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‘Survivor’ filming, Hollywood buzz in Bicol town’s beaches
I came across an article saying that survivor will be shooting in the Philippines. Being a survivor fan I was elated to learn that several Survivor seasons from different countries where shooting in the Philippines.
Tagged as the Philippine’s best kept secret, Camarines Sur is largest among the six provinces in the Bicol Region.
Caramoan is a peninsula not an island. (Try searching google). Well I understand that its easy to mistake it for an island because you have to take a boat to get to Caramoan.
Now how to get to Caramoan? With google as my travel agent I resolved to find a way to caramoan. Several packages ranging from a cheap P2,500 up to P5,000 per person but it involves staying at a local inn which is far from the beach.
The last time I was in Bicol I enjoyed CWC. From there I found a link to Gota Village Resort.
Instructions on how to get there as well as the usual rates can be found at the site. I was lucky to have my leave at the time the beach was open which was closed most of the time due to the survivor shoots.
Having limited funds and time I resolved to take public transportation to reach my dream vacation.
Taking the LRT to Araneta Center Cubao I found my way to Cubao Bus Terminal wherein several bus lines head to the Bicol region everyday. Bus schedules found here
I took a Lazy Boy bus and slept on the way to Camarines Sur. The bus left around 8pm and arrived around 6am the next day.
From the town of Pili, several modes of transportation are available. From the schedule posted at the Gota Village website I had to get to Sabang Port before the last boat leaves for Guijalo port. The jeepney ride to Sabang port was scenic and passed by Mount Isarog and several towns.
Found this in youtube. I don’t own this video. But this is how you get off and on a boat at Sabang port.
It took atleast an hour to get to Guijalo port.
From Guijalo port a van picked us up and brought us to Gota Village Resort.
The view of Gota beach was breathtaking. The water was crystal clear and the limestone formations were amazing.
View from a hill behind the village resort
Fortunately, there were a only a few guests at the village resort at that time. The food was great and the room had satellite TV, aircon and a hot/cold shower.
Part of the resort was still under construction.
White sand beach, a snorkelling area and a cave behind the village provided plenty of stuff to do.
Boats are available for island hopping. Of the numerous islands we only had time to reach 4.
The water was so clear you can clearly see my foot.
On the way to a cave right at the back of the resort was a cool stream.
The food (albeit expensive) was great too. (I was running out of 'baon' so I had no choice but to buy breakfast.
The long travel to Gota Village Resort was worth it. As for the cost, well the stay at Gota Village resort was worth every peso. I did bring my own baon though and stuck to public transportation to keep the expenses down to a minimum. Given a chance I'd go back and explore all the islands at the Caramoan Peninsula. That is, if it remains open long enough before the next survivor.
Murphy's Curse:
The day was perfect, the beach was perfect, the resort was perfect, almost a perfect vacation until we felt an earthquake that shook the whole village that night. First fear was a tsunami might follow but no warning was given and that we were advised that the earthquake was due to Mayon's volcanic activity. The next concern was landslides, the village is in sandwiched between limestone formations and hills. We stayed up for another hour until the coast was literally clear.
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