Viaje Camarines Norte | Calaguas Islands via Paracale

Saturday - April 21, 2012

05:10 in the morning, the bus just dropped us at Talobatib junction in Camarines Norte. Our butts were still numb from the 8-hour road trip from Manila.

Superlines Bus: Manila-Talobatib Junction
Our fare was cheaper(P450.00) because the bus line was offering an Anniversary Discount by the time we traveled to Camarines Norte. On regular days, fare is P510.00

Talobatib Junction at 6 in the morning

Online infos say that we could wait for buses going to Paracale at this junction, so we waited... waited... and waited. But no bus bound for Paracale passed by.

my college buddies at the tricycle terminal at Talobatib Junction

The locals in the area said that we'll have to wait for 2 hours more since the first trip going to Paracale is still at 7am (what?). To wait for that long could cause delays in our itinerary, so after waiting for about an hour, we just decided to rent a tricycle for a special trip to Paracale (P250/trip).

In about 30 mins, we reached the gold town Paracale.

we asked the tricycle to just drop us at Paracale Church, an old stone church that had just celebrated its 400th foundation.

Kevin of kevinthetravelboy.blogspot.com was our local contact in this trip. Actually, it was him who arranged the boat for the whole group (oh yeah, big thanks kuya). He fetched us at the church and welcomed us to their house. We then headed out to the market to buy some provisions for our overnight stay in Calaguas.

Paracale is just a small mining/fishing town, important establishments like the market, the church, the port, and the bus terminal are all accessible by foot. Walking around wouldn't hurt really, it's practical and healthy.

By 09:30 AM, we're all ready to battle the waves of the Pacific Ocean. We walked towards the fishport and boarded our boat right away. A lot of boats of all sizes are found at Paracale fishport, there were small boats with 5 capacity, mediums for 15 people and large boats fit for 30. I think people who wishes to visit Calaguas can arrange service boats right there and then. But of course, prearranging a boat is still the best option.

Paracale Fishport

Kevin arranged a large boat (30 capacity) for our group. Its cost was P13,000 (Paracale-Calaguas-Paracale) but we got it at a much lower price, hurrah for big discount.

Boat from Paracale

Kuya Allan - 09194402646

Capacity - 30 people *includes life vests

Standard Rate - 13,000 (still negotiable)

aboard our big boat

I can see everyone's excitement as we left the port of Paracale at 10 AM. We're just less than 2 hours away from the very much desired virgin island beach...

Calaguas, here we come!

continue reading here.

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Viaje Camarines Norte Series, April 21-23, 2012

Viaje Camarines Norte | Preview Post
Viaje Camarines Norte | Calaguas Islands via Paracale
Viaje Camarines Norte | Isla Calaguas
Viaje Camarines Norte | Solo Trek to Calaguas Hills
Viaje Camarines Norte | Surfing at Bagasbas Beach
Viaje Camarines Norte | First Rizal Monument
Viaje Camarines Norte | Malatap Falls

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