The Search for Potipot Island, Zambales
Trust me when I said Pangasinan was the only one on our “sure” list. We never reserved any boat or booked any hotels to stay in for the night – we only kept our precious tablet PCs and cell phones with GPS and Internet!!! Technology ruled in this road trip.
We travelled south from Pangasinan to Zambales via Dasol and Santa Cruz for about 2 hours. Potipot Island lies within Barangay Uacon (pronounced as “Wacon”). As we reached Candelaria in Zambales, we knew we were very near our destination because according to our GPS, we were. At first, all of us were very confused as we saw several sign boards about boat rentals/resort banners, but none seemed caught our instinct to choose them. When you visit Potipot Island, you have the option to check in on a resort along the shore line of Brgy. Uacon and hire a boat that will take you to the island.
We were originally planning to camp on one of the islands in Hundred Islands but we decided to do it in Potipot. So instead of checking in to any resort, we only looked for a boat that will take us to the island. It was around 3:00 PM, we ended up entering a small road with a sign board “To Potipot Island/ P400.00 Boat Ride”. It was a remote place, which has a bunch of kids and most people were so confused to see us – which, by the way, bothered me a lot. O_o We asked someone that could take us to the island and it seemed that what we were doing was something that is not normal. Hahaha! But then, we finally closed a deal from a local bangkero for P800.00 (back and forth). Since no resort for us, our bangkero offered a nearby lot to park our car. At first, I was not convinced to do that but we all took the risk even though we were so scared that something would happen to our car.
After the car fiasco, we immediately loaded our things to the boat. I think, for the rest of us, I was one of the most excited about the camping!!!! After 5 minutes, we hit this small patch of land with fine white sand surrounded by clear waters.
These are the things that you could do in Potipot Island:
1. Swim in the clear waters
2. Throw physical games at the beach
3. Picnic with your family or friends
4. Build sand castles
5. Lie under the sun
6. Take pictures, tons of pictures
7. Pick fruits within the island
8. Camp overnight
9. And my favorite….stargaze under the magnificent sky at night
We spent the night cooking hotdogs, eggs and worrying how we could fit into a tent with only 3-person capacity. Hahaha! Marc ended up sleeping outside the tent… awwww. The night was very very cold. Joseph was not feeling well that night and we all hardly taken decent bath. Mga gusgusin kami. :-)). But if given another chance, I would definitely go back there. That is how I love camping!
The next morning, we had back aches and colds :)) Hahaha! We had one last round of early morning swim. The water was very cold and calm. That morning was a gloomy,cloudy one. Unfortunately, no sunrise for us in Potipot...
The boat picked us up at around 9:00 AM the next morning. Thankfully, our car was safe – just with hundreds of small hands, finger, nose and forehead prints on all windows! Hehehe.
The original plan was to go to Anawangin and Capones Island right after. But plans changed, we decided to visit Bataan!!!
Subic Pampanga Side Trip
Geared up with our GPS, we decided to go to Subic for some groceries and to gas up our car before heading to Bataan. The gas was as low as P46.00 pesos around the area! I could not believe it is as high as P58.00 pesos now as of this writing.
Before we hit Subic, we encountered areas fogged with white dust in the air. The wind was crazy as we passed this bridge along a very large open area along San Narciso. We could see where the dusts coming from.
After completing our grocery list in Pure Gold and gas up at Petron, we headed straight to Bataan.
Western Luzon Road Trip (Cavite-Pangasinan-Zambales-Bataan-Pampanga-Cavite Series) [Part 3 of 3]
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