Me (to my travel buddy): Can you go up there and be my drone? 📍Quezon Island
🇵🇭HUNDRED ISLANDS ADVENTURE PRIMER🇵🇭
✈️🛳🚌 How to get to Hundred Islands National Park, Pangasinan:
⏺ Ride a bus from Metro Manila bound for Bolinao/Alaminos (e.g. Five Star Bus in Cubao or Pasay).
⏺ Alight at the bus terminal in Alaminos City (travel time: 5 – 6 hours depending on traffic condition and number/duration of stop-overs).
⏺ Ride a tricycle to get to Lucap Wharf which serves as the jump-off.
⏺ Register and hire a boat for island hopping.
Ever since I was a kid, I had been so curious what Hundred Islands National Park looks like. The child in me had always wanted to visit this place. Does it really live up to its name of having hundreds of islands? 📍Governor’s IslandKnowing that Hundred Islands is one of the most mainstream tourist destinations in the country, I’ve been delaying my visit here because I don’t like crowded tourist spots. But I still badly wanted to see for myself why lots of people flock to Hundred Islands. 📍Governor’s IslandI have seen these islands of Alaminos thrice. It was always a different yet fun experience every single time I’d visit Hundred Islands. 📍Marcos Island
⏰⏳ SAMPLE DAY TOUR ITINERARY:
12:00 AM ETD for Alaminos
5:00 AM ETA Alaminos / breakfast / buy packed lunch
6:00 AM Start of Island Hopping
12:00 PM Lunch
4:00 PM Head back to Lucap Wharf
5:00 PM Wash up
6:00 PM ETD for Manila
💰💶 ESTIMATED BUDGET (for a solo traveler): Php 3,000 – Php 3,500
***Expenses may vary depending on personal consumption of food and other necessities. If traveling alone, you will solely shoulder the boat rental fees for island hopping.
Before my trip to Coron and Gigantes in November 2015, my friend and I wanted to go on a beach bumming trip and I quickly thought of Hundred Islands. I think it’s about time because I’ve been postponing my plans to see these islands of Pangasinan for the past two years or so. This would be the first time I’d be exploring these famous islands in northern Philippines. 📍Governor’s IslandIt was still dark when we reached the bus terminal at dawn. We waited until 5:00 AM at a small 24/7 bakery before our rented tricycle took us to Lucap Wharf. 📍Quezon IslandConsidering it was a weekday in November, there was no one around yet that morning. The registration area was still closed. 📍Governor’s IslandWe availed of the more expensive service boat so we could have control of our itinerary. The boat assigned to us was the smallest one. There were portions that we had to brave rough northeast monsoon waves but the majority of scattered islands protected us. 📍Quezon IslandWe had side trips to lesser-known islands but the highlight of our island hopping tour was visiting Quezon Island, Cuenco Island and this island known for its viewing deck overlooking the islands of the national park, Governor’s Island.We climbed up the seemingly never-ending staircase to reach the starting point of the zipline.The zipline ride may be a short ride but the view as you transit above the islands is absolutely breathtaking.You will then be flown to Virgin Island. Just walk through this bridge to get back to Governor’s Island.Next on our list was Quezon Island with this cute little bridge. Just like Governor’s Island, the place was virtually deserted.We roamed around the island and took photos as we walked. Because we didn’t have to wait for so long to have our pictures taken due to lack of photobombers, we were able to finish our tour of the island in just a few minutes.We had our last photo session at this bridge of Quezon Island before we sailed to the snorkeling spot where we could see giant clams. But because the visibility was poor and the current was way too strong due to rough waters, we decided to just chill at our last stop. Too bad we weren’t able to dock at Marcos Island because of huge waves since our boat was way too small.This mouth of Cuenco Cave welcomed us as we neared the shore. I didn’t know there was a huge surprise waiting for us behind this cave.We walked a few meters and this side of Cuenco Island greeted us. Our trip wouldn’t be complete without taking a refreshing swim.We bid goodbye to Cuenco Island and headed back to the wharf. We were able to finish our island hopping adventure in just a few hours. We had a quick lunch at a burger station at the city proper of Alaminos before hopping on a bus bound for Bolinao.
📜✏️ Tips/Reminders:
📌If you opt to charter a regular boat, you will be given a choice of three islands and you can only explore two of the islands for a maximum of 20 minutes each while you will be staying at the third island for the rest of the day until the boatmen pick you up at the agreed time. If you want a whole day tour of all islands that you can visit without time limit, you can avail of the more expensive service boat.
