Friday, January 15, 2010

Surviving Caramoan (Part II)

My dormmate from Spain and I went to Caramoan in search of adventure. And boy did we get the adventure we're looking for!

The trip started with an early-morning Cebu Pacific plane ride from NAIA 3 to the Pili Airport (which Cebu Pacific markets as "Naga" for better name recall). Budget flights are fast becoming popular in the Philippines and Cebu Pacific -- it has to be said -- is getting a lion's share in the low-cost airlines business here.

The flight to Naga was uneventful, save for the door of the stewardess' pull chair that got unhinged upon take-off. From Naga, the van that we had previously contacted fetched us to Sabang Port. The 1.5-hour trip from the airport to Sabang costs about Php1200 one-way (US$ 26, US$1=Php 46), so the more people that go, the cheaper the shared fare gets. Alternatively, tourists could take a van to SM Naga and from there take another van to Sabang. Travel time lengthens considerably, though.

From Sabang, we took the local outrigger boat to the island of Caramoan. This part of the trip was definitely not for the faint-hearted since the two-hour boat ride traverses waters of the Pacific. The trip costs Php120. Be sure to pee before embarking on this part of the trip, lest you expose all your glory to the fishes of the ocean and the passengers of the boat.

(To be continued...)

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