Escape to Cagbalete Island in Mauban, Quezon

Where can you be so close to nature that you can't help but feel awed at the sight before you?

Where shells big and small are not just washed-up remnants of a life they once lived, but are instead teeming with crabs seeking their protection? Where fish hastily glide by while you tread on their waters, and brittlestars take refuge amongst the rocks as the water recedes in tune with the low tide? Where else does the ocean become calm, breaking the surface with only the slightest ripple?

Where else, but in Cagbalete Island!

Cagbalete Island is part of the expansive Quezon province of which my wife also hails from. Last weekend saw us at this wonderful island, a place so remote from the main islands that it has no electricity and yet it can be reached in about 7 hours by land and sea (at least, that's what our experience was; in some sites the trip is . Our meeting set at 3AM, I did not dare sleep as I might miss the trip. I was at already at Wendy's Buendia a few minutes early but some even arrived much earlier. Our party complete, we headed for the bus terminal.

Here is our itinerary in a nutshell:
3:00 AM - Met at Wendy's Buendia, then proceeded to JAC Liner (P216.00 each)
3:30 - Bus moves for Grand Terminal
6:15 - Arrive at Grand Terminal, take a ride at the Mauban mini bus (P50.00 each)
6:30 - Mini bus leaves for Mauban (there's a mini bus departing every 30 minutes)
8:00 - Arrive at Mauban, time to go to market for supplies!
Don't forget to buy ice! For your fish and meats.
Villa Cleofas has ice boxes.
Electricity is available at Villa Cleofas at 6:00PM - 1:00 AM
You may just walk to the bangka (ask for directions from the locals), or rent a tricycle (P30.00 per person)
Go to the bangka as early as possible to get seats you want (P40.00 each)
Tip the persons loading your things if you ask for their help. They are a jolly, helpful lot.
10:30 - Bangka leaves for Sabang port in Cagbalete Island.
11:30 - Arrive at Sabang port
There is also ice here and stores in case you forget something.
Villa Cleofas had a bangka fetch our supplies and two of our company
was also able to hitch a ride at the bangka. P200.00
The rest trekked across the island for 20 minutes non-stop.

Welcome to Villa Cleofas!

The Grand Terminal

The boat transports not only people, but also goods. It was exciting because I do not experience this everyday and you get a feel for local life. Their language is the deeper version of Filipino but you'll manage.

The island is in view!

Sabang port. A dinghy will escort you to shore (no charge)

Trek time!

Villa Cleofas! to the left is the big cottage where we stayed, at right is the dining area. We cooked our meals using their gas range and their utensils and plates with a rental fee of P150.00 per use. We were charged 30 pesos per head for entrance fee as well. If you don't feel like cooking, ask Manang to cook for you and tip her. She cooks real well.
Low tide was upon us when we arrived...
Low tide here is dramatic. The water literally disappears!


I was at the shore when I took this shot. Look how far away that person is already, and the water is still so shallow!

The black speck beyond is bonsai island, which can be reached by simply walking at low tide.

Stranded boats

The sea is alive! Hermit crabs, polyps, brittle stars (pictured below), fish, and plants abound. You have to tread around carefully and observe them. It's wonderful just walking around looking at the abundance of life.
If you want to take a bath at the sea and you are at Villa Cleofas, I suggest that you don't swim in this area. Too many living things taking residence here. Instead, turn left from Villa Cleofas, walk 800 meters, and you will get to a river mouth! The river is waist-deep.

Cagbalete as viewed from the cottage.


My comment about the place?
It is certainly different from Boracay and Puerto Galera, where nightlife and abundance of people and entertainment are the highlights. Also very different from regular beaches where all you get is sand and water. Cagbalete Island is something else. It's quiet, you get to commune with nature, here time takes a slow turn and you can enjoy the peace and quiet.

The last time I have ever been to a beach with so much life teeming around me was in Marinduque 14 years ago. I was on vacation all by myself and I was staying with my grandmother. I would go to the beach almost everyday for 2 weeks and swim around by my lonesome. I loved it. The water so clear, and in the afternoons, the setting sun would cast rays of light underwater....

I felt the same thing for Cagbalete, although I did not have the chance to swim a lot. I would have wanted to stay longer.

