j2: Cagbalete Island, Philippines

The best location for a weekend getaway.

Walk, sleep and be lazy are just few of the things that you can do in this island. The best location for a weekend getaway. And what would really be a mark for this place are its sand bars.

Located in Mauban, Quezon, resting along the waters of Lamon Bay and the Pacific Ocean, Lamon Bay is a large bay in the southern part of Luzon island, a body of water connecting the southern part of Quezon province to the Pacific Ocean. It is a rich fishing ground and the home of various living corals. Most parts of the bay consist of gray sand; some parts are filled with rocks, and other living corals. It is gradually sloping to the extend that, during low tide, the water level is low enough to allow one to walk as far as five hundred meters from the shore or until one can.

One thing noticeable before going to the island is the Quezon Power Plant located near the wharf.

The Power Plant was built way back 2000, the Quezon Power Project, a 440 megawatt coal power plant was constructed to bring consistent power to the area. It was the first privately built, owned, and operated power generating facility in the Philippines.

The giant spotlights it has served as our lighting that makes things visible as we head to the villa cleofas resort at around 7PM , Yes, your reading it right it that was 7PM and we felt like losing hope of getting an available boat. Good thing there was one and so we started the most scariest night boat ride of my life.

Areas of the island are privately-owned, the southwestern part of it is populated by a number of Visayan fisher folks who have settled in the idle lands. Known as "Sabang", this fishing village can be estimated to be populated by over a thousand people. These people have learned to live through by earning money from fishing, farming (there are rice fields in certain areas), woodcutting, getting lumber and copra, and drying/ processing seaweeds.

Although all areas of the island are privately-owned, the southwestern part of it is populated by a number of Visayan fisher folks who have settled in the idle lands. Known as "Sabang", this fishing village can be estimated to be populated by over a thousand people.

This Island is one of the best places to conduct company outings such as team buildings. It's a bit secluded but the proximity is best for Manila folks who's tired of going to Batangas or Laguna.

In the last 3 years, the local town folks have reported several sightings of threatened and endangered species such as sea turtles, juvenile whale sharks and dugongs foraging among the sea grass, seaweeds and mangrove areas.

I may not be able to forget this place because I almost fulfilled one of my fantasies in this Island. Good thing for a reason it did not happen (I can’t tell you though). At this very moment I am badly missing the person I’m with in this Island… but of course all my soon to be backpacker friends (with my influence). Where’s the hotdogs by the way? And for the record did we really pay for the beers? Hahaha

How to get here:

Public Transport – From Manila you can take Jac Liner/JAM Liner/Lucena Lines Station in Kamias - Edsa/Cubao or in Buendia-Taft (LRT) have hourly trips (2:00 am is the first trip) to Lucena. The bus ride costs around P300 and takes no more than three hours. At the Lucena City Grand Terminal, where all buses drop by, mini buses (non-aircon) bound for Mauban leave on an hourly interval. The one-hour and-30 minutes travel costs around P60. First trip is 5 am and last trip for mini bus is 6 pm. There are also air-conditioned vans stationed in Lucena SM Mall going to Mauban for approximately P70 and first and last trip for aircon vans is 9 am and 9 pm respectively. This is faster than mini buses which will take only 1 hour travel time. There is now a direct trip going to Mauban thru Jac Liner at Kamias Edsa station. The schedule of the trip is at 4:30 am and 1 pm only. Fare is around P280.