DIY: Magalawa Island Adventure

Most of our "gala" are DIY (Do it yourself) trips and planned ahead of months. They said that most planned trips has the highest probability of not going to happen, but YnarteXplorers are different. Rain or shine, many or few, adventure should push through on the said date. It was not a good weather at that time and Southwest Monsoon hit Subic with landslides as seen in the news.

So as early as 11:00 PM of September 27, 2013 - Two of the Explorers was already on board to their favorite "tambayan" Starbucks Coffee (Araneta Center) to sit and talk with their daily routine at work etc. while waiting for 2:00 AM of September 28. (There's a reason for that 11 PM habit though :p )

So at 2:30 AM of Saturday, we got our 3 tickets bound for Olonggapo City at Victory Bus Cubao terminal. Departure time at 3:00 AM.

There are several ways to get to Magalawa Island. But we opted to choose Olonggapo to Palauig for few reasons. Iba Zambales/Sta Cruz bound first trip is 5:00 AM, so it's not a good option if the whole trip is 6-7 hours from Manila.

HOW TO GET THERE: (via our option)

From Manila get off at Victory Olonggapo terminal.
From Olonggapo terminal ride a bus bound to Sta. Cruz Zambales and get off at Palauig market to buy some food/supplies. (Take note: No market near Magalawa Island)
Ride another bus from the market and get off at Veritas Road (Tricycle jump off point to Magalawa Island)
Tell the tricycle driver to take you to the resort you wanted to stay. (Ruiz Resort or Armada Resort)
We opted to stay in Ruiz Resort as the legal caretaker of the island based on our researches.

Adventure starts on the rough and bouncy road going to Magalawa Island. So as mentioned, our trips are always DIY where we don't usually have contacts to our destination (though we have one, we don't contact them). Upon reaching the drop off point of the island, the tricycle driver asked "May bangka na po ba kayo?" then we realized, Oh, no! Walang bangka sa port. We assumed that it's same as in San Antoinio Zambales port that there are lots of boat to pick whatever time you wanted - but we are wrong. So we started to text Mang Mulo - 09294670505 of Ruiz Resort (Good thing we have his number if all else fails hehe). Jere contacted Mang Mulo through SMS but no reply so we decided to take a first photo shot of the port.

View on the other side of port. No boats. :)

The tricycle driver stayed with us until a boat came in after 5 minutes of waiting. Of course, smile on our faces seen. The driver helped us to board our backpacks to the boat. As we all thought, Mang Mulo received the SMS sent by Jere -- but again, we are wrong. Mang Mulo asked, "Saan kayo galing, kayo ba yung nagtext kanina" and we said "Manila po, kami po". And we came to realized that the one who contacted Mang Mulo is not us. He said that only two individuals are his guest, and yet we are three. We are laughing at ourselves that still we are lucky enough that a boat came and we're ready to go. Mang Mulo who is kind hearted decided to drop us to the Ruiz Resort.

The resort we stayed for 2 days.

At 11:00 AM touched down Magalawa Island. And we said "Yes! Solo natin ang Island" As Mang Mulo mentioned earlier, he canceled most of his guests due to the typhoon and southwest monsoon that hit Zambales for almost a week. There are cottages and rooms in the island, but as always we prefer pitching tent instead cause that is the essence of being outdoor.

Our Home.

At first the island was not that appealing. It is just a simple island lying across the shore. The sand is actually not that white but golden, not that powdery but just okay, but the sea is a crystal clear that you can clearly see the massive hideous seaweeds underneath in some parts of the island. Since part of our adventure is photography - though we are not that a Pro, cameras are ready to take a shot. Honestly, the island is perfect for photography.

View of island fronting Mt. Tapulao.

Creamy golden sand on the shoreline.

Crystal clear water.

Peaceful place to relax away from Metro.

Our camera buddies fronting San Salvador Island.

After eating our lunch for that day - Tinolang Manok and fruits, we decided to explore the island and took some photos. There is a small community living in the Island. They are accommodating and kind. There is no electricity but they use a generator power supply that runs from 6:00 PM to 7:00 AM everyday. There is a clean common CR and water supply is good. Since no other else in the island, we don't have to pile up and we can go anytime we want. :)

Bare footed on the shore with Ruiz Resort's bantay.

Testing the pristine waters.

The guardian dog.

Grapes at the Aroma tree.

Female Crab fresh from mangroves.

Our ultimate Vitamin C-offee for every adventure.

Recharging energy for photo walk in the island.

Photo review delete or not?

Approaching the small community in the island.

Candid moment in Yellow.

Jeremy caught in action.

A relaxing place for muni-muni moment.

Small military boat.

Brownish to Reddish rocky part of the island.

Few more minutes before sunset.

Jenny and Jeremy heading to western part of the island.

Sunset theme with a smile.

Walking in a long shoreline.

Revealing the scenic beauty of nature.

Bicol express and Kiwi for Dinner.

Our tent guarded by the dog.

Rooms in the resort at night.

We woke up as early as 5:00 AM to catch the sun rise and take some photos again. The beauty of Magalawa Island revealed as the rays of sun touched the sand of the island and turns to a perfect white sand. The crystal clear water was intensified blue sky color that makes you want to dip and take a plunge in the water. The seaweeds underneath instantly became the dark blue color of the sea from above making an awesome perfect body of water with a mixture of different shades of aquamarine to blue such a picturesque view.

Touch of the Horizon.

On the other side of island near Armada Resort.

Calm water in the morning.

Since the view is so enchanting - camera here we go! Looking for subject that will make our day before we leave the island.

Foot prints in the sand.

This is her moment. Always present in adventure.

The Friendship shadow.

Nikko - our best buddy.

Our adventure is not complete without those kalokohan moments. It is usual for any "Magbabarkada" to have their photos in certain place at their best shot.

Jeremy said this is a super hero pose.

The runner up pose.

The taray pose.

The maldita pose.

Drama pose.

Let there be peace pose.

Just excited for a jump shot.

Lets get wacky.

It's more fun in the island.

Star fish Model.

Just the 3 of us.

Live star fish.

Group Picture. Thanks to tripod.

Budget Trip for Three:

Victory Cubao to Olonggapo - 207 each
Olonggapo to Palauig market - 187 each
Palauig market to Radyo veritas road - 13 each
Radyo Veritas to Luan port - 100 each
Luan port to Ruiz resort boat ride - 100 each
Entrance Fee - 100 each
Tent Space Fee - 200/3 = 67 each
Luan port to Veritas Road - 100 each
Veritas road to Olonggapo terminal - 200 each
Olonggapo to Manila - 207 each
Food/Supplies - aprox 200 each

** CR use and charging of electronic gadgets are free of charge.

Total of 1,481 for 2D&1N stay in the island.