Dubbed before as the Land of the Howling wind, where constant visitor then of the island are tropical typhoons. during my younger days, a single year will not end without experiencing a devastating typhoon that will either uprooted plants or will blown houses. Yet trough these, thus Catandunganon's became resilient not only with the wrath of the nature but with what life will throw us.
Catanduanes is known for its extraordinary natural beauty, equally amazing beaches, falls, caves and coves, rich ecosysytem, green lush rainforest a it was named as one of country's most peaceful province. so who will never get captivated by Catanduanes charm?
Where's that again?
Ok,to give you an idea where this paradise located at, I will need some pictures and info from google and the internet to show you. First, Catanduanes is a small island in the southeastern part of Bicol Region, yup, its in Bicol.
The island was known as Isla de Cobos during early part of 1573, this was given by Spanish conquistadors when came upon several tribes living in the hatched huts called cobos (kubo)
Virac is the capital of Catanduanes. this is the main jump off point in order to visit the "Happy Island". The Airport and the Virac port is located in the heart of virac, terminals for jeepneys, bus and tricycles bound to different part of the island are also found within the town center.
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Last November, I invited my friends to visit my province, our original plan is to visit the elusive caramoan island, and the best way to go there is to go to catanduanes, as it will lessen your travel time and will give you the cheapest deal.check my caramoan trip i had a year back.
Catanduanes as a jump off point to Caramoan is like hitting two birds in one stone: visit the charming catanduanes and explore the elusive caramoan. unfortunately, the weather that time was not cooperative that we need to cancel the caramoan trip.
Without any hesitation we booked a flight to Legazpi via CebuPacific, and from mainland Bicol, we took the RoRo bound to the island of Catanduanes
Hello isla!
We spent our first night in BARAS, at a friend house. from the capital town of virac, its about an hour ride going to a small sleepy town of Baras. It is one of the 11 municipalities of Catanduanes, it houses the famous Puraran Beach, Balacay point and the famous Binurong Point.
Balacay
Chasing Sunrise
A little trek wont hurt
tadaaaaah! Hi there Balacay!
and more of rolling hills of Balacay
and that's the vast Pacific Ocean
You have it all here, mountains and hills, Beach, falls, ohhhh Nature!
After we chase the sunrise, we soaked under the sun in Puraran, the house of the majestic waves. Puraran has been hosting local and international surfing competetion, it also houses surfing school both for amateur and pro in surfing industry.
A photoOpt at Puraran rock formation is a must!
We had our lunch in Puraran and spent a few more hours in one of those rented cottages in the area.
If you are not a beach person, why not try captivating waterfalls. right after our Puraran escapade, we headed to Macutal Falls. Macutal Falls is still in the Municapality of Baras.
can't get enough of water falls, so before heading home we dropped by at Maribina Falls. Another amazing waterfalls which was located in the municipality of Virac.
We had so much fun discovering beaches and falls, time to take a little breather by visiting one of Philippines Doppler Radar which was Located here in Catanduanes. see link: Doppler
credit: rappler
Back in downtown Virac, we ended our afternoon in one of the serene beaches in Mamangal, the Mamangal White Sand Beach.
Entrance fee here is P10.00 for adult while P5.00 for kids. Isn't that amazing? hahaha
Catanduanes has more to offer. So many places, so little time. so we promised to be back again in this charming Island.
RHAJ INN was our Home away from Home during our Catanduanes trip.
Lemme share our travel video about this,credit to one of the lakwatchera- Mina. Here's the link: Catanduanes Sweet Escape
HOW TO GET HERE:
From Manila
Land: RSL Bus Lines has daily trip Manila to Virac. there are other great buses that you can choose to, mostly located at Cubao Terminal
Air: Cebu Pacific and SkyJets has flights to Virac. you can check their websites.
Sea: From Tabaco City, a RoRo will transports you to Virac or to San Andres Port.
Still no camera could ever capture the beauty that one's eyes could see
