Calaguas Itinerary with Kids in Tow

Our tour in Calaguas might be really short but we enjoyed every bits of it, including the boat ride going back to Vinzon. Today I will share with you the simple itinerary of our team building and tips on what to do and bring when you have kids in tow.

Note: We took a package of Php2,300 per head while kids are free of charge. The package includes transportation from our choice of Bus line, boat ride from Vinzon to Calaguas Island and vice versa, island hopping, snorkeling, full board meals (day 1 lunch, dinner breakfast and Day 2 lunch).

You can read more details about our Calaguas Day 1 and Day 2.

Day 0:

09:00 PM - Ride bus from Cubao to Daet thru Superlines Bus

Day 1:

04:30 AM - Touch Down Daet Superlines Terminal
07:30 AM - Departure from Daet to Vinzon (20-30 minutes jeepney ride)
08:30 AM - Left Vinzon; rode a boat to Calaguas
10:00 AM - Arrival at Calaguas Island
10:30 AM - Swimming Time
12:00 PM - Lunch
01:00 PM - Free Time
03:30 PM - Island Hopping (1 island only)
04:30 PM - Snorkeling
05:00 PM - Back to Calaguas
06:30 PM - Dinner
07:30 PM - Lights Off

Day 2:

06:00 AM - Breakfast
07:00 AM - Free Time
08:30AM - Departure from Calaguas
11:00 AM - Arrived at Vinzon; freshen up
12:30 PM - Back to Daet Superlines Terminal
01:00 PM - Lunch
04:30 PM - Bus back to Manila
01:00 AM - Arrival at Alabang Starmall


Our itinerary was very laid back. The only thing was, we had a lot of free time that we could use for trekking but we were so tired of our road trip that my teammates ditched the idea. I can't go on trekking with just me, Daryl and Jami so we didn't push through with it. Besides, we were warned by coast guard that the waves will be huge on our Day 2 so we have to leave the island earlier than 10am. I recommend that you have at least 3 days, 2 nights stay in Calaguas to enjoy it fully. Your Day 1 could be for snorkeling, island hopping and beach time then Day 2 will be for trekking and exploring the island. Since we have work on Mondays, all of us have to go back to Manila. Although I really loved Calaguas' fine sand, wonderful water and amazing scenery, I am afraid I won't be back anytime soon but I will in the future. I really loved the island and the quiet life that it offers. I suggest too to take your tour mid April to May for a huge chance of calmer sea. During the days we were there, the waves were really big and our ride home was kinda scary specially if you have kids with you. Don't fret, boatmen are so used to it they know what to do with those big waves. Just don't forget to pray. =)

Things to Bring: 

1.) Power Banks - No electricity in the day. In the evening, you can get your gadgets charged on a store for a fee of Php20 per gadget.

2.) Lots of Mineral water - specially with kids who are still drink milk. You don't want to use unsafe water or those that came from poso. Although you will be given water during meal time, it will be safe to bring yours. You don't want to risk your kids' safety, won't you?

3.) Battery or Solar Operated Lights - Calaguas offers camp out style of accommodation so better brings lights for your convenience. We brought ours and it really helped us on night time.

4.) Waterproof Bags - Waves can be very unpredictable so to make sure your things won't get wet during your boat ride, better have waterproof bags or bring a huge plastic bags. We bought one in Vinzon that are being sold by the locals. It costs Php16 for a very huge thick plastic bags.

5.) Life Vests for Kids - it's really important during your boat rides as the coast guard will require every one to wear one. Those that are provided by the boatman can be very big for your kids so better to bring one that fits your child. My sister lend me my nephew's vest which fits Jami well. I made sure he's wearing one all throughout our boat ride.

6.) Blankets - it can get really cold in the early morning and as a sapin in the tent.

7.) Cameras/Action cam - of course you would want to capture every corner of Calaguas. You have to make sure that your gadgets has a waterproof cases for it's safety. =)

These are the things that are very useful on your trip. Just make sure you pack light too because with the huge wave, it can get pretty inconvenient carrying a lot of bags plus kids.

Enjoy the remaining days of Summer. =)

Calaguas Island 2017: Part Two

This is the second installment of our Calaguas Team Building.

We literally spent the whole afternoon in the beach because we took tents for our accommodations that day. I loved the idea kasi never pa kaming nag tent and I was excited for Jami because kids love  bahay-bahayan diba? Jami likes going under kumot and magtatago daw sya. This time, he will have plenty of time to go hiding. Haha! =)

As I said from the first installment, we immediately swim our heart out after we arrived. I was surprised to see that Calaguas Island has a long stretch of white, fine sand.