The Villa Cleofas staff are also very kind and helpful. Their website is at www.cagbalete.com.

These photos came from my iPhone. I will post more photos from my friends' cameras some other time.

I would like to thank Zherwin and his blog for the enticing photos and the detailed "how-to-get-there" guide.

Kinabuhayan Cafe in Dolores, Quezon

We stayed at the Kinabuhayan Cafe for our weekend getaway (not to be mistaken with Kinabuhayan, which is a different place altogether. The former is a bed and breakfast estblishment, while the latter is a jump-off point to a trek in Mt. Banahaw). The facade looks unassuming enough; cemented but with an open-air atmosphere. But once you enter the premises, you find yourself in open spaces.
We had dinner here in the garden. And what a wonderful dinner it was! I didn't know chicken can be sooo delicious. And the rice... how did they come up with such a delicious medley of spices, mushrooms, and whatever it is in the rice that made it oh so yummy!
Notice the pink things on top of the veggie mix? They're actually flowers! And they were edible. When Jay (one of the owners of the place and chef extraordinaire) walked about and asked how our dinner was going, we enthusiastically answered, "delicious!" But then he saw us delicately pushing the flowers aside and he bellowed: "What are you doing?! Those flowers are edible! Eat them! Eat them!" And so we did. The flower must have a delicate taste for the rice and chicken overpowered it so I'm not sure how it tastes like but it was ok.
There's a langka tree at the back with loads of fruits hanging about. We stared at these hungrily. We noticed that it's not being harvested. The fruits were just being left there until they become ripe, then overripe, then unfit for consumption already. We wanted to ask for some but we became "mahiyain" at the last minute.
You can also play billiards for free. Yipee!
It was, overall, a most relaxing break. I hope we can do it again soon!


And this brings to a close our wonderful weekend vacation in Dolores, Quezon.
Happy weekend, everyone!

Return to Kubli Springs in Dolores, Quezon

I wrote about Kubli some time back. It was just a quick side trip then, as we were given permission to visit the place. It's private property and is a secret place of Kinabuhayan Cafe (which, based on the many articles written about it in the Net, is no longer quite a secret). If you are checked in at Kinabuhayan Cafe, you may request Jay to hold one of your meals at Kubli.

We intended to have our dinner here, but Jay cautioned strongly that lunch be done instead. "I wouldn't like my guests swept away by the river!", he said. The rainy season has come and it has made the river moody at night. So lunch it was.

Inspite of the absence of the dreamt vision of the moon shining above us and the torches strategically placed along the riverbanks, we had fun nonetheless. The sun would hide amongst the clouds and take a peek occasionally. It even started to drizzle ever so slightly. But that didn't dampen our spirits as we enjoyed the scenery and the company.


At half past 12, the food started arriving. Great. We worked up a good appetite from coming to Kubli earlier and playing about the water. Soon we saw smoke nearby and learned they were grilling tilapia for us. yum yum.

And here comes the food!

Curried vegetables, salad, and steamed tilapia. We washed our hands and got down to business. Yum yum!
It was my first time to taste pako', a form of fern harvested along riverbanks. Tasty!
Sorry, no photos of the freshly-grilled tilapia. We were all grabbing plates already when the fish were served. And no frogs were harmed in the making of this post! :-)

Kinabuhayan: an afternoon of hushed wonder

Kinabuhayan is located in Dolores Quezon, at the foot of Mt. Banahaw. It is in this area that supernatural powers are at work. Stories of apparitions of saints, ghosts, mystical creatures, and even our local national heroes (like Dr. Jose Rizal) dwell and make themselves felt are widely spread. Many attest to feeling its aura. Indeed, the place is considered holy (and Banahaw is known as the New Jerusalem too; it is said that because of the unrest going on in the Middle East in the distant past, the four archangels uprooted the Holy Land and transferred it to the place we now know as Banahaw). Many religious groups take peaceful refuge in the area, the majority with mystic origins.

My officemates and friends planned this trip because they were enthralled to see my photos of Kubli and articles from other blogs enthusiastically narrating their wonderful experience there. All the plans were a bit sketchy up to the day before the trek. I so wanted to invite other friends too like the couple Donna and Bebert and a commenter in my Daraitan post but it was way too close to the scheduled trip to make announcements already (sorry po!)

