Two thousand pesos, with this amount of money, you can go to one of the most admired places of travelers, the Nagsasa Cove in Zambales. Its crystal clear water, serene atmosphere, and the breathtaking view from the hill top will surely make everyone fall in love with how simple life is in this place even without social communication, zero access of media entertainment and the online world.
Getting there from Baguio City. There are two routes of getting to San Antonio, Zambales, 1. Baguio – Dau – Olongapo – San Antonio or 2. Baguio – Sta. Cruz – San Antonio. The first route is perfect for late night travelers since the earliest trip going Sta. Cruz from Baguio is at 6 a.m with Victory Liner. Although, when taking the first route, make sure not to take a trip earlier than 1 a.m because the first trip going to Olongapo from Dau is at 5 a.m. All the same, take whatever route works for you as long as you don’t waste time and money.
We took a late night trip, 1 a.m; it was smooth and comfy. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait for buses in every bus station. We set foot in San Antonio at 8 a.m and met our boatman who we contacted before going there. The good thing about contacting a boatman beforehand is that you can haggle, know what is included with the boat fee and make arrangements earlier. Please bargain reasonably enough for you and the boatman.
Our boatman was Kuya Johnny, I got his number from a blog. I think many bloggers have already recommended him on their posts and they are right about how kind this man is. He’s very chatty and he speaks Ilocano.
We weren’t supposed to go island hopping because of some additional fees but he took us to a part of Camara Island and Anawangin Cove to take pictures. By the way, our boat fee was 2,000php. It includes a box of ice, a big container of water and a tent. The boat trip from San Miguel/Pundaquit to Nagsasa will take about an hour. In our case, we stopped by Camara Island and Anawangin so it took us more than an hour.
When we got to Nagsasa, we were so happy with how peaceful the place is. There were only a few people probably because it was a Wednesday then. There is no signal so you might want to turn off your phone when not using it. There are stores owned by some Aetas who take care of the place, their prices are usually twice of the SRP so buy everything you need from San Antonio. Aside from swimming, you can trek in the afternoon, early morning or whenever the sun is not burning. The view from the hill is breathtaking..
Below is our itinerary and breakdown of expenses.
Words are not enough to describe how beautiful this place is. It’s also not something that you just Google. It’s a place to be. Waves are usually strong so be ready with bumpy and crazy boat rides. Enjoy your trip.
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