Guta de Leche: Island lagoons
360 view of Caramoan on top of Mt. Caglago
This will be the first in the series about Caramoan. Since there are some people asking how to get there, this would serve as a simple guide.
Dutch travelers in the 1600s call this island as Guta de Leche, a name that used t describe the milk-drop stalagmites found at the Gota Beach port. Later, the Spaniards arrived and called the place Carahan, due to the nuerous sea turtles found at the beach at that time. It was later renamed to what is called today as Caramoan in 1687 by Spanish friar Francisco De la Cruz Y Oropesa.
To get to Caramoan which is around 501km from Manila, you have to get to Naga first. Cubao has buses going to Naga even straight to Sabang port. If you decide to stop first in Naga, you have to ride a Van to Sabang which is around 2 hours. Then from Sabang port, you’ll be riding a boat to Caramoan port, Guihilao which is about 2 hours. From Guihilao you’ll have to ride a jeep to the Centro which is about 30 minutes more. From there you can ask for lodgings available at the area. The Centro will be your Hub while at the area.
First interesting stop would be climbing Mt. Caglago in Barangay Tabgon. It is one of the tallest mountains in Caramoan and one of the easiest to climb as well. They said it has about 527 steps, which I didn’t manage to count, but once you get on top, the large statue of Our Lady of Peace will greet you. It has an amazing 360 degrees view of the whole Caramoan and it will serve as a preview of the islands you’ll be visiting. Oh yeah, going up you have to bring one sack which contains very few rocks (about ¼ filled) when going up the steps. It’s a tradition.
Matukad Island’s fine white sand beach
If you want to do some island hopping, you must first get to Gota beach where you’ll be able to hire boats to take you to different islands. This will test your haggling skills.
The nearest island in Gota Beach is Matukad Island which I was able to preview earlier. It is one of the most scenic and I think has the best white san in Caramoan. It’s a small island but in seclusion it would be you private hideaway.
Matukad Island’s hidden lagoon
Speaking of hideaway, Matukad Island has a hidden lagoon. If you climb the limestone formations at the end of the island, you’ll be able to see the lagoon at the center. Do be careful though as the rocks are a bit sharp and you’ll do a lot of wall climbing in the process. But the view above is very rewarding as you’ll get to see the whole stretch of Matukad Island’s beach.
Tayak Island shores and limestones
If you long to see more lagoons, a visit to Tayak Island would be worth while. It is an island 30 minutes away by boat from Matukad Island. It doesn’t have sands as fine as Matukad’s, but there are impressive huge limestones by the beach.
Tayak’s large lagoon with our guide sitting by the tree branch.
Just a short trek from the beach you’ll be able to view a large lagoon. At that time, it would have been great to swim but the locals have this superstition or belief during the holy week’s Good Friday. They believe that a man-eating monster, which we soon named “Big Fish”, lurks on its waters. Our guide strongly believe this since they, threw a dog there and they saw how it was eaten. It was a really interesting story, enough for us not to try to lurk in its deeper water.
Tags: Bicol, Camarines Sur, Caramoan Peninsula, Climb, Mount Caglago
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Thursday, May 4th, 2006 at 9:42 pm 
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May 5th, 2006 at 12:38 am
meron pala tayong local version ng rio de janeiro.. nice shot.
May 5th, 2006 at 3:33 am
wow…really great trip..the landscape and the blue sea r beautiful…i may have to put the philippines to my top list of my next vacation:-) thank for sharing a story and nice photos…always enjoy visting here:-)
May 5th, 2006 at 9:34 am
@Ymir - Onga no, didn’t know Rio de Janeiro has that too… medyo nag re resemble nga yung landscape sa Rio
@Outdoorexposure: Yes you should! There’s a lot to see here!
May 5th, 2006 at 9:43 am
It looks very unspoiled and pristine!
Reminds me of the “The Beach” movie with DiCaprio
May 5th, 2006 at 9:11 pm
I’m learning alot from your travels, pare. This one goes to my travel list right away.
May 6th, 2006 at 9:17 am
yeah i thought it was rio de janeiro grabe dyan ah ganda, superb, lalo pang gumanda dahil sa shots mo ferdz!
May 7th, 2006 at 12:43 pm
Ang ganda! You should start a Philippine tourism magazine publication when you’ve got a lot of these stuff.
May 27th, 2006 at 1:32 pm
astig! iv been in gota for so many times wen i was a kid… my dad’s family is from caramoan.. im looking forward to go to matukad beach… i never thought na ang ganda pla dun sa matukad… its so sad na sira na pla ung statue ng mama mary sa mt. caglago, sana ma-restore nila agad un… we went there 9 years ago… the view from mt. caglago was so spectacular, awesome, jaw-dropping.. wla akong masabi…
August 2nd, 2006 at 12:45 pm
I am from Bicol and i have been to Caramoan many times as a former Broadcast-Journalist based in Naga City but I regret not going to the beautiful islands of Caramoan. I swear I will go there very soon.
August 21st, 2006 at 9:56 am
It’s the plan of God, to have a great and beautiful nature of Caramoan.
I love this place so much. Where my relatives lived there.
December 29th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Hi Michael King Pontanares! im just curious where exactly in caramoan you’re from…
March 12th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Hi!
My friends and Ia re planning to visit caramoan this holy week. Any resorts or lodging place you can recommend?
Thanks!
April 8th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
i’ve been here sort of like 10 years ago and it’s really really beautiful breath taking ba especially if u go up mt. caglago very refreshing and fulfilling when u reach the top. i want to go back again this may but i cant find any contact how to get there na coz i haven’t got any contact with my friend who brought me there 10 years ago . does anybody have any suggestions or ideas on lodgings and guide on how to get to the nice places??? would gladly appreciate any information given…thanks
June 17th, 2007 at 8:40 am
This is probably one of the best local destination that i would recommend… long travel though but its worth the long trip… You’ll be in paradise anyway!
August 7th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
i think this picture was taken 1 year ago or more…becouse the new image of Our Lady of Peace is more beautiful and artistic.
August 7th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
hello..taga caramoan aq,and gusto qng mg thnk you for posting these beautiful picture of caramoan..although ndi q yan naapriciate nung andun p aq, aware nmn aq n super ganda ang view samin..thank you.w8 sana next tym mag post k nman ng latest pic of Our Lady of Peace,ung bagong gawa.
September 12th, 2007 at 12:51 am
d lang pala palawan ang my magandang limestone, And ang daming sites to explore. i wish to visit Caramoan soon!
September 26th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
hi, do you have contact numbers for homestays in the area or you just took a chance when you got there? nice pics by the way!
January 24th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
nice place. emkos.hehe
March 24th, 2008 at 9:08 am
malapit lang ako dyan bt nabalitaan ko pablik nko ng manila WAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Hi. I read in your post that there are buses that directly go to Sabang port. What bus lines are those? It’ll be better kasi if there are less change of transpo during the trip. Are the beaches easy to go to from the Centro or do we have to ride a boat? Your help will be very much appreciated. Thanks much.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:53 am
yea! it was a great beach
we went there summer of 2008 and wow! it was a beauty
we did went to that lagoon… surely it was an adventure trekking to get to that lagoon…
but we didnt swim, dunno why maybe we dont feel like swimming there
there is a resort in gota beach and i guess it was the best place we’ve slept on during our trip to bicol…
and may i suggest one thing… if you dont like a really long trip to get out of the caramoan… dont take the boat taxi… they’re friggin 3 hours! an my ass was in pain haha… take the bigger one…