We walked from our tent to one side of the island with a lot of rock formation. I was looking forward for more photos near those rocks and to go to the other side but Jami was a little cranky at that time, probably tired of our long ride.

After some time, I have decided to clean up before our lunch was served by the organizers. Sorry I don't have photos of the food but I could say na hindi tinipid. It will be served buffet style and if they see that the food is running low, maglalabas pa sila. Our food was also shared by another group (yung mga nakasabay din namin sa jeep) so it was a good thing kasi walang napag iiwanan na hindi nakakain. 

Later in the afternoon, we were told we'll go Island Hopping so we changed back to our swimming clothes. I left my phone in our tent because I was thinking na baka mabasa and we don't have a plastic or waterproof bags to put it on. Yun pala, we won't even swim. Hahahah! I was so annoyed with myself na hindi ko dinala yung phones so we don't have pictures from here on. Good thing, my team mate agreed to take photos of us kung hindi, nganga. Hahah!

This island was pretty close to Calaguas. You have to trek and I could say na mejo matarik sya ng slight. I wasn't wearing slippers during this time kaya nag trek ako ng naka paa.

In fairness, ang sakit nya sa paa. Hahaha!

We were at the highest point of the island and it was so peaceful except na mejo madaming tao that time. Someone from another group went down on the rocky side of the island (left side of this photo). Big rocks + big waves means danger! The girl who went down with her group took pictures in one of the flat rocks tapos biglang may malaking alon so she was dragged and got injured. She was slashed by big rocks on her legs and arms but it wasn't that fatal from the looks of it. I believe they called for a rescue because it will be really hard for her to climb back. Mabuti na lang talaga yun lang ang inabot nya because when you look at the place, sobrang dangerous to go down. So next time, safety first! May maganda ka ngang selfie, tegi ka naman diba?

Our tent

After around 45 minutes to 1 hour, we decided to leave the island and went straight to snorkeling. It was very near Calaguas Island lang. I didn't dare to go down the bangka because it's getting dark. I am also worried with Jami na baka matakot because we will leave him with my teammates sa bangka.

When we arrived, Dinner was served shortly after. Mejo hassle lang ng slight yung pagligo because there's only one poso near our place and since we are a group, mahirap maligo. Although they provided 5 restrooms, yung pagkuha ng water ang slightly challenging.

By this time too, naubusan na kami ng battery ng phone and our power bank wasn't charged 100% so ayun. We have no phones for the night. There's no electricity in Calaguas except at night when they open mobile bars. You can get your gadgets charged at a local store for Php20 per gadget.

Good thing, my officemates allowed us to get our gadgets charged thru their powerbanks. =) 

We slept at around 9pm. I struggled a bit because Jami's so pawisin. He was looking for electric fans or AC but since he got really tired the whole day and the night before, he slept immediately.

I woke up around 5am because it was really cold.

Our breakfast was prepared a little later along with our lunch since we have to leave at 10am. The coast guard advised us a day before that waves will get really huge.

I was still looking forward to go trekking pero our officemates decided not to. I lost track of time and didn't realize that we left the island at 8am. It was a good decision because we were the last bangka to be allowed to leave the island.

The waves were really crazy sobrang tataas talaga. Imagine for almost 3 hours of boat ride, malalaki yung alon na kasabay mo??

As in literally parang gustong tumaob ng bangka. I was so scared pero si Jami, tulog na tulog. Daryl got dizzy and masusuka na daw sya, it rained also while we're in the middle of the ocean! Sobrang saglit lang naman so hindi naman kami basang-basa. Now it make sense why locals sell huge plastic bags before you go to Calaguas island.

By the way, we didn't take a bath before leaving the island since there's a chance we'll get wet during our boat ride. True enough, it rained so when we reached Vinzon, we paid 10 or 20 pesos per head to use the bathroom.

 We booked our bus ride the day we arrived in Daet. We rode the Deluxe Bus instead of the first class because it will leave Daet at 4pm than 9pm for the latter. We paid Php550/head. I recommend the Superlines Buses because the ones we rode on were brand new and malinis.

I would say that Calaguas was quite an adventure and I really loved the place. However, I don't think I am going back anytime soon. Halos malaglag ang puso ko sa sobrang takot on our ride back to Vinzon. My advise is to go there during mid April or May to make sure that the ocean will be quiet.

