Discovering the Philippines: One island at a time... Potipot Island

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Discovering the Philippines: One island at a time... Potipot
March 21, 2008
11:00 PM
We were so excited to leave our condo and head off to our destination - Potipot Island. We hailed a cab and asked the driver to bring us to Victory Liner Bus Terminal - Caloocan. It was still early and we were not on a hurry knowing that the bus terminal is just 20mins away from our place. I managed to buy tickets 7days before our trip just to make sure we don't run out of seats since it was holy week. I know for a fact that everyone from Manila would go out of town every holy week to escape the busy life in the metro. I can't remember exactly how much the tickets were but as far as I can remember, a one way ticket costed us around 400 Pesos (roughly $10 give or take). We arrived at the bus terminal around 11:30pm MLA and paid the cab driver 100 Pesos ($2.50) and sat down on the chairs waiting for our ride. We took the 12mn bus going to Sta.Cruz, Zambales up north and the trip lasted almost 5hours.
4:50 AM
Finally, we made it! After almost 5 hours of travel we'll get to see an undeveloped island known for its white beach. We walked towards the gate of the resort and was greeted by their security guards. They asked if we we were able to book a room, and we smiled saying "Opo" - a local term for respectfully saying yes. I reserved a deluxe room for 1,500 Pesos ($37.50 a night) because that was the only available room a month before our vacation. I asked if their restaurant were open, they said it's still closed but they will happily serve us coffee if that's what we want. That's exactly what we wanted! We sipped a cup of cofee for 20mins and picked up our backpacks. On our way towards the back of the resort, we managed for the first time, to get a glimplse of the moon setting over the horizon. We hurriedly unpacked Nikkie (our Nikon DX40 camera) and setup the tripod to capture this event. After 2 clicks, we set off on a 10min banca ride to Potipot Island.
5:20 AM
The eagle has landed. We sat foot on our destination. It was still dark but the sun is already about to show up. Potipot Island is located roughly 1km from the mainland shore of Uacon, Candelaria, Zambales which is about 240+ kilometers from Manila. There are no resorts on this island - just the beach and the trees. The island is completely surrounded by white sand and calm waters. The view - breath taking!!! Just as the sun was rising on the mountains of Zambales, we took the chance to capture some shots that are plainly captivating and serene.
9:00 AM
After the sunrise pictorials and a pack of Chips Ahoy! we decided to stand up and find out how big the island is. Mang Roman, the captain of our small outrigger boat said that we can walk the whole island for only thirty minutes. Doing a little math, we thought of doing four stops and staying an hour for every quarter we cover. The first stop is the docking area where we stayed from 5:30am-9am. The second stop is where the main beach is. I thought the beach was already nice on the docking area but when we reached the 2nd stop, it is like picture perfect.
10:00 AM
The beach is covered with white, fine sand. Although not that fine as Boracay's sand, but it's probably one of the the best beach in Luzon. We wonder why the sand is white considering that the beaches in the mainland is black. Anyway, the crowd was starting to get thick as bancas started to fill the dock area. We picked a spot and did what we were here for - the beach. The water is so clear that you can see everything under your feet. The water is calm which makes it good for swimming.
11:00 AM
We continued walking to see the rest of what the island has in store. We saw this little kid looking at the line of sea grass along the shore. There were also a lot of starfishes being dried on top of a stone (ready to be barbecued?) haha! There is also a part of the island that is rocky and has lots of uprooted trees.
12:00 NN
Our last stop. We took shelter under the trees and took a nap. The breeze was nice as it brings comfort against the blazing sun. We just relaxed and enjoyed the remaining hours of our stay on this cute little island paradise. When we woke up, we braved the scorching sun and took a last dip on the beach. It's a good thing we wore sunscreen but we knew that we'll get burned anyway.
1:00 PM
Mang Roman picked us up from the island and brought us back to the mainland. We paid him 600 Pesos ($15) and gave him a 100 Pesos tip ($2.50). We were dead hungry when we arrived in Dawal. We took a bath and hurried off to the restaurant. Food was great but not extra ordinary. We ordered pancit canton, fried rice and fried chicken which costs around 400 Pesos ($10) good for two. After lunch, we dozed off inside our airconditioned room. We slept so we could watch the sunset over Potipot around 5:30pm.
6:45 PM
I woke up. Mayee was still sleeping. Looked at the time and to my dismay, saw that we missed the sunset. Darn! We were so tired that's why we didn't hear the alarm go off. I took nikkie hoping that the sun was still setting over the island but it was not. Anyway, I went back to sleep.
7:00 AM
We had our breakfast at their restaurant and cooled off on their swimming pool. We had to try all their amenities of course. We took our lunch before leaving the resort. We checked out and gave the room keys back to the reception area. We were able to talk to Frank, their reservation officer and thanked him for booking us a room. He was so kind and also thanked us for staying in their resort.
2:00 PM
Took a victory liner bus back to Manila. Tired but happy. We arrived past 7pm. Went home afterwards.
Summary
All in all, the Potipot experience is worth every penny. The island is good for people who wants to stay in an island that is uninhabited, undeveloped less the party and the people. It is not recommended to visit the island during holy week as it gets pretty packed. I recommend this to couples looking for a quality time in an island with white fine sand and clear calm waters.

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