Lost and Found Water Adventure

The province of Batangas, located in the CALABARZON region, on the southwest part of Luzon, is one of the few well known beach and diving spots in the country. Its lower perimeter is surrounded by seawater, making it one of the largest international seaport in the Philippines.

My friends and I decided to take on another adventure, somewhere we've never been before, by exploring the seascapes of Batangas. We headed to Batangas on a different purpose, but we planned to drop by on one of the resorts near Batangas City, the capital of the province. 

The night prior to the planned day, I was tasked to go online and search for resorts within Bauan, Batangas, which for us, was the farthest we could go from the capital. There were a lot of options, but we ended up choosing Batong Buhangin Beach Resort. Details about the resort were spelled out on their website, including the rates for day tour, overnight, and other packages and amenities. 

We left Manila at around 5 am, and headed south, taking the SLEX. With no food intake at the start of our trip, we decided to make a short stop at Jollibee Alabang, making a short reunion with one of my best friends. After our breakfast, we continued to head south, eventually exiting SLEX and entered Star Tollway (which leads you directly to Batangas City).

With only the instructions on the resort website as our weapon for the escapade, we entered Batangas and traversed the roads, all the while hoping that we were on the right track. As location instructions slowly became vague, and us seeming lost, we decided to ask a traffic enforcer as to the location of the resort and if we were on the right way. With his instruction to drive straight ahead and turn right at the fork on the road, we went ahead. However, once we checked the instructions from the website, we got confused as this contradicted the one stated by the enforcer. Hence, we decided to follow the website instructions. 

As we drove along, we seemed to figure out eventually that we were lost. So passing by a gasoline station, we took to asking one of the employees there. Instructing us to drive straight ahead until we reach an intersection, we followed his advice, but as we drove on for quite some time then, we never passed by an intersection that we could make a turn to. Continuing with the drive (which by now was miles and miles away), we ended up at Mabini port. We asked the residents in that area and they were unfamiliar with the resort name. Instead of turning around, we decided to drive uphill until we reached Eagle's Point, where we passed by loads of diving resorts along zigzag roads and steep cliffs, fresh from the recent landslide. The entrance to Eagle's Point was very narrow (talk about single lane) and steep, plus at that time, it was slippery due to recent rains. Upon reaching the guard house, you could park your vehicle there, and the guard would call the shuttle service to pick you up and bring you to the resort, which is further downhill along  a narrower and steeper road. 

We never entered Eagle's Point, though, as the day tour costs Php1800.00 per person, which is very expensive. So, we drove back downhill and opted to settle into one of the beaches we passed by, which was El Sombrero resort. There were no other guests/tourists in that resort at that time, and we were told it's because it's off-peak season. Since the place was okay for us - very peaceful and picturesque - we decided to stay and rent a cottage costing Php600. We paid an entrance fee of Php50.00/person.

View from the cottage at El Sombrero Resort

We walked up to the jutting rocks at the tip of the island

During our visit, the waves were so wild and angry, lashing on the shore, on the stone wall, and on scattered rocks on the sea. It was because during that time, there was in incoming typhoon. It never dampened our spirits for the beach, though. We stayed and enjoyed every minute of it. You can never really enjoy walking on the shore and swimming, since there were huge stones or rocks scattered on the shore and sea floor. We tried going knee-deep but we ended up being beaten up by the waves. So instead of the usual swimming that we loved to do, we decided to just make a tour of the shore, which stretched for about 200-300 meters, ending with massive rock formations.

Our destination - close up

From the resort to the tip of the island, we passed by a lot of huge rock formations, all natural. Rocks and fist-sized stones or larger were strewn all over the shore, making it difficult to walk gracefully. Upon reaching the massive formations, we took photos and even tried to wade in the water between the rocks as the waves hit them with a menace. Once we're there, we definitely felt the pull of the sea, which brought me deeper into its depths, inviting my unwilling self. Good thing I was able to hold on to one of my companion's leg as the rocks were slippery with moss and barnacles, which made grasping them futile. As we tried to reach shore, we were welcomed by more rocks anchored to the sand, underneath the shallow waters, scraping our skin, gifting us with wounds as memoirs of that day. Luckily, with a strong pull from my boyfriend, we reached shore and immediately went back to the resort and set out for home.

Shore strewn with stones and rocks

On the way to the massive rock formations

One of the huge rocks we passed by

There are more rock formations at the side and behind us with waves lashing on them

The rocks of doom ^.^

Memoirs (hehe)

Though the day ended without us wading in deep and tranquil waters, we still had an extreme wet and wild adventure, coupled with the majesty of nature surrounding us, that we surely would never forget.