As promised in my last post, I will post the second installment of our Bicol tour. When I was drafting our itinerary, this was the part I was really excited about. Mainly because this was the leg of our Bicol adventure where I included beach bumming. I’m a sucker for white sand beaches, I cannot change that. 😂

On our second day in Bicol, before heading to Matnog, we tried Mayon via Cagsawa ruins one more time. We waited for half an hour but we were just not that lucky. We had our complimentary breakfast then went straight to Legazpi Central terminal. There are vans and buses with routes to different Sorsogon towns here. We took a van going to Sorsogon City and alighted at the jeep terminal where we can catch a ride to Matnog town proper (1hr van ride and 2hr jeepney ride). Sorsogon is a much bigger province than Albay. Ease of getting to one town from another is not so true here. Although, this province is unspoiled compared to other Bicol provinces I have been too. Its natural beauty made me want to plan another trip back to the province. I enjoyed the view of lush greens at both sides of the highway while I was on my longest jeepney ride ever.

Upon arriving at Matnog town, we registered at the tourism office. We had to pay 70php each for the environmental fees and all. Matnog is the southernmost province of Bicol region. It is actually the gateway to nearby provinces of Visayas. I booked our boat and guide about a week before our trip. Sir Eddie Evasco, the kagawad and president of the boat association in Matnog was my contact (0926 140 4577). He was accommodating given that I have to bug him a day before about how we can get our Sorsogon tour possible. Our guide for our overnight stay was Sir Joel, the brother of Sir Eddie. He accompanied us to the market first to get some groceries and supplies before heading to Calintaan island. We were a bit tired to go full shopping so we just limited ourselves to canned goods and ready to eat food. We had to ourselves a boat that can fit six people. Standard rate for boats to Calintaan island is 1500php for day tour and 2000php overnight. This includes island hopping and a tour guide already.

Weather was quite erratic that day. It poured for a while and when we got to the first island, Mr. Sun was already present. Thank you Papa God! Our first stop was Tikling island. It is privately owned and still undeveloped. Nothing much to see here but the “pink sand” Matnog islands are famous for. They appear pink because of the broken pieces of red corals combined with white sand. Sand is a little bit coarse compared to fine sand of Panglao and Boracay but I did not care at all, the clear waters and untouched beauty of the island captured my heart already. We stayed there for about 15 minutes while our guide shared how Matnog became a popular tourist spot.

It was 2 hours past noon, sun was at its peak and we were so ready to swim. But not yet. We had to make a stop at Juag Lagoon before heading to our resort. The sanctuary is managed by a local couple. Per our tour guide, they started small but expanded after the donations from the tourists who visited the place before. We took a bamboo raft to see the actual site of the fish pens. We threw fish pellets to lure the fishes to our position. I was amazed with how many and how humongous the fishes were! They said some even weigh 15kg! These fishes were only kept here until they die. They are not for sale. They allowed tourists to swim with the fishes before but after a significant number of fishes died from the chemicals from the tourists’ sunscreen, they prohibited visitors to take a dip in the sanctuary waters. Well, this was not an issue for us. We did not have to swim with the fishes to fully enjoy the lagoon experience.

Following our delightful fish encounter, we passed by other tourist sites such as rock formations and Subic Beach A (Subic Beach Liit). We finally reached our destination, Subic Beach B (Subic Beach Laki) around 3PM. There were just a few resorts lying on Subic beach. Most of them you would not find online. We stayed at Tatay Biboy’s resort. You can choose from regular nipa huts to two storey tree houses ranging from 700-1200php. You can also opt to pitch a tent if  you are in a tight budget or just in a camping mood. No need for reservations, but if you are planning to visit during peak season, you can try and contact him to reserve a room (0926 318 4032). Of course, we picked the tree house for comfort as well as for the experience. Tatay Biboy was generous enough to give us a decent discount. They provided pillows, blankets and mattresses. Big yay as I was expecting we will rough it up that night. There’s electricity in the island so rooms are furnished with fans and light bulbs. Room can fit four people. Only caveat was, since it is more of a camp rather than a hotel, we had to share common shower rooms and toilets. Good thing they have water pumps so water availability was not a problem. I’m not particular in how fancy my accommodations are so this place was just perfect for me. But if you are, you can check Holy Trinity Beach resort as an alternative.

