On my first attempt, I found Malabrigo Beach in Batangas, it's only few hours away. I wanted a sandy beach so looked for other places. I found Pollilo island in Quezon province, Laiya beach and Pagudpud. I was going to choose Pagudpud but it's 8-12 bus ride so I decided to search again, now somewhere in Zambales. I thought of Potipot island but a friend told me that there are alot of people nowadays visiting it, so she she suggested Magalawa.
The photos on google was amazing the island looks like a paradise so that is when I decided to push the magalawa trip.
Preview
Magalawa island is in Zambales. There are 2 resorts occupying the island. The Armada and the Ruiz resort.
Chikka
Upon researching there has been a stiff rivalry among the two resorts and when I also got to the location, The boatman said that the Armada was a Barangay official. (I'm not sure which of the Armada ) and used his /her position to claim the part of the island. Up until now he/she still claiming some part of the island.
The island is rich of marine life animal. You'll see a lot of starfish and snake like creature hiding on the seaweeds but hold your horses! it's not snake. They call it "Lito-Lito " I think it's a sea slug.
The small sea stars are scattered on shore so please be careful, if you happened to see a large one please don't take it a way from water for too long. I have seen other tourist there gathering a lot of it and left it on their cottage just to have "Selfies". Seriously, I was thinking if some alien took you out of earth and took a selfie and left you in the outerspace, do you think it's cool?
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| Lito Lito |
Going there:
So first of all we chose Ruiz resort, just because they doesn't need reservation to go there and you the care taker are nice and they made the visitor free to roam the beach.
Monumento, Caloocan to Pamulingan, Zambales
Via Victory Liner Caloocan ( 386 Pesos )
The bus agent advised that it is 7 -8 hours travel period. We board on the last trip which I think made it more faster, only took it 6 hours ( 11:55 PM - 5:55 AM )
Note:
On Pamulingan, there are no near markets, so you wont be able to find bigas (uncooked rice). Some residence are selling fresh fish and have charcoals and nothing else. So be prepared.
If you do not have time to gather food you can drop of to iba market and buy the things you need. After buying you can hail a tricycle driver that will take you to pamulingan. ( Take note that this will cost you 150 per head)
Pamuligan to Port Luan ( 100 pesos)
This is a 30 minutes tricycle travel and I must advise you to cover your head as some it's way are bumpy.
Port Luan to Magalawa Island (500 pesos)
The payment is round trip. You can also ask you boatman to tour you on El Salvador Island which will cost you 500 pesos
On the Island, the boatman assists me on looking for Manong mulong, for the accommodations:
For the cottage, it is 500 pesos if you like a more comfortable place they have a hut with a fun (this are with beds and the flooring are tiled hehe )
The island is a paradise. The sea water is almost always serene as what our boatman said. I must admit that there a lot of seaweeds on near the shore but there are lots of swim-able area.
I saw plastics on the far side of the beach, these are the visitors garbage. It's really sad, some people are selfish.
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It was high tide when we got there and was advised to wait for the noon so that we can see the sand bar on El Salvador.
Chikka
El Salvador island is owned by a former mayor of the region. It is not a public island and you may need permission if the owner is near or there is a guard. There are also sea urchins near this island so be careful!
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On your way back home, you can take tricycle on port luan to pamulingan and wait for buses headed for victory liner station where you can ride a bus headed to our start point.
All in all it was a great experience and best for people who is looking for a peaceful place.
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