Touchdown Island
he tricycle ride from San Antonio to Pundaquit took only around 10-15 minutes. The road condition was good, mostly cemented and smooth, except for the fact that one of our Trykes got a flat tire. When we reached the beach, we looked for a boat to take us to Capones Island and people there were enthusiastic and responsive. Andrew was able to use his language skills to haggle for the boat fare and we were able to get a couple for a good price. The beach at that side of Pundaquit wasn't impressive, I asked Manong if the beach in the island was the same as this. He told me the beach there is better with white sands and clear water. We found that two boats were not enough for the 10 of us including our things, so in the safe side, since the water was quite rough, we took a third boat just for all of our stuff. The boat wasn't really that tough looking and the absence of "life-vest" made us more cautious. This made Eds, who's quite a large person to be more jittery, it was his first time to cross an island with a boat like that and there were only a few of us who are really good swimmers. Which may make him think that its one hell of a suicide ride!
Cliff
At first we thought that the islands we could see from the shore were the Capones Islands, turns out that it was farther away, about 30 minutes boat ride through moderately rough waters from the shore of Pundaquit. The island was of interesting shape and there was this high cliff with a single tree standing on top which looks very intriguing. The beach was of white sand and the waters was indeed cleaner here but the waves were strong. We stayed beside the cliff, there were large rock boulders which serve as a shade. As soon as our negotiation with the boatmen were finalized and our things secured, it was the start of the photography mode for most of us. Manong Boatman was able to give as an idea of the island's geography by sketching a map on the sand. And so while others rested beneath the shade the others were wondering around. As i did.
There were lots of drifted Tsinelas (slippers) and shoes at the shore, probably from the beach at Pundaquit. I traversed these large boulders and and rocks along the seashore just to get a glimpse at the other side of the island and boy, the waves were strong. No wonder Zambales is known as one of the surfing spots here in the Philippines. My stomach told me to go back to the shade and have some snacks. I decided to go around the island later when the sun is a bit low so I could catch the sunset at one of the peaks of the island, particularly the lighthouse. Caught the guys there chatting, I took out the Philips portable speakers that I bought so we could have some music during our trips.
