on the links below and please wait for the rest of the series….;-)

• The Scary Boat Trip Going to Nagsasa Cove
• How to Get to Zambales from Cebu or other destinations

If you are from Cebu or anywhere in the Visayas and Mindanao region, there are two options you could take when going to Zambales to check out the famous Anawangin Cove, Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island.

#1) Through the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)

Upon arriving in Manila, you need to take a bus that travels to Zambales. There should be a couple of buses but I only know of Victory Liner. The earliest trip is at 4:00 am at their Caloocan Terminal. Travel time is approximately 4 hours. Fare is Php 250.00/head.

Advantages:

- You will arrive in San Antonio, Zambales at approximately 8:00 – 9:00 am. This will give you ample time to buy what you need for your camping/day trip in their public market. This will also allow you to visit 2 destinations – Capones Island and a choice between Anawangin Cove or Nagsasa Cove.

- 1 bus ride from the Caloocan terminal to San Antonio, Zambales

It is advisable to visit Capones Island in the morning as the waves tend to get rough in the afternoon. So you can either do this on Day 1 of your trip or simply leave early from your camping site the next day to check out this island. In our case, we chose to visit Anawangin Cove first and we arrived there at around 10:30 in the morning and left for Nagsasa Cove at 3:00pm but was greeted with the scary boat trip going to Nagsasa Cove. We spent the night in Nagsasa Cove and left at around 9am the next day for Capones Island.

Disadvantage: You need to be in Manila in the evening, unless of course you book a flight that will arrive in Manila 2 hours before 4:00am. This means you either wait in the airport before you head off to the bus terminal for the 4am trip or you spend the night at some cheap hostel or stay at a friend’s house.

Though you can still book the first flight to Manila and arrive in Zambales after lunch, you or your boatman may have the tendency to cancel the trip if the waves are too big in the afternoon.

#2) Through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, also known as the Clark Airport

Cebu Pacific is most likely going to give away cheap fares for the Cebu to Clark route. This was the route we took when we went to Zambales. We only paid Php 114.00 for the round trip fares which was booked on 2010′s Independence Day promo

Advantage: The time it will take for you to sit in a bus and travel to Zambales will only last for approximately 2 hours.

Disadvantages:

- Cebu Pacific flights from Cebu to Clark are scheduled once daily. Your usual time of arrival in Clark will be around 6:30 pm onwards. This means you have to spend the night in Clark or Olongapo before you head to Zambales the next day. I would suggest you spend the night in Olongapo since the hostels there are cheaper. You can rent a room for 12 hours at P500, which is good for 2 heads.

- You will ride 2 buses to reach Zambales and this may be inconvenient for those who doesn’t like to transfer buses to reach their destinations.

Bus 1: Dau Bus Terminal in Mabalacat going to Olongapo (Travel time: ~1.5 hours) Fare: Php 130.00
There are vans that will take you to Olongapo at the same rate. The downside is you have to wait for the van to be filled before it leaves the terminal (in our case, we waited for more than 1 hour before the van left). You can also wait for the Victory Liner bus that will pass by the terminal and hop on one. Always ask around to know what time that bus will pass by the terminal.

vans going to Olongapo are waiting outside the DAU Bus Station

Bus 2: Olongapo to San Antonio, Zambales via Victory Liner (Travel time: ~1 hour) Fare: Php 59.00
These buses are the the ones coming from Caloocan so you have to be very quick in getting inside the bus since there will be a lot of people waiting for this trip too. I am not too sure though if there are also designated buses that leaves for Zambales from Olongapo via Victory Liner. Better contact the bus company to inquire.

a very cheap lodge is sitting above the Victory Liner Terminal in Olongapo

There may also be other bus liners that travel to Zambales from Olongapo but I have no knowledge what those are.

On going back, you can ride any bus from San Antonio to Olongapo and ask to be dropped off at the Victory Liner terminal or near it. Then immediately book a ticket going back to Manila since the last trip leaves at 6:10 pm. If you are exiting Clark Airport, it is best to leave San Antonio early and consider the ~1 hr travel time to Olongapo and another ~1.5 hours trip to Clark.

Bus Fares

Via Clark Aairport-DAU-Olongapo-San Antonio, Zambales
50.00 – Clark Airport to DAU Bus Station (airconditioned jeepney)
130.00 – DAU to Olongapo (bus or van)
59.00 – Olongapo to San Antonio (bus)

Via San Antonio-Olongapo-DAU-Clark Airport
59.00 – San Antonio to Olongapo (bus)
130.00 – Olongapo to DAU (bus or van) – fare is tentative since we didn’t take this route going back to Clark
7.00 – DAU to Terminal near SM Clark (ask the driver to be dropped off near 7-Eleven)
200.00 – SM Terminal to Clark Airport (rent of non airconditioned jeepney; fare is good for 1 head up to the jeepney’s maximum capacity)

jeepney to Clark Airport

Via Manila-San Antonio, Zambales
250.00 – Caloocan Terminal to San Antonio, Zambales (via SCTEX)

Via San Antonio-Olongapo-Manila
59.00 – San Antonio to Olongapo
240.00 – Olongapo to Pasay Terminal (via SCTEX)

These are bus rates as of February 18-21, 2011. These fares may be subject to change depending on the never ending price increases of transportation here in the Philippines.

So there. After considering what route to take on your Zambales trip, book that flight, plan your IT next and enjoy your adventure!

Last February 19th, I went on a trip to Zambales to check out the famous Anawangin Cove, Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island. I went with Ed, Antonio and Teresa, Antonio’s wife.

Before I share the wonderful adventure I had with new found friends, let me just insert this quick post about our scary boat trip going to Nagsasa Cove

Being reported as less crowded, I preferred to camp out at Nagsasa Cove and convinced my companions of the plan. I was glad they agreed to this and after spending some time exploring Anawangin Cove, we headed to Nagsasa Cove to camp for the night.

Nagsasa Cove is twice as far as Anawangin Cove, which is why a few prefer to go to this place. What caught me off guard was the boat trip going to this part of Zambales.

I decided to take a video of our boat ride to showcase the beautiful mountain ranges of Zambales. I wasn’t aware that what lies after the mountain ranges I was recording was Nagsasa Cove. And what transpired within that time was wickedly scary.

I was busy recording the mountain ranges and I failed to notice the commotion ongoing because of the sudden change of the waves in that area.

Like the rest of them, I was just relieved that we were able to make it to Nagsasa Cove in one piece. The weather was perfectly fine that day. But you should expect rough waves like these if you pass by this area going to and from Nagsasa Cove.

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This is a series of travel stories on my trip to Zambales last February of 2011 to explore Anawangin Cove, Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island. If you haven’t read on the first posts, please check on the links below and please wait for the rest of the series….

• How to Get to Zambales from Cebu or other destinations
• Choosing Zambales to Explore Anawangin Cove and Nagsasa Cove