Travelogger

Jan|05|2010

More Island Hopping In Caramoan

Posted by Noemi as Asia, Destinations, Features, Islands, Travelogger

Island hopping is the main reason one should go to Caramoan. I was really quite disappointed with the beach front at the resort we stayed in. The sand was brown and looked dirty. Dried seaweed littered the beach. I thought I would not enjoy myself, but I was proven wrong. Two days of island hopping showed me just what this place has to offer.

There are two main groups of islands that are usually visited by tourists – one to the south and one to the north. The southern islands are farther, but a whole lot more beautiful. Manlawi, which I wrote about in the previous post, is located in this area. Another island in this area is Cotivas. It is also beautiful, but smaller than Manlawi. When we got there, there were a small group of people lunching under the shade of a small tree. It was so serene!
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Sabitang Laya is also a must visit. The beach is much smaller, but the rock formations are astoundingly beautiful! There is a small cove – if you can call it that – with more rock formations. I could spend a whole afternoon there just breathing it all in!
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Islands in the northern part worth visiting are Lahus Island and Matukad Island. Lahus has a relatively long beach in the middle of two groups of rocks.
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Matukad is smaller, but has some interesting plants. There is also a lagoon which is accessible by climbing a steep “cliff.” There is supposed to be a “guardian fish” in the lagoon, which cannot be caught by anyone.
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Isn’t this place just magical?

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One Response

  1. Piet and Gina

    24|Jan|2010

    Gota Village in Caramoan is a top end resort, owned by the province of Camarines Sur. The lower staff (restaurant, boatmen) are doing a great job. Unfortunately the management of Gota is poor and not applying to the guest’s needs at all. Don’t be surprised when you find out the day before that the daily afternoon ferry service (for Gota guests only) will be out of order only for that particular day and that you should take the early morning service instead. Don’t be surprised when you get up early the following morning that the 7am early morning service is not there and that the management knew that it would be postponed for 2 hours already the evening before but informed only some (and not all) of the departing guests. When you complain to the management, they convince you not to take the public ferry since it would still take longer than the Gota-ferry. They assure you that the Gota-ferry will leave at 9am sharp. Don’t be surprised when you are finally inside the boat at 9am, that the management tells the captain of the boat to wait for another 1,5 hours for some other Gota-guests (2 photo models and their crew) who were in the resort together with us and who were planning to leave the resort around 10:30am in the first place). According to the captain of the boat this kind of things happen a lot because of the logistic management. The management tried to convince me that it was all to blame on the captain and his crew, but I have seen with my very own eyes that the captain got orders from the management not to leave and wait for the models). If you like to visit Caramoan, I suggest to stay in one of the pensions in Caramoan town proper instead. If you want to stay in top end resorts only, there are many alternative and good resorts in Palawan/El Nido/Busuanga for example that offer much more.


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