Bagac Beach, Bataan

This is a very late post on our road trip to Bagac, Bataan in late Dec 2013. I feel the need to journalize this trip as this was our first time to visit Bataan.

As rooms were fully booked at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, we scouted for nearby resorts for our accommodation for the night. We found Morning Breeze Beach resort with available aircon room for Php2500 a night. No TV , no wifi, no hot water just plain room. The toilet and bath sucked big time. Blackish tile, faulty faucet. Fortunately, the queen size bed mattress was firm but soft.The female resort keeper was nice and even offered to buy and cook breakfast for the two of us. She lent us a styro box and bought ice to keep our soda cold. We brought along an electric kettle , instant cup noodles , bread and fruits and 4gal bottled water. Food stuff to last til the following day.

At 4pm, we went to the beach. We're two crazy souls swimming on cold December waters. The sand was greyish but  fine ; no rocks nor seashells. We walked barefooted from as far as we could reach and back.

We saw a fisherman tending to his boat.

Sunset was nice in this part of Bataan.

It's refreshing to go to the beach on off season. Less crowd and the beach was almost to ourselves.

To get to Bagac via private car, take NLEX-SCTEX , exit at Dinalupihan follow the road signs to Balanga then to Bagac.

Morning Breeze Website http://morningbreezebataan.weebly.com/

Bolinao Falls

Bolinao falls was part of our itinerary  when we visited Bolinao. It was around 30 minute drive from the resort where we stayed in. While driving through the rough roads which at times became rocky, I was quite nervous that we may end up with flat tire. The road seemed to be endless. After traversing 5 kms of dirt road and 15 minute hike, we finally reached Bolinao falls. Nature has its own way of hiding this beautiful cascading water. We saw several cottages made of nipa and bamboo; there were no stores so you have to bring everything you may possibly need.

The falls is not that high but still a refreshing sight. I am not sure how deep the water was. There were few locals swimming and diving and just having fun.

We only stayed for about 30 minutes and  after taking a couple of photos we left the place and headed to Alaminos for lunch.

 I hope the local government will push hard for the concreting of the roads to ease traveling time and also to provide trash cans in the area . People tend to throw their garbage anywhere to the detriment of the environment.

Nature lovers will surely love this place. This is one of Bolinao's hidden treasures.Just be prepared for the bumpy rough ride.

  

Bolinao's Enchanted Cave

Bolinao's Enchanted cave is the third cave I have visited so far. I have gone to Hoyop Hoyopan cave in Albay and Hinagdanan cave in Bohol.

Enchanted cave is located just after the arch marker of Barangay Patar. The road is a bit rough and dusty. Without private car, one can catch a tricycle going to the cave. Farther down the road is Cindy's cave. We decided to visit enchanted cave as we heard that since both are similar, you can opt  to visit any.

Parking cost Php30 and entrance fee per head is Php100 which comes with a tour guide. You need to add Php50 if you want to swim inside the cave. We find it expensive. But since we are local tourists wanting to see what's enchanting about this place, we yielded.  It was so hot and humid and at 9am, a lot of locals are already in the area .

Fossilized giant clams greeted us on our way up the concrete stairs leading to the cave.

You will pass a lot of coral stones. I wondered how the fossilized corals appeared in this high area. Could it be that this place is part of the sea bed million years ago?

After passing these dead coral stones, we reached the entrance to the cave. Just like in Bohol, the stairway is concrete. You have to watch your head due to low ceiling.

Inside the cave, it was cramped and humid. There's a big box fan to cool the place. Since it was a weekend,  around 25 people were already inside the cave, some were swimming  in the clear water.

Our tour guide mentioned that they always check the pool for snakes before they allow people to swim. Apparently, snakes like to stay in cool fresh waters. Since the water comes from a natural spring, one can drink it according to our tour guide. The side of the pool is 4ft deep while the middle portion is 7feet. One can rent floaters at the entrance should you want to swim in the middle of the pool.Because the water is super clear, you can see the corals underneath.

We took several pictures of the stalactites and some family group pictures.

We did not stay for long. Unlike Hinagdanan ,  this cave was not spacious and you are bound to pass out because of the heat and humidity. We should have gone here on a weekday when visitors are few.

Though nothing spectacular or enchanting about this cave, one has to visit this  attraction as a way to experience nature's wonder.

Bolinao Lighthouse

Last year, we visited  Cape Bojeador. For this year, we were fortunate to visit  Bolinao Lighthouse. It is one of the five major lighthouses in the country. It is second tallest next to Cape Bojeador in Ilocos Norte.  It stands atop Punta Piedra Point in Barangay Patar in Bolinao, Pangasinan. One will pass this iconic landmark when going to Patar Beach. It is frequently visited by local and foreign tourists.

