After the make-your-crotch-sweat trekking at Mount Pinatubo, the ladies including myself went to Olongapo to spend the night somewhere as we have a big beach adventure the next day (as they promised me, bwahaha!).
The next morning, we commuted from Olongapo to Pundaquit, Zambales where we hired a boat for our island hopping. .
Our first stop from Pundaquit – Capones Island. The main purpose of our dock to the island is to visit the lighthouse which the island is known for. If you’re into hiking and long walks, you can ask the boatmen to dock the boat at the sandy shore and it’ll take you longer time to reach the Faro Punta De Capones or simply the Capones Lighthouse. Obviously, I will choose a shortcut if we have the option. Haha. . Blame it on the hike to Mount Pinatubo the day before. . Hihi. . Besides, we also didn’t intend to stay long in the island as we only have a day and wanted to see more beaches. To have a less challenging and less time consuming way up to the lighthouse, our boat parked on the rocky side. The shoreline is full of rocks like giant pebbles (how do you call that?). It’s good that I was wearing my hiking shoes when we went island hopping, it wasn’t as difficult as it is supposed to be if I wore my usual beach pair Havaianas. After a few breath-catching moments, we reached the lighthouse and climbed up to the top. It looks similar to Cape Bojeador in Ilocos Norte though this one in Capones has windows, halls and walls already shattered. As we reached the top spot, the wind blowing unto our cheeks gave us chills as we gazed unto the beauty of the tranquil seas and picturesque mountains from the mainland.
We skipped the Camara Island coz we were running out of time that day. . Sad. . Never mind, the next time I get the chance to do beach hopping in Zambales again, I’ll make sure I gotta drop off in Camara.
Second beach is the Nagsasa Cove. This beach is actually the furthest from all the beaches we visited from Pundaquit. After more than an hour of deafening boat ride, we reached this beautiful beach. On our way, we enjoyed the beauty of the mountain rolls. We were mesmerized by the shining white sand (which is really hot when you walk barefoot under the heat of the sun) and the coolness of the pine trees. I didn’t know pine trees can grow in sands though. I wonder how it can survive the heat as well. I thought pine trees can only grow on cold elevated areas like the mountainous Baguio. hehe. .
Lastly, we went to Anawangin Cove where we spent most of the afternoon drinking and goofing around. . Anawangin cove looks very similar to Nagsasa cove with the view of the mountains, pine trees, white sand and all. So I must say they are both beautiful. We set up our tent and brought out our alcohol. We swam, got drunk a little (clink!), and swam some more. Cheers!
We left the beach at around (maybe before) 5 PM. I remember it was almost dark and we were warned of possible rough waves on our way back to Pundaquit. The boatmen were proven not kidding, we faced the treacherous waves and it was a hell of a roller coaster ride. . The waves were literally smashing our little boat and huge amount of sea water were splashing on our red faces. Hulas! Buwis buhay indeed! haha. . We were really scared and were screaming our lungs out with “woohoo”s on every giant wave that the boatmen successfully surpass. . We thanked God we were still alive and just laughed about all of it when we reached the shores of Pundaquit, safe and sound. . haha. .
If I were to go back, I would try camping overnight either in Nagsasa or Anawangin, whichever is less crowded by campers, and leave the beach early morning when the sea water is as calm as heaven. . hehe. . You should try too. . Wink! 🙂
The Restless Firefly 