Alaminos, Province of Pangasinan
03 April 2016
Dr. NRV arrived first and then came Ms. Rhea with Weng from Cavite.
We left the office at 0210H. We were four. I took the middle seat together with Ms. Weng while Ms. Rhea took the seat beside the driver. Dr. NRV was our driver.
The Hundred Islands National Park is located in Alaminos, province of Pangasinan. According to google maps, it is approximately 254 kilometers from Manila and more or less a 5-hour drive on a private vehicle via NLEX, SCTEX, TPLEX, Paniqui-Camiling Rd, Romulo Hwy, Tarlac-Pangasinan Rd, Olongapo Bugallon Rd, Alaminos.
At around 0500H, we had a rendezvous at Petron along NLEX for a coffee and to buy other items that we will be needing.
From NLEX, we exited at Mabalacat towards SCTEX and then turned right towards TPLEX and then we go straight.
At 0644H, we were at Paniqui-Ramos Rd. We missed to turn right to Paniqui-Camiling Rd. and so we had to find our way out through a narrow rough road at the middle of a farm towards the Paniqui-Camiling Rd. We had so much fun as we passed-by the farm.
At 0754H, we reached the city of Alaminos in Pangasinan. We learned from the locals to get to Lucap Port and get a boat to get to the Hundred Islands.
Finally, after going around for a while, we were at the Lucap Port at 0815H. At the port, we walked towards the tourism office to register and get a boat.
There are three boat sizes available - small, medium and the large one. The large boat can load max of 15 pax including the guide. We took the large boat. We were only four.
At 0845H, we started our exciting island hopping adventure.
According to Wikipedia, The Hundred Islands National Park (Pangasinan: Kapulo-puloan or Taytay-Bakes) is a national park in the Philippines. The protected area is located in the city of Alaminos, in the province of Pangasinan in northern Philippines. The islands, totaling 124 at low tide and 123 at high tide, are scattered in Lingayen Gulf covering an area of 16.76 square kilometres (6.47 sq mi). Only three of them have been developed for tourism: Governor Island, Quezon Island, and Children's Island. The Lucap wharf in Alaminos, the entrance to the National Park, is about 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
The islands are believed to be about two million years old. They are actually ancient corals that extend well inland, in an area previously comprising the seabed of an ancient sea. The lowering of the sea level have exposed them to the surface. The peculiar "mushroom-like" shapes of some of the islands were caused by the eroding action of the ocean waves.
The locals said that there are atleast 20 named islands. Our first stop was the Governor's Island where we had a buko juice and many photo shoots. The island was crowded at that time.
From the Governor's Island, we sailed towards Romulo Island. At 0935H, we were enjoying the cool and clear waters around the island.
From Romulo Island, we proceeded to the Marcos Island where we had another fun swimming at the shallow waters.
From Marcos Island, we passed by Lopez Island and took some shots before proceeding to Quezon Island, the most crowded island at that time. We didn't stay long at the island because of the crowd.
From Quezon Island, we proceeded to the Children's Island passing by the bat island and several other unnamed islands.
We reached the island at 1121H and stayed there until 1156H. We had so much fun swimming and taking photos at the rock formations.
At the port, we had a quick shower, tidy up, had a nice lunch and then traveled back to Manila. We left Alaminos at 1412H. We were back at 1915H.
--o0o--