I love camping. Huts or no huts, I can survive a night or two camping at the beach. For this specific trip, I was a bit worried on how we can make it as we were just a team of two. But Tatay Biboy’s hospitality was over the top. He offered to prepare our meals for us with the supplies (rice, eggs, canned goods and instant noodles) we bought in Matnog market. We forgot to buy paper plates and cups so he lent us their own utensils and would not let us help in cleaning up. I know, I know. Spoiled guests right? Because of this we decided to pay him the full cottage rent.

There were only four groups staying at the resort that weekend, so lucky us. Not much crowd, not much noise. We spent the rest of our afternoon beach bumming and watching the sunset while enjoying our cold beers. After dinner, my friend and I savored our last night in Bicol by contemplating on life stuff at our tree house balcony. Soon, the soothing sound of the ocean waves rocked us to bed giving us a perfect goodnight sleep.

We dedicated the next morning for a photo op along the beach. Just like the sand at Tikling island, sand here appeared pink because of the coral pieces. Water was so clear and cold that morning. Vegetation was abundant on the other side of the shore. The whole island was just paradise for me. I would never get tired of vacations like this. Never.

After lounging by the shore, we spent the rest of our time in Subic beach swimming. We packed up before lunch since we still have two Sorsogon towns in our itinerary.

As mentioned above, commute in Sorsogon is quite challenging compared to Albay. There are far distances from one town to another. Sir Eddie arranged a chartered tricycle for us. We were bound to check out Bulusan Lake and Irosin hot springs. From the highway, we already saw Bulusan Volcano and it was amazing! Manong driver said the volcano was not dormant and had an activity the other day.

We arrived at Lake Bulusan park after that 30-minute trike ride. We would try kayaking by the lake if we weren’t pressed for time. The lake is too big you might need to allot an hour if you  are planning to kayak around the lake. Place was serene and quiet. A very nice spot to recollect while having a view of Mt Bulusan.

We were hungry already but we thought we might want to finish our tour first. After another 30-minute trike ride, we finally arrived at Irosin’s San Mateo Hot and Cold Springs. It was a Sunday so the resort was really crowded. We were having second thoughts about dipping in the waters but just for the full experience of Sorsogon, we did try the warm and hot pools. I preferred the hot pool. I was surprised it was relaxing, I end up enjoying it. We stayed for about 20 minutes then started to pack up and get ready for our bus ride to Manila.

We left Sorsogon few minutes past 3pm. It was a longer bus ride since we came from the farther part of Bicol. Our Bicol trip was tiring, but definitely worth it. We might not have followed our original itinerary, yet the alternative was just as good. There are other towns in Sorsogon you may opt to visit. Barcelona and Gubat becomes popular to tourists too. I might come back to check these places out if time permits. 😊

Traveling is my only drug and I am not planning to quit anytime soon. I am just happy it was another successful DIY itinerary and travel arrangement.

See detailed itinerary and expenses per person below.

Day 2	Activity	Expenses
7AM	Cagsawa ruins	20
830AM	Jeep to Legazpi terminal	10
10AM	Van to Sorsogon City	90
1130AM	Jeep to Matnog	90
130PM	Tourism Office	70
	Market (supplies and groceries)	200
2PM	Island hopping	1000
	Tikling island
	Juag Lagoon	50
3PM	Accomodation plus donation for services	600
5PM	Beer	50
Day 3	Activity	Expenses
11AM	Chartered Trike	350
	Bulusan Lake	35
	San Mateo Hot Springs	135
3PM	Bus Fare	900
	Meals	150
Total		3750
Albay expenses		2820
Grand Total		6570