Calaguas Island — Attraction in Vinzons

Calaguas island is one of Camarines Norte's best kept secrets. I hope it stays that way because the beach is just straight up beautiful.

Traveled to Calaguas island via Mambulao Pacific hotel. The boat ride was 2 hours but we weren't bored since they had a videoke machine aboard.

The sand and the water was very nice. I say it's up there along waimanalo beach in Hawaii, and Cancun in Mexico.

There are booths that you can rent out for the whole day but I saw some groups bring their own tents, so I guess that's allowed. We also went there for a day trip and looking back, maybe we weren't at the best spot to enjoy better amenities. There are other resorts lined up by the beach so I highly suggest looking them up via internet before coming over. I believe they all promote their Facebook page vs TripAdvisor and they also use their FB as a booking tool. It's less hassle if you check that out first. The place that we're at had deep well pumps that people can use to rinse themselves off. It's unlimited water use if you're in the booths in the front, and 50 pesos per water bucket if you're in the backside. The toilets were pretty funky since its awkwardly low. It's honestly one of the worst places to do a #2. Do yourself a favor and just skip doing a code brown, if you can hold it. However, it's decent enough as a changing room.

There are stores where they sell mango shakes, souvenirs, some food, etc. They're a little pricey, but that's expected when they know they're the only choice on the island.

Back to the good stuff! This is the island that you want to be at if you want to be OFF THE GRID! Tired of your phone always buzzing? Feeling the need to disconnect your kids from their phone and reconnecting them with you and nature? This is the place for that.

We'll be back, soon,...

June 2024 Calaguas Experience.

At Vinzon port, there were locals selling big plastics bags for your things/bags for only 30 pesos. The plastic is a must to protect your belongings not to get wet during boat transportation.

Boat Ride: Need to take 2hr. boat ride from Vinzon but the island is incredibly worth it! Blue water and a fine white sand with other activies such as trekking is a plus 🫶🏼

No signal on the area for both Smart and Globe. The island offers wi-fi (Starlink) for 100 pesos good for 2.5hrs.

Charging station: 50 pesos for a phone, 100 pesos for a powerbank (until the device reaches 100% or until you decided to remove the devide from charging). You may use your phone while charging and check from time-to-time.

There were small stores that offers drinks and food: shakes, coffee and ihaw-ihaw, respectively for a reasonable price. Shakes ranges from 60-100 (Small to Large). Ihaw-ihaw also affordable; isaw15 pesos, bbq25pesos.

Night life: we didn’t experience to witness the fire dance at night due to heavy rain. But the locals said that fire dance usually happended every saturday night.

As additional experience, I would suggest adding on the experience of flying a lantern at night (like we did). It was a magical and unforgettable experience that truly enhanced my visit. I highly recommend trying it out for an added touch of wonder. (We brought the lantern ourselves. There is no lantern being sold on the island.)

Overall experience, 10/10. Will...

Calaguas Island is without a doubt a paradise. An awesome destination for a weekend getaway that is accessible by land travel and a relatively short boat ride. There is this "wow", captivating feeling the moment you set foot on the island. All you wanna do is to take many pictures around. Food served to us was satisfying, a good balance of meat and veggie. We love the Sinantol, a local delicacy made from mashed Santol cooked in coconut milk spiced with chili. Few comments though why I gave it a 3-star review:

1. Locals were charging people twice for the Tinago Hill entrance fee. First is when you're at the foot of the hill before the trek and second is when you're atop and about to enter the makeshift welcome gate. I don't know what's going on here. Are they ripping off tourists? Hmmm.

2. Commenting on this bec it is also part of the overall experience. I think Vinzons port is not built on a strategical and proper location. It is located somewhat on the inner end of the river, therefore, not deep enough for mid- to large-sized boats. So what happens is that our boat always get stuck in the riverbed and crews had to push the boat with a bamboo pole every time. This happened not just once or twice but like 5 times causing people delays. We also experienced unsystematic way of unloading of...