here's the last of my pangasinan series. sorry for posting it late but summer's not over yet and there's still a month to hit the beach. so for those of you who are planning that trip to pangasinan, read on for the directions on how to go to alaminos/bolinao and also some tips that you might want to consider for your trip.
a few tips and notes from our vacay that i wanna share with you:
- going to alaminos (hundred islands) takes 4 hours and another 2 hours from alaminos to bolinao. we travelled on a friday so traffic is smooth. the best time to arrive in hundred islands is between 6-7am so i suggest you leave manila at around 3am.
- coordinate with the guides around the national park. as much as possible, get only 1 guide to organize the boat and snorkeling gear rentals so you can have big discount.
- bring aqua shoes as the limestone and corals on the islands can really be a pain in the feet. if you don't have one, you can ask your guide for shoe rental, just make sure to haggle.
- the motorized boat we rented cost us 1800 which, they said, was special trip. i already forgot how much the regular trip costs but it's much cheaper and practical.
- snorkeling is not advisable because you can only see giant clams and a few not so colorful fishes.
- the best view of hundred islands can be seen from the top of governor's island. be prepared to take about a hundred big steps. kinda hard on the legs but the reward is so worth it. great for photo op!
- if you have little kids with you, go to children's island. i'm sure they'll enjoy it there.
- if you want to stay at hundred islands for the night, you can rent the big brother house at governor's island for 10K per night. other than that, i don't think there's other resort within the national park that will let you enjoy the beach like this one. better to stay at bolinao for the night.
- two bolinao resorts i would recommend are punta riviera and puerto del sol. i haven't been to the former but i heard it also has great facilities. i just like puerto del sol more. if you're willing to drive farther north, there's also treasures of bolinao (whose website is down as of the moment).
- i've already told you how i loved puerto del sol. it's quite a long trip and the beach may not be that swimmable but the stay in this world-class resort paradise made it all worth it.
- if you plan to visit other bolinao sights, stay away from the caves and see the bolinao falls instead. there's nothing fascinating in the cave, imho, unless you'd want to swim in deep water.
now, how do you get to pangasinan? well based from my experience, i know it's quite difficult to find directions on the net on how to get to bolinao so i'm posting here the instructions i got from puerto del sol's website.
- take NLEX and exit at dau
- take road going to luisita tarlac
- go straight to tarlac city. at the left, there's a junction with a sign that reads "hundred islands", follow it
- take road going to Camiling/Bugallon
- at the junction of Bugallon, turn left going to Sual, Alaminos
- to go to hundred islands, there's a big church in alaminos town proper (forgot the name), turn right in front of it then go straight ahead to hundred islands national park
- to go to bolinao, go straight ahead and take road going to Bani
- from Bani town proper, turn right going straight to Bolinao
- at the first major road before the town proper, turn left and follow road signs that lead to cape bolinao
there, i hope these will help you plan your adventure trip to pangasinan. have a happy summer!
my other posts in the pangasinan series:
hundred islands tour
puerto del sol bolinao
other bolinao sights
0 comments:
Post a Comment