Residencia de Salvacion, Caramoan

homey and real...

Residencia de Salvacion is a bed and breakfast located 5 minutes away from Guijalo port. We stayed here because our sister-in-law’s cousin Davey is related to the owner and he promised we’d have a terrific time here and he was right.

posing with the amazing RDS staff

The house was great and big enough for our party of twelve. We got a package for 3 days and 2 nights for ₱3200 inclusive of room, transfers (except for the boat rent) and all meals, it’s normally ₱3500, but they gave us a discount since we’re kind of family. It’s pretty cheap, huh?

yay, pinakro!

The staff led by manay Gina, was very accommodating and the food they served, to die for. I still can’t get over how good the aniit (mud crabs) tasted and the sweet and sour fish was amazing, they made us some pinakro (unripe banana cooked in coconut milk) for merienda too, which was a real treat for me since I haven’t had that in years. Ah, authentic Bicol cuisine at its best.

showering in the rain, brrr!

Even an apparently unscheduled water service interruption--after we arrived from our last day of island-hopping--could not dampen our enthusiasm for this place. Our family being the fun, easy-going, crazy type, just showered in the rain, screaming all the while, because the water was so cold! All in all, we had a wonderful stay at Residencia de Salvacion.

Residencia de Salvacion
No. 45, Km. 580 Brgy. Salvacion
Caramoan, Camarines Sur
Tel. +639393101135, +639173712143

Seashells and Seaweeds at Basud Island, Caramoan

 Basud Island is not usually included in a typical Caramoan island-hopping package, but my auntie Alice wanted to buy some edible seaweeds and my niece Marie was hankering for seashells to bring home to her friends, our tour guide was nice enough to bring us to Basud for these purposes.

This island was charming though it did not compare to the beauty of the others we’ve visited, but seashells here were plentiful and we had so much fun picking out the best ones. There were fishermen here also, and for a ₱300 fee, they will hop in their canoe and get you some scrumptious seaweeds to munch on or make gelatin out of.

We just spent the rest of our time here relaxing, eating junk food and laughing at our poor cousin taking a piss on some bushes (harhar!). Anyway, if you’re ever in Caramoan and you’d like to bring home some free conch shell “souvenirs”, Basud Island is the place to go.

Manlawi sandbar, Lahuy Island

picture perfect...

The Caramoan peninsula is pretty remote and you’ll have to endure several plane, bus, tricycle and boat rides to get to it, but I tell you, you’ll feel it’s worth the hassle once you see the sandbar and endless stretch of white beach of Manlawi, Lahuy Island.

awesome white sand

calm waters...

It’s so gorgeous and serene with powdery white sand and crystal-clear waters, it takes your breath away. We were just awed by its sheer beauty. The water here is shallow when the tide is low, so you can walk really far from the shore without fear.

walk this way...

...and drink?

 I hope it stays as unspoiled and pristine like this for a long time. Don’t get me wrong, I want more people to enjoy these islands and help the local economy, but I’d like for Caramoan to keep its isolated paradise charm for a bit longer.

island dog and his boy

he's a cutie...

 We had a lot of fun just running around the beach, making sand castles and soaking up the suddenly scorching sun that it feels like we’re in our own little private island… one thing that I love about Caramoan is it's still possible to visit its gorgeous islands without bumping into other tourists! Except for a friendly island dog we met here who took a liking to my nephew Jian, we had the island all to ourselves.

family fun

jump!

The staff from our B&B had even set up a barbecue grill to heat up our packed lunches and we ate at the cottages built in the middle of the sandbar. It was just a perfect day, a taste of heaven on earth really. 

Survivors @ Gota Village Resort, Caramoan

Gota beach

Caramoan Peninsula has always been a gem but it was pretty much unknown to the outside world before several international versions (France, Israel, Sweden, Bulgaria etc.) of the hit reality game show Survivor showcased it. Caramoan’s beauty and remoteness must have drawn the attention of the producers and it’s been instrumental in giving these islands the attention they deserved.

Gota village resort in barangay Ilawod, managed by the CamSur provincial government, is where the Survivor crew stays when they are filming and the set pieces used in previous installments of the show are also here.

gorgeous!

We just got to see it of course, so after our Sabitang Laya adventure, we decided to visit the resort and Gota beach. It was raining really hard again and the waves were just huge so our boatman advised that it would be better for us to go there via habal-habal (tricycle). So off we went, we even had to help push the habal-habal up a particularly steep section of road, which was strangely fun.

potholes galore

Be warned though, Caramoan roads alternate between nicely paved and not paved at all. There are stretches of dirt roads, so it can get rough when it’s raining, especially if the tricycle tires get stuck in a pothole. I hope with the sudden influx of tourist money into the provincial coffers, something might be done about these muddy, slippery roads.

the cabanas

Survivor Israel set

Survivor Sweden

the "tribal council"...
You’ll have to pay a ₱300 entrance fee to get into the resort, luckily our tour guide and cousin-in-law Davey works for the province so we got a discount and only paid ₱100 to get in. My sister Anne actually stayed at a cottage here a few days before for ₱3500/day, so it’s a lot pricier compared to the other accommodations in town

roll it!

the gang

Gota beach is charming with awesome hills and limestone rock formations. The set pieces used in several editions of Survivor are indeed here and the security guard on duty was nice enough to regale us with his stories about the show… apparently a contestant from Bulgaria died of a heart attack here, poor guy. We had a lot of fun pretending to take part in a tribal council and did some serious cam-whoring (again), rain and strong winds be darned. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Update: Survivor USA is filming in Caramoan

This notice from the Camarines Sur Provincial Government was posted at every major intersection in CamSur when I went home for Easter. The best islands are closed for Survivor filming until August 2012, so plan your trip accordingly. But if you really want to visit, at least you can still go to the Manlawi Sandbar in Lahuy Island, which in my opinion is worth the trip.

Sabitang Laya (Bagieng Island), Caramoan

just beautiful...

As soon as we glimpsed the island we can hardly contain ourselves! Mercifully, the rain had stopped so we were able to jump off the boat and started taking pictures. We did not waste time at all... we ran and rolled around in the cream-colored and powdery-fine sand.

isolated...

untamed...

mysterious...

Sabitang Laya island also have these limestone cliffs and rock formations smack in the middle of the ocean. You can both swim and rock climb (or just pose on the rocks!) here, really a great combination.

Caramoan...

literally...

rocks!

We brought packed lunches that our B&B prepared for us so we plunked ourselves under a tree on the other side of the island and dug in. The mud crabs (aniit), barbecued pork chop, and laing (taro cooked in coconut milk) were so good!

stuffing our faces

pawing the sand...

being goofy...

"harassing" our suddenly-single uncle Mar...

After lunch we did some swimming, perched ourselves on the rocks and just admired the sheer beauty around us. We were alone on an isolated island so beautiful and unspoiled, I nearly started kicking myself again for not visiting sooner.

rave reviews from Marie

fun was had by all...

oh my shorts!!!

Alas, we can’t stay here forever. There were still other islands to visit. This is embarrassing, but as we were leaving I noticed my shorts flapping in the wind—I forgot I put it on a tree to dry when we arrived—good thing, manoy bankero turned the boat around and fetched it for me (blush).