Spread Some Awesome

Duration: 2-3 days

Budget: ~Php2,000 (airfare excluded)

Bummers: seasickness and acrophobia

You’ve never been to Caramoan if you’ve never seen the view at the top of the Shrine of our Lady of Peace..

Walking by the Beach

The Caramoan Islands in Camarines Sur is a hidden paradise to many but it began to gain popularity when this group of lush vegetation and crystal clear water has been a hit location to many Survivor international franchises. Yes, that is right! The Caramoan Islands has been home to many international Survivor seasons. Survivor is a reality TV game show that isolates the contestants in an island for several days while each one gets voted off the island until only one remains and is called the Sole Survivor. Based from my research, the Caramoan Islands has served as the location of the Serbian Survivor for two seasons, the Israel Survivor for two seasons as well, the Bulgarian Survivor for one season, and the Swedish Survivor for one season also. The most famous of the Survivor franchises shooting in the Caramoan Island is the French Survivor which had the entire season in Caramoan Islands only.

I traveled to Caramoan with a couple of my officemates and a bunch of cool guys from Globe (I think? Sorry, please correct me if I’m wrong. ). Our trip to Caramoan Island was unforgettable. After a one-hour plane ride from NAIA to Naga Airport (which was my first ever plane ride..Yay!), a one-hour drive to the Sabang port followed. We needed to take a two-hour boat ride from Sabang port to Caramoan Guijalo port. The boat schedule was at 12 noon and we needed to be there on time because the next boat ride is at dawn. The boat ride is the scariest of all because of the strong waves during that time. While riding the boat, we were entirely covered that we cannot see how the sea looks like that time. It felt like we were a bunch of goods being transported in the sea. Thank God we reached Caramoan Guijalo port safely! At the port, we took a 15-minute ride on a tricycle brought us to the house that we will stay in the island.

Island hopping is the main activity offered in the Caramoan Islands. We rented a boat for that we can use for two days of hopping from one island to another. The port from which we embarked was filled with Bacawan Trees.

Bacawan Trees

We were able to have a view of  some of the popular islands like Gota Beach, Matukad Island, Lahos Island, Malawi Sandbar, Sabitang Laya, and Honongan Beach. However, I was only able to take a picture of some of them. Gota Beach is private owned that is why we weren’t allowed to set foot to it but we had a good peek of the cottages and the facade of the beach.

Gota Beach

Matukad Island

Sabitang Laya Island

Dusk at Sabitang Laya

We also climbed up more than 500 524 steps to have a view of the Shrine of our Lady of Peace in Barangay Tabgon.

Shrine of our Lady of Peace

View at the Top of Shrine of our Lady of Peace

The view at the top of the Shrine of our Lady of Peace was magnificent. It was very relaxing and peaceful. It shows a bird’s eye view of some of the nearby islands. 500 steps was worth the hike.

Awesome Me at Caramoan

Spread some awesome..ness..

Tags: beach, nature, shrine, trip