The Zambales Coves

Zambales lies on the western shores of Luzon Island, Philippines along the South China Sea. This is one of those provinces that pretty much have it all – untainted forest landscape, the Sierra Madre mountain range, communities that practice living traditions and 107 miles of pure beach. Zambales is known as the bastion of the Aetas; they were the earliest Filipinos to migrate to the archipelago more than 10,000 years ago.
Pundaquit, Zambales is one of my favorite sweet escapes from the city turmoil being very economical and its proximity to Manila. Long stretches of almost white volcanic sand (The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 greatly altered the vast landscape) turquoise waters, serene lagoons lined by pine trees and pristine islets set against white sand beaches and rugged mountains dot the western seaboard of Luzon. I love to spend my weekend here with my family and friends – beach bumming, camping and surfing.
Barangay San Antonio is the most popular jump–off point for the popular coves, Anawangin, Talisayen, Silangen, Nagsasa and  Capones and also known for the Magic Left Reef Break with surfers.
To get there from Metro Manila
Bus:  take a three-hour bus ride from the Victory Liner stations in Cubao, Caloocan City, Pasay City or Sampaloc in Manila. Take the Iba or Sta. Cruz-bound bus and ask to be dropped off in front of the San Antonio town hall. From there you can take a tricycle to Pundaquit.
Private Car:  take the Balintawak exit to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). From NLEx, take the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx) exit, then follow the route to Subic Bay Freeport. From the Subic free port tollgate, turn right on Rizal Highway. Then go straight until you reach the dead end. Turn left (on the right is the tollgate to Olongapo City), then turn right on the first intersection (Canal Street) and exit through Kalaklan Gate (tollgate to Zambales). Follow the Zambales highway until you reach the San Antonio town hall.From the town hall, take a tricycle to Pundaquit where boats wait to ferry tourists to the coves.

Pundaquit Jump Off / Magic Left

Pundaquit has a lot of cheap hotels along its shore but  we always go DIY whenever we go camping. And even if San Antonio has a huge wet and dry market, we prefer to purchase everything we need in Manila to save time. The cove has no electricity and has a weak mobile network coverage plus its 30 minutes minimum away from Pundaquit so you need to prepare everything from your tent to food and other personal stuff. Expect that the coves are packed out with campers during weekends most especially on legal holidays.  It is ideal to leave Manila at 2:00 am or 03:00 am so you can reach Pundaquit by 06:00 am. Pundaquit has killer waves and boat men usually refrain from transferring passengers if it’s too strong so might as well be there as early as possible when the waves are still manageable. 

Where to hire a boat / banka?? 

No worries - in this barangay, everybody knows everybody. Just ask the tricycle driver that you need a boat for transport and he can directly drop you off to the boatman's/bangkero's house or just simply go to the shore - ask a local where to hire a boat then he will find you one - special delivery. RT Boat Transfer cost 1000 php as far as I can remember but sometimes it depends upon which cove you are going and the season (It cost too much during summer) or depends upon how great you are in haggling. 

The boats being used are actually fishing boats and yes, its very light but they have life vest so keep calm. 

Anawangin Cove is the nearest cove from the town proper and the most visited with 30 minutes boat ride while Nagsasa Cove is the farthest with an hour boat ride. 

Mount Pinatubo Day Hike

Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Cabusilan Mountains on the island of Luzon, near the tripoint of the Philippine Provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, and Pampanga with 1486 summit elevation. It has been dormant for 400 years until it erupted on June 15, 1991 and created the largest mushroom cloud in the world. The area was the home of the Aetas people – the descendants of the original inhabitants of the Philippines.

Mount Pinatubo is one of the best tourist spot in my country. A lot of travel agencies are offering a day hike and helicopter rides and I was able to visit this amazing place. We booked our day hike with TripPinas Travel and Tour Ventures. Prior on booking this trip, we tried to visit the place using an SUV however; we were not allowed to get in since we need to accomplished a lot of permits and so.

Want to go on a day hike? So here’s the drill. Contact the agency; wait for their reply with their bank account on it. You need to deposit half of the payment to them and then pay the final on the day of the hike and viola!!!

After depositing the partial payment (2,050.00 php per head), an itinerary was sent (read below) and we were advised to religiously follow (If you are late, the van will leave without you and your payment will be forfeited), oh my gee. We arrived at the meeting place at 0300, good thing it was a fast food chain because food was off the deal and I was literally came from a shift so I need to eat. I initially thought that it would be a small tour group but I was wrong - It was massive with a lot of Koreans (as usual).  The itinerary said that we will reach the base camp at 0600 but we left the city around 0530.. 

