The Restless Firefly

Myrna, Aubrey and I, amazingly, have one common love – a serene beach. We prefer those unspoiled ones without hotels and restaurants where only a few people are sun bathing, than the beach which thousands of people visit to brag their 6-pack abs and bikini bodies.

We have this common hobby to search for low profiled beaches, near or far. . Of course we prefer the near ones, haha! As spontaneous as we are, we plan our beach getaways just a couple of days before the actual trip. Those few days were occupied with searching where to go and how to go. Then there’s Burot.

We went to Calatagan one summer of 2011 before I left Philippines to work abroad. It was my farewell beach trip with my most favorite ladies in the world. To my surprise, Aubrey and Myrna actually prepared some party poppers and cake for this send-off mini party. They even cooked rice, but unfortunately burned it. . haha. . We just bought food when we arrived in Calatagan.

We braved commuting from Santa Rosa, Laguna to Calatagan, Batangas via Tagaytay, Cavite route starting 5 int he morning. We actually enjoy it more when we take jeepneys, vans or buses and tricycles than have someone drive for us. (Yup, we don’t drive. Well, I can actually drive from our house to the end of our subdivision, but I guess it is still described as “can’t drive”. hihi. .) Besides, as what most blogs and reviews said about Burot Beach, the best way to go there is rent a tricycle from the poblacion and let the local driver bring you there. It might be difficult to drive going to the beach as you’ll encounter a lot of forks on your way and the road is in the middle of nowhere, no houses, no locals to ask. Not sure though if we can consult GPS for directions going to the beach; the way is actually a dusty road surrounded by dried bushes and trees.

After some head banging inside the tricycle, we finally saw a strikingly quiet beach with white sand (though it’s not powdery fine) and blue sea. The beach was said to be privately owned by a rich and famous Chinese businessman but has not started developing the place. It is being looked at by a care taker who asks for below P100 entrance fee. . We saw a few campers during our stay. The beach, as mentioned, is underdeveloped, no hotel rooms or villas, not even descent toilets and showers. We only have an open nipa hut (just a bare table and bamboo benches with roof. All of these things missing in Burot are actually plus points for us. It has become our beloved beach for our sun, sand, and salt water worshiping. We kept coming back (Maridel also went with us on my second visit)! It’s so far from the metro and a perfect place to just relax, relieve yourself from a week’s stress and bond with your friends. And oh, i should not forget, there’s a sand bar somewhere offshore. Rent a boat to get there. We burned our skin there and we were more than happy! weeeh! haha. .

Since it’s near Laguna, we don’t mind just staying for a day. We still have the energy to commute back to Santa Rosa while disregarding painful sunburn. We had one problem though during our first visit to Burot – we forgot to research how to go home. But of course, it’s always easy to find your way back. . haha. . Important: if you’ll go on a day tour and commuting, make sure you know what time is the last bus trip from Calatagan going to Manila, if I remember correctly the last trip should be some time before 7pm.