Approaching the Islands
rom Alaminos, it was only a 15 to 20 minutes drive to the Pantalan, Lucap Pangasinan. The Pantalan is the port to the Hundred Islands, where the DENR station is based. Upon arriving, there were a number of vendors who hoarded us, trying to sell their souvenir shirts and items, as well as rentals for those Salbabidas (floating devices made from the inner rubber cushion of tires). I checked on the DENR Office to register and get some information. There's an entrance fee of 30Php per person. There were also camping fees per pitched tent on developed on developed islands, ranging from 100 to 300. Well that's what you get from developed places, they get more expensive. I just wish they had some brochures they give away which had the map of the islands, like the one on their display. I paid what is needed and checked on the others.
Marco already took care of the boat. He was able to negotiate on a trip of the islands and picking up on the island where we would be spending the night. It would seem that the regular operation of boats here is to take you only to a chosen island and leave you there and go back at the assigned pick-up time. What I was planning was to go around the islands, instead the Boatmen just toured us of, pointed out the islands and described them.
Governor Island Beach
I must admit, I'm a bit impressed on the landscape and seascape here. The chunks of islands was new to me, though Marco who was able to visit Palawan told us that it was just a midget version of El Nido. The first island we landed on was Governor's island, the island with the highest peak, where you have a nice panoramic view of the surrounding islands. There were already a group of people there, a family perhaps. It was only a short hike up to the summit of the island, but it was mid-day and you'll end up all sweaty due to the heat of the sun. It was indeed a nice panorama. After taking some photos I tried going up on the other side of the island where there was no established trail. And it was a disappointment, the trees were not cleared like the other summit. I went down to find the others already in the boat waiting for me.
We continued with our island tour passing by the Turtle, Marcos and Cathedral Islands. We then docked into "Quezon Island" where we plan to have our lunch. And boy, it was one crowded place. We now call it the "Luneta" island. We just settled under the shade so we don't have to pay for some tables. I wondered around to take some photos. I went up to look for the said "Quezon" statue which overlooks the island. Wasn't that impressive though. Also looked for the Sirena (sirens) which I found to have a broken arm and nose. How disappointing. There were too many people here and I really don't see some people in charge or just overlooking the island. There were some trash around and the facilities are dirty. I got into this platform to take some pictures. There was this foreigner who asked to take a video of him. Well I accepted, he seems to be glad he got here in his narrations. It was his first time in the Philippines and he seems to be enjoying his stay. As soon as I'm done with his video I left him on the platform still enjoying the sights.
Sirens of Quezon Island
At lunch we were thinking of alternative places to go in Pangasinan it would seem that there's nothing much to see in the 100 islands, as far as I think of it. Not that the place isn't that good, but it's lacking a certain exotic feel to it. It looks nice and all but the ambience is no longer there. We finished our lunch and just decided to go to one of the good snorkeling sites around. We were taken to Clave Island. The island indeed has nice clear waters and isn't very rocky. The guys decided to snorkel so I joined them in. The water is nice and calm but i didn't get to see much though. Marco was able to go deeper and see some fishes, as for me I feel my ear drums are going to burst just going below 6 feet. Am not used to normalizing yet, that's why my eardrums were sore afterwards.
We didn't stay long in the island. We headed back to "Governor's" Island where we decided to stay for the night.
