Surviving Caramoan Part 2

Matukad Island

Before going to Caramoan, you should be absolutely sure of the weather in Camarines Sur on the dates for your stay. Tap your inner Ernie Baron and you'll be thankful that you did the research. I'm not saying the bad weather stopped us from having fun, in fact we wouldn't have had our high-risk anecdotes without it. You'll just have to trade snorkeling, comprehensive island-hopping (we did get to go to two islands, some of the other islands were inaccessible to the katig boats because of the waves), and the many photo opportunities you get with the clear waters.

Posing in Baybay Island

Anyway, the islands we did go to were amazing. Baybay island has a beach that went from one side of the island to the other while Matukad island offers powdery white sand and a lagoon which is reported to be enchanted. The locals say enchanted bangus or milk fish inhabit the lagoon and that touching it might spell bad news for you. To get to the lagoon, you will have to climb up the rock formation on the side of the island. With no harness at all. Looking up the big rock, I was actually waiting for Cathy to show us a path beside it but then one of my titos started climbing up. Somebody once said that Camarines Sur boasts about their extreme activities. They weren't kidding. Of course we all did it though. Nothing like coffee and imminent danger to jump-start a day.

climbing up the rock

the lagoon was so-so so

Here's a tip, don't do this if only for the reason of seeing the enchanted lagoon. Climb it for the experience of climbing through rocks and trees without anything between you and a plummet to the beach bellow. Climb it for that, because if you climb it for the lagoon, you'll be disappointed. It's not nearly as pretty as you would expect and you won't even get to go near it unless you go through thorny bushes. Sure the view from the top is amazing looking out to the sea, but the lagoon itself isn't impressive. The Matukad beach however is very impressive. White sand and clear water even with the weather, i had the best time in this island especially since the sand is perfect for skimming. We stayed here until the weather forced us to go back to Gota, but not before a quick look at the next resort being developed by the government. This place still has no name but it's right beside Gota and the formation of the elevated beach-side cottages have an aman pulo feel to it (not like i've ever been there before). They're not furnished yet though, so I still can't tell what you'll be getting for the hefty $200 price tag.

The unnamed resort

That was day 2, that night was new year's eve, Gota treated their guests to a live local cover band and a midnight buffet of steak, fish fillet, pasta and all the beer you can drink! There was a fireworks show which almost ended in disaster when a fuse from the cabana holding all the fireworks got lit accidentally. That was 2 mins worth of fireworks we never got to see. Still was a party to remember though.

Happy New Year!