📌You can rent snorkeling gears and life vests upon registration.
📌Expect rain and rough sea condition during monsoon season (June-February).
📌Hundred Islands National Park is crowded during summer (March-May).
📌You can join organized travel events online to save on time and cut on costs.
📌Always observe the LNT principles.
It was a weekend of January 2018 when I joined an organized travel event in Hundred Islands. A friend of mine invited me on day trip to Alaminos. 📍Quezon IslandIt’s about time to go back and take quality photos of the place. For one thousand pesos per joiner, I think it’s relatively cheap. 📍Quezon IslandI was already expecting the place to be a blockbuster venue of thousands of tourists though. I was right all along. The parking space at the wharf was full of vehicles when we arrived. 📍Quezon IslandOur first destination this time was Cuenco Island. I had a familiar feeling as our boat was nearing its shore.There were no boats yet aside from ours so we took advantage of having the cavern all to ourselves for our pictorial.We proceeded to the other side with cottages facing this islet. Time to jump and swim!Only a few of us could swim so I was able to have this picture taken without other people in my frame.We bid goodbye to the island and took a few more photos here at the cave’s mouth before hopping on our boat en route to our next destination.We sailed next towards this island which is one of the busiest spots in the national park. 📍Quezon IslandThe last time I was here, it was so empty so I was kinda shocked when we parked our boat by the island’s docking area. Now I understand why Cuenca Island was so quiet. It seemed as if all tourists decided to stay here.My friend and I headed towards this small bridge connected to an islet. I wanted to recreate the photo I had here a few years ago.Another spot to get some pictures was below the bridge. You would notice some boats parked on my right. The island almost ran out of space for boats to dock.It was a bit challenging to frame our photos because of the number of tourists dispersed everywhere. I asked one of our boatmen how crowded it is during Holy Week. Normally, approximately 10,000 people visit according to him. The municipality would even run out of available boats for visitors.Since Quezon Island seems to be the most developed of all the islands, with concrete cottages and picnic areas, drone-ish shots like this are possible when you make use of your surroundings. What I also love about this island are the different angles you may consider for your photo session.You’re probably wondering why I don’t have other people in my pictures. The truth is, I had to patiently wait for photobombers to get out of my frames because there were loads of tourists during this second visit of mine. It’s peak season after all. And who wouldn’t forget our ordeal in this spot of Quezon Island? We had to fall in line just so we could have our solo photos taken.Our group had lunch in this island. Thank the gods there’s still an available cottage for us for it was jam-packed with tons of tourists as well. We then took a peek at Imelda Cave. Too bad I wasn’t able to take pictures of it since it was full of people.We traveled next to Governor’s Island, famous for its viewpoint overlooking the islands.The islands in my pictures at this spot were now well-lit considering the sun’s position in the afternoon compared to my photos here in 2015 which were captured against the morning light.Literature says that the protected area of Hundred Islands is comprised of a total of 124 islands at low tide and 123 when it is high tide, although most of the islands don’t have a shoreline where a boat could dock.We crossed this floating bridge from Governor’s Island and capped off our day tour at Virgin Island where we swam until late in the afternoon. And what’s the best thing which I really love when you join a random travel event? You get to go home with newfound friends.Fast forward to March 2019, we had an over-the-weekend family getaway in Pangasinan. It was a quick day tour in Hundred Islands before we made our way to Bolinao where we spent the night. 📍Marcos IslandThe sea was rough during our visit but thankfully, we were able to dock here at Marcos Island. I wasn’t able to take ample pictures here in 2018 so I made sure to include this island on our list.I no longer took photos of the other islands because I already had enough for my portfolio which were all captured in 2018. I opted to just enjoy Hundred Islands without being pressured to get images of each island.A lot of you might not want to include Hundred Islands in their bucket list for it being a prominent go-to family friendly destination. I was actually expecting it to be so abused and dirty with loads of clutter but to my surprise, the islands are relatively clean. You might see a piece of candy wrapper or used bottle of mineral water floating here and there but generally, the beaches are well maintained. I just don’t like the commercial buildings like restaurants that were built on the islands but considering this place is a popular tourist attraction, that’s quite inevitable.
***For other destinations in Pangasinan and Ilocos Region, you may visit this link.