According to records, the lighthouse was built in 1905 by Filipino, British and American engineers.
 The 30.78-meter (101-foot) tower gives a panoramic view of the blue sea, the white beaches, offshore reefs and rock formations, as well as rolling  hills.


The 140-step winding stairway of the tower leads to the illumination room, 76.2 m above sea level. According to Pedro Honrada, the lighthouse’s head keeper, the lantern is visible 44 kilometers away, guiding seafarers (led toward this area by a lighthouse in Zambales) toward the lighthouse in Poro Point, La Union.

The short road going up to the lighthouse is well paved and on top it can accommodate 4 cars. There's a space encircling the lighthouse which can serve as parking for visitors.

There's an abandoned dilapidated building beside the lighthouse. We dont know what it was for.

The steel door of the lighthouse was padlocked when we went there. We saw stunning view of the sea and green landscape from afar. We would have wanted to see the sunset atop the lighthouse. However, we were worried that it may be too dark on our way back to our hotel.

Thank you to the local government who helped in concreting the road leading to the lighthouse and Patar beach.

It is worth visiting when you're in Bolinao.  

Beautiful Patar Beach, Bolinao, Pangasinan

Being a beach person, I always look forward to road trips and beach exploration. We check for holidays and long weekend for these road trips. For 2014, Labor Day fell on a Thursday and Friday was sandwiched between a holiday and a weekend. We saw this opportunity for a 3 day 2 night road trip to Bolinao.With the completion of TPLEX Carmen Exit in Pangasinan, we felt that exploring Bolinao would be faster via this new road connector than via Zambales which google map points us to.

It was a breeze driving on TPLEX as we reached Carmen,Pangasinan exit in just 2 hours. Then through Dagupan in an hour due to road widening and another 3 hours from Dagupan to Bolinao. It was a 7 hour total drive;  the roads were well paved; the countryside was lush and green. I hope though that there were more friendly road signs to guide motorists. We checked in at Rock Garden resort-the only resort which can accommodate us on short notice. All the high end resorts in Bolinao were fully booked.

The following day we headed to Patar beach. Some called it Bolinao beach but the beach is located in Brgy Patar.  It was a 20 to 25 minute drive from Rock Garden. We passed several road construction going to Barangay Patar. We also passed Puerto del Sol, Punta Riviera, Enchanted Cave, Cindy's Cave and Bolinao Lighthouse before arriving at Patar Beach. Upon reaching a fork, the left road leads to Treasures of Bolinao Resort while the right side is the public parking lot for Patar Beach visitors. Parking fee is Php50 for small vehicle. There were several stores at the parking lot. T-Shirts, shorts and all sort of trinkets and souvenir items can be found. At the public beach, there are many cottages for rent starting at Php300 the whole day. You will be issued a government official receipt by the caretaker. Farther to the right of the public beach, are big nipa cottages which can be rented for Php1000 or P2500 depending on the capacity. There is also Benjie's restaurant where you can order grilled seafood.

Shower fee is Php10, use of toilet is Php5 or Php3 depending if you will poo or pee.

The beach was beautiful ! It has creamy white sand which we found whiter than that of Pagudpud. The beach view was breath taking and water was clear and from afar it was blueish green or greenish blue which ever you like it described.

Sadly, the people or visitors were not so conscious about leaving their trash in the area. You can see styro plates, plastic bottles , plastic glass on the beach and even on the water. People are so careless and dont seem to care about the environment. Local tourism officials should impose strict cleanliness policy on this area. Local officials can put up big signs of No Littering or dumping of trash.

One can  order food from Tummy Reasers. We understand they can deliver to the beach which I am not sure how much will cost. My sister bought the pizza before going to the beach.

One can also try a local delicacy. Sticky rice cooked inside a bamboo. It cost Php100 for 3pcs. It is like your suman, but this one is cooked inside a bamboo. It is not sweet but tasted with a pinch of salt which acts as a preservative according to the seller.

There is no LTE but there is a Smart signal in Patar Beach.We could not post picture on the day itself. But nonetheless, our beach-ing was so memorable.   I hope Patar beach will remain beautiful and not overcrowded. It will be faster to reach it hopefully when all the roads are completely paved, maybe next year.

How we got there: by car via NLEX-SCTEX-TPLEX-Carmen-Dagupan-Alaminos/Bolinao Road