At any rate, we were spent the Saturday afternoon at Kinabuhayan. This place offered a lot of sites to explore. For our part, we chose the nearby areas so we can visit nearby Sta. Lucia later in the day.

A hired jeepney took us to a bustling town in Kinabuhayan. I was quite surprised to find a community so far up the mountain. A leisurely walk led us to the place called Bakas ni Jesus (Jesus' footprint) residing in a quiet stream. We gazed at the crystal clear water before us. Coins thrown in by wishers scattered the bottom. But what was it we were trying to look at? The guide then pointed out what appeared to be a footprint on the solid rock. We gaped, amazed at what we saw.

Further off, we visited a shrine within a cave. We were to go in the cave and exit at an opening located nearby. The guide told us to respect the place and not make any unnecessary noise. If we were to bump our heads, it is best to silently endure the pain and take it as part of our act of contrition.

Before entering the mouth of the cave, we lit candles. Images of Jesus Christ and Mary adorn the entrance of the tunnel. To the right was another section of the cave, where a woman with a veil and her back to us sat on the ground, meditating in front of an image of the Virgin Mary.

I was wondering what he meant by us bumping our heads, when he pointed to the small opening to our right. You had to stoop real low to enter. With lighted candles in tow, we fell in line and groped about the cave.

If you were claustrophobic, this place would be the last place you would want to be in. We had to "walk" about with knees bent most of the time. The longer you stayed, the more you wondered how further off the exit was. I felt a couple of bats fly past us.

Soon, we reached the exit, stepped onto the crystal clear water, and waded back to the entrance where were alighted the stairs once more and left our candles by the altar.
It was my first time to go through a small cave. Really different experience. We compared how many bumps in the head we got while climbing through. The guide then later explained that if you received one too many bumps, you may be "makasalanan" (sinful). Hmmm... That abruptly ceased the counting of head bumps. :-)

We went back to the route we took earlier, taking us back to the footprint. The guide asked us to try tasting the water underneath the rock. It tasted like soda water. Each of us took turns cupping out the water with our hands and taking a drink. It was refreshing.
There were other places worth visiting in the area but with it needed more time and planning. It was best to camp at Kinabuhayan so there will be more time for trekking; I do hope we can visit again.

Kubli at Dolores, Quezon

In the discussion of places to see in Dolors, Quezon, my companions agreed on visiting Kubli. Kubli, in the strictest sense of the word, meant "to hide". So I butted in their conversation and said "ha? Bakit tayo magtatago? (Huh? Why should we hide?)"

They laughed heartily. Kubli was a the name of a place a few minutes away from the town by tricycle. It sounded interesting enough, so that afternoon, we negotiated for a driver to take us there and wait so we can have a ride back.

Kubli is a privately-owned place located in Dagatan. It is adjacent to a place they call Crusher. Enroute to the place, I realized why they called the area is called as such. It was a place where rocks are harvested and broken into smaller, manageable pieces used in construction work. It was like an open pit mining operation going on in the area. My wife who hasn't been there in ages was also quite surprised at how extensive the excavation has progressed through the years. We crossed a bridge, and she marveled that the free-flowing river they passed through as kids was now reduced to a slow stream.

The tricycle cautiously made its way though the dusty road; we saw dump trucks and bulldozers busily hauling off boulders for processing. We stopped by the side of the road eventually, then we took a short walk through a narrow pathway. I was surprised to see a river running through a shallow valley. Beyond the river was the woods. It was as if the river was standing guard against the human contraptions from going beyond the vegetation on the other side.

The river was beautiful. Its clear waters gurgled merrily amongst the rocks strewn about its banks. There were bamboo pipes pierced against the earthen wall, and from it burst forth a healthy gush of fresh water. I washed my face and drank from it ... refreshing!


We crossed the river and trudged our way up the slope to the woods beyond. We were greeted by these triangular huts. It was a delightful sight. Guests here need not worry about bringing their tents!

We lingered for a few more minutes then went back to our ride. It was a mixed feeling for me, seeing a wonderful work of nature right beside a site where man has proven dominance over all.

I was deeply saddened at the sight of the excavation area. While I would like to hastily judge the "mining" operation, I sincerely hope they have the necessary environmental permits and has a rehabilitation program in place.