Good day and Welcome Readers!
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| YANG-IN Sandbar |
I'll be kicking off this blog with our Family adventure in Cagbalete Island, Mauban, Quezon. March 19 - 21. This actually is the birthday wish of my son Chace.
We opted to use a private transport for the trip since its relatively close.We left manila at around 5:30 a.m. Our route from Manila Started thru (Sto. Tomas Exit in SLEX - San Pablo - Tiaong - Candelaria - Sariaya - Tayabas - Mauban) Notice the Red text, because our supposed 4 hour drive became 5 due to heavy traffic. The route at this time had plenty of road construction (probably because its almost elections here in the Philippines). the good side of this route is they are all major highways (good for small vehicles).
We arrived at around 11:00 a.m. in Mauban port. At the port there are a lot of Tourism employees that will help you guide your way, they will also assist you to look for a place to park your car. there is a public car park, others are private houses securing a garage. The Elementary school has a P50.00 fee per 24 hours, and private houses demand around P150 - 200 per night. It was a Saturday and when we arrived the school was full so we had no choice but to avail a private house to park for 150 a night, payable when you leave.
At Mauban port you'll need to pay P70/person Environmental fee, at the tourism building they will also ask if you'll take a private boat or public ferry...
Private boat fees:
Max of 6 persons - P1500 one way, P2000 round trip
Max of 10 persons - P2000 one way - P2500 round trip
Max of 12 persons - P2500 one way - P3000 round trip
Max of 15 persons - P3000 one way - P3500 round trip
These private boats will drop you off at the resort your staying.
there are 3 public boats going to and fro Cagbalete island. Ive heard that the fee they charge per trip is P50.00. Sadly that day they were issued a new tariff...
M/B Neneng & M/B Anthony Schedule and updated fee as of March 19 2016
| Mauban - Sabang(cagbalete port) | Sabang port - Mauban | Fee/person |
| 8:00 A.M. | 9:00 A.M. | P70.00 |
| 11:00 A.M. | 1:00 P.M. | P70.00 |
| 3:00 P.M. | 5:00 P.M. | P70.00 |
Another public boat M/B Jamelle Charges' P100/Person because its a relatively new ferry.
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| Maubans' local hero Gat Uban! |
Going to Cagbalete we took the M/B Jamelle at 1:00 P.M. as it was ready for loading passengers. My wife didn't want to ride a private boat with just the three of us there.she'd be sea sick because the boat was too small. Boat ride from Mauban to Cagbalete is 45 Mins. I strongly advise that as much as possible wear shorts or any apparel you're willing to submerge in water, private or public boat you will be docked at the beach so rubber shoes are a no no!.
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| Mauban Port view from M/B Jamelle |
We arrived at Sabang At around 2:00PM. When you arrive at sabang you can choose to trek your way to your resort. depending on which resort? walking would range from 10 - 25 minutes along the island.
Here's an idea if you opted to walk from sabang to the resort.
There are also small boats that would offer to ferry you from sabang directly to your resort. Fees range from 400 - 1000 which we took because it was 2:00 PM and the sun was scorching.
Our Resort destination was Villa Noe resort. the staff were accommodating. we had reserved a hut for P3,000 a night the airconditioned rooms were still under construction at that time so they only had nipa huts available. we transferred the following day to a much smaller room for 1,500 a night when we realized that the 3K room was too large for us. Electricity on the Island resorts run from 6:00 P.M. - 6:00 A.M. No TV's no Gas Stoves but there are several areas for grilling or cooking using charcoals. if you're not in the mood for cooking their canteen has cooked food ready to serve.
For full details of the resort:
https://www.facebook.com/VillaNoeBeach/photos
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| Fish bought from the locals |
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| Trail from sabang port to resorts 15 - 20 mins |
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| Spectacular sunrise |
Attractions on the island can be seen if you rent a boat for P1,500. You can haggle for the price, in our case we were able to get it for P1,200. the trip includes yang-in beach where you can see the awesome sandbar, their snorkeling area and the mangrove river.
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| Bonsai Island |
On our way home we took the lucban - majayjay - nagcarlan - calauan - calamba route. Of course we needed to stop over at lucban church and eat at buddy's to have their famous "HabHab".
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| Local Church in Cagbalete Island |
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| The Almost 4 Century Old church of Lucban |
Side note for cagbalete Island: if your planning to swim at the beach.. do it early morning or late afternoon as low tide can reach up to a kilometer away from shore most of the day.
All in all it was an exciting trip a lot of sights along the way and the island was very nice... next stop caboangan pangasinan.