Total Spending in Php:

Calaguas Package (Tour, Transfers, Tents, Food) - 2,300/head
Bus Fare from Cubao to Daet and vice versa - 1,200/head
Breakfast at Vinzon - 180
Use of Bathroom at Vinzon - 40

The rest are personal spending like snacks and Jami's food.

Calaguas Island 2017: Part 1

I never mentioned here in the blog that I recently got promoted. Well, slightly lang naman. Not really promotion levels because I was transferred to another line of business or we call it LOB in call center term. It was the same company and business but it's a different scope of work from when I started. I consider myself so lucky that finally, after 3 years of hoping to join the team, it came true on an unexpected way. :)

Anyhow, I was informed that the team is having an outing in Calaguas. I really got excited since my kumares have been planning to go there sometime ago but it didn't push through. When I received the notice of passing the final interview. Nag happy dance ako! Heheh. It's as if hitting two birds at once. Calaguas and Promotion! Woooo. =D

We.are.going.to.C A L A G U A S !!!

source

It made me happier to know that we were allowed to bring our families with us. Alam nyo naman ang motto ng family namin. "We all go together or we don't go at all." Hahah. But yeah, I always wanted to bring them with me when I travel. Hindi complete and #travelgoals pag wala ang mag-ama.

Going back, we left Cubao at around 9:30pm riding a first class bus of Superlines. I could say that the seat were really comfy with matching leg rest, socket for charging, really cold AC units and a clean portable restroom. We paid 650 pesos/head and I would say na sulit naman talaga. We decided not to pay for Jami's seat and just make him sit on our lap. However, since the trip to Daet would take 8 long hours, hindi ko naman kaya buhatin ng ganon katagal so we shared my seat and occupied some of Daryl's too. It was really uncomfortable especially if you are trying to sleep so if you are willing to pay extra for your kid's seat, please do so to avoid the hassle of trying to squeeze yourselves into one seat. Hahaha.

Waiting to depart

You will be assigned your seat number as first class buses requires early reservations. Just go to their terminal and pay your seats to avoid the hassle.

It only takes an hour and we were all sleeping. I would say that the bus ride was a breeze until we reached a zigzag road. Over talaga sa pagka zigzag that made me woke up. I was a having a very uncomfortable-shared seat with Jami tapos may ganong daan pa. Naloka ako ng very light but it was surprisingly shorter than Baguio or Baler, Aurora so thank God for that.

We arrived in Daet at around 4:30am. We waited in the terminal since we have an officemate and his family that we left behind. They didn't make a reservation so they have to ride a regular or a deluxe bus that would take a 10 hour drive because of stops along the way. When the sun has risen, the kuya who will drive us to Vinzon arrived. We rode a jeepney and thought it was all for ourselves pero hindi pala, we waited for some group in a Jollibee along the way but that's fine. It was a little masikip but you'll get along kasi it's a really short ride lang naman.

After around 20 minutes of jeepney ride, we arrived at what looked like a port kasi madaming bangka. Heheh. But before that, we bought breakfast in one of the local store. There were a lot of local kids who are selling plastic bags. Akala ko para talaga sa used clothes so I wasn't planning to buy kasi 16 pesos each eh pero gave in later on. Yun pala, the purpose of it is to put your bags inside the plastic to avoid it being wet while riding the banca. It took us about an hour before we left Vinzon because of the coast guards approval. They asked us to fill out a paper form with our names, address and emergency contact person in 3 copies. Hindi uso ang carbon paper so we have to manually fill out 3 papers which took a while. We left Vinzon past 8am.

Our boat ride took 2 hours to get to Calaguas Island so we had time to nap. The sea was calm  as well so it was a smooth sailing. I could say that this was the longest boat ride that I ever took in my entire life. After a while, we saw wonderful islands and I am surprised to see that the sands were white and fine. It didn't last long until we docked in the island.

I was so glad to see Calaguas finally!

The sand is as fine as Boracay but the water is a lot better.

We will be sleeping on tents that day which was one of our many firsts as a family and what made our trip more exciting. I always wanted to try to sleep on a tent. Hehehe! It was kinda humid that day so we dragged the tents under the small trees around. The ones on your right are our group's tents.

To ease out the hot weather, we decided to swim immediately.

Could you see the cabanas and tables over there? That is where our tour guides/organizers serve our meals (included in our package are full board meal breakfast, lunch and dinner).

Stand by for the continuation of our Calaguas Trip. =D