Bicol Road Trip

For the longest time I have been bugging Bok to vacation in Donsol and swim with the whale sharks. Several years later, here we are!

We took our Innova (nicknamed Pinoy Big Blackie) to a roadtrip from Manila to Bicol and back. It was actually supposed to be Bok's birthday trip, pero kawawa naman si Bok kung magda-drive sya sa birthday nya diba? Kaya we had the outing the weekend before his birthday, plus we had to compress everything because most of the folks only had Monday off.

Our itinerary took us to Donsol for the whale sharks and to CWC for the wakeboarding. We left Manila midnight Friday and arrived at Donsol around 3pm on Saturday.

Our itinerary:

Friday Night: leave for Bicol! We left Manila right before midnight, and gassed up at the Shell station in E.Rodriguez. It was 3 minutes before midnight, but the gas station already raised their prices by 1 peso. Bad trip! Medyo traffic din sa southbound portion ng EDSA, turns out the MMDA was doing some road repairs on both sides of the road. SLEX was also slightly heavy.

Day 1: Saturday: We got a bit lost in Batangas, but eventually found our way to the road bound for Quezon. When we reached Bicol though, there was a huge traffic jam on the shorter way bound for Sipocot -- it turns out portions of the road were being repaired and were passable only one-way. Syempre malamang may mga di nagbigayan, deadlock, ayun traffic jam! We had to divert to the longer way that would pass through Daet and Bitukang Manok, where we had to stop because Zoe puked. Haha, she was so lively right before, sayaw sayaw pa sya ng "single ladies" and "low", tapos maya maya di na mapakali at umiiyak na, tapos ayun, nahilo na pala at nasusuka pala.

Lessons learned: When travelling through zigzag roads, do not let a child with a full stomach dance and jump to her heart's content in a fast moving car.

Zoe's photo sessions:

We had lunch at Naga City, then proceeded to Donsol. We arrived at our homestay around 3pm. We stayed at Aguluz Homestay at Barangay Awaii, a barangay away from where the Donsol tourist center is located. All of the resorts I tried to contact that were in Barangay Dancalan were fully booked. The owners were accommodating. The 6 of us stayed in their biggest room, which had its own toilet and bath as well. Aguluz is around 7 minutes drive away from the tourist center.

In the evening we took a boat to see the fireflies. Enchanting! Sayang lang umulan bigla, and we had to go back.

Places to Stay in Donsol: Vitton Beach Resort is right beside the tourist information center. Amor Farm Beach Resort, Woodland resort and Casa Bianca are also located in the same barangay (Barangay Dancalan) as the tourist center, but you'd need to walk a few minutes. Their contact numbers can be Googled. We stayed at a homestay in Barangay Awaii. Aguluz Homestay even has a Friendster profile! Cost per person: 350 pesos.

Day 2: Sunday: Whale watching day! Our homestay cooked breakfast for us, and after a hearty breakfast, we proceeded to the Donsol tourist center. We didn't wake up early enough though, so we had to wait and managed to board a boat almost 10 AM already. It was a bit rainy, and the visibility in the water wasn't that good, but still we managed to see 5 whale sharks. We had lunch at the nearby Vitton's Beach Resort. We left Donsol around 3pm, and drove back to Naga City, where we checked in at Villa Carceres.

Our Whaleshark Video: Click here.

Places to Stay in Naga: This information I got from the N@W yahoogroup: You can stay at Casa Catalina Hotel and Avenue Plaza Hotel, both along Magsaysay Ave, or Naga Land Hotel along Elias Angeles St. Useful links: naga.gov.ph and camarinessur.gov.ph We stayed at Villa Carceres hotel at Magsaysay Avenue.

Day 3: Monday: CWC day! We were up bright early and was at the Camsur Watersports Complex before 8:30 AM. Amazingly, even if it was still before 8:30, the place was already open and there were already people wakeboarding! The Governor was there, as well as Aga Muhlach and Paolo Paraiso. Good thing we were early as even more people arrived around lunch time. We only took the half day rate. After lunch and a quick wash up back at Naga City, by 2:30pm we were driving back to Manila.

About Camsur Watersports Complex: For more information about CWC, including rates and accommodations nearby, check out their website. CWC is located in Pili, Camarines Sur, near the Provincial Capitol Complex. All the nearby accommodations were fully booked when I inquired, which is why we stayed in nearby Naga City instead. Naga City is a 15 minute drive away from CWC.

Wakeboard Videos: to be posted.

11:30 PM: Home sweet home!