After an hour and a half, we reached the base camp. They gave our group a number and were advised to look for our 4x4 with the same number on it. There were a lot of 4x4’s on queue waiting for their respective tourist to approach. The 4x4 as stated was open and no seat belts and we were given a local, minor guide. The sun was blazingly hot when we started our travel and it was a 2 hour super - duper bumpy and dusty ride before reaching the jump off and started trekking.

As stated on the IT, we took the old way since the short cut or the sky way was closed that time.

After 2 hours with a few river crossings, we reached the Crater Lake. It was the most beautiful and amazing Crater Lake I have ever been to but I almost faint – really, because I was so hungry and exhausted. We were not ready with our camping equipment so we looked for a perfect spot, grassy and shady to dine.. We were given 2 hours to enjoy the Crater Lake so after our lunch, we went straight to the lake and swim. The water was freezing and sulfuric plus algae were present but since sulfur is good for the skin – we don’t mind. 

The site that time had 2 restrooms but there was no water source so I didn’t bother to change my clothes and stared the trek back. It was past 1500 when we reached the base camp and quickly hopped in to our 4x4 then after that I don't know what happened because I fell asleep, yeah,  an open 4x4 with no seat belt and seated in the front - i fell asleep.. Our driver woke me up when we reached the base camp and told me how worried he was for I was knocked-out dead sleeping and he was afraid I'll fall off the jeep ( I had some lumps on my head though)  We then head straight to the public shower room ( i think it was a 10 php for the shower, yes, its not free). It was 1700 when we stared to head back to Manila. I was so exhausted I just literally dropped my bag as soon as I reached home and planked in our sofa but the experience was all worth it and I'll definitely will go back, I'm thinking of an overnight camping next time.. 

TripPinas IT as of 2012

Good day,

We have received your down payment, thank you.

Please see attached travel voucher. Kindly refer to the itinerary, as well as the list of things to bring.

For any questions, please feel free to ask.

Tour inclusions:

Round trip a/c van transfer (Manila-Pinatubo base camp-Manila)

Round trip 4x4 vehicle

Local guide

Conservation fee

Certificate of conquest

Service of a tour coordinator

ITINERARY (old way)

0230 Meet up time. (McDonalds Panay, EDSA corner Quezon Ave. close to the MRT Quezon Ave. station)

·  Meet the tour coordinator - Sign the waiver form - Pay your balance

·  Make sure to have your breakfast and buy your lunch/water

·  Orientation.

0600 ETA Brgy. Sta. Juliana (base camp) to finalize prior arrangements.

0630 Board 4×4 vehicles.

0730 Start trekking (around 2 hours walking)

0930 ETA at the crater of Mt. Pinatubo.

Swimming, picnic lunch (at clients' account), siesta, taking photos, boat ride (at client’s account)

1200 Start return trek (around 2 hours walking)

1430 Back to the 4x4s.

1530 Back at base camp. Freshen up.

1600 Departure from the base camp to Manila.

1900 ETA Manila (or 2100 in case of Balikatan exercise)

MEET-UP POINT

·  Meet-up point is at 2:30am inside McDonalds Panay,in Quezon City on EDSA corner Quezon Avenue near the MRT Quezon Avenue Station.

·  You will meet the tour coordinator, Mr. Tee (09272429479) inside McDonalds and all the participants will sign the waiver form and pay their remaining balance there. 

   

·  There is a cutoff at the base camp, it's very important to be on time at the meet-up point. If you are late, the van will leave without you and your payment will be forfeited.

·  The meet up point is the last place where you can have your breakfast, buy your packed lunch and water as there is no shop/restaurant at Mt. Pinatubo. We will go straight to the base camp.

·  This is also the last place where you can change (if you want to wear your swim suit)

4x4 VEHICLE

The dispatch of the 4x4 vehicles is based on a queue which means that we can't choose the 4x4 vehicle you will ride. Some are open and some are close, there are no seatbelts.

Each 4x4 vehicle can seat 5 people, so it means you will have one 4x4 vehicle for your group.

TREK

You will use the "old way" to trek Mt. Pinatubo meaning you will walk 2 to 2:30 hours, one way and 4 to 5 hours round trip. There is also a shortcut (called the skyway) that is currently closed.

BOAT RIDE

Rate for the boat ride on the crater lake is Php350/person. You can pay directly the boatmen at the crater lake. The whole boat trip takes around 1 hour and allows you to see the whole crater lake and explore other parts of the lakeshore.

CHANGE OF YOUR GROUP'S HEADCOUNT

Registration at the tourism office is mandatory, which means you can't change the lineup of your group without advising us.

·  If you want to add more participants kindly send us an email before-hand to check if we still have some slots available.

·  If some of you can't join, keep in mind that, no show = forfeiture of your down payment (you can, however, transfer the slot(s) to a new participant provided that it is for the same travel date). Furthermore, if you don't advise us before-hand, the remaining balance of the no-shows will be paid by the other participants of your group.