Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Potipot Island Getaway

After a total of 15 hours long trek on Mt. Tapulao, the gang decided to spend some time on a beach. We're already in Zambales, and it was only Friday, since it's a long weekend naman, we might as well spend the rest of our weekend in an island beach nearby.

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Friday - November 2, 2012

Potipot Island was the pegged side trip to our Mt. Tapulao adventure. I really totally miss the beach (ang huling beach na napuntahan ko ay yung Calaguas pa noong April) so my excitement was at its maximum level.

Our initial plan was to travel straight to Candelaria from Palauig, and buy there some goods for our planned overnight stay at Potipot Island, but our tricycle driver suggested that we do the shopping for provisions at the town before Candelaria, which is Masinloc (mas malaki daw kasi yung palengke nila, mas marami daw kaming options).

So we followed kuya tricycle driver's suggestion and bought all of our provisions at Masinloc Town, we finished buying goods at around 4:30 PM. Then after that, we traveled again by tricycle to Dawal Beach, where boats to Potipot were waiting. We rode a small outrigger boat to Potipot Island, it costs P100 per head (round trip na). The boat also provided us life vests so we felt a little safer in the entire 5 minute boat ride to the island.

Potipot Island is just a small island (mas malaki pa ang Quezon Memorial Circle) off the coast of Candelaria, Zambales. This island beach is getting more popular nowadays just like its contemporaries in southern Zambales (i.e. Anawangin and Nagsasa coves), but unlike the beaches in the south which have grey sand, Potipot Island's fine sand is cream white.

Potipot Island seen from Dawal Beach, maliit na isla lang talaga
Since the island has become very touristy, locals had built some facilities on the island that would help those who are not used to living a primitive life (i.e. toilet facilty and shower, kubo, and grill station). The use of shower and toilet and tables comes with the island fee that every visitor is required to pay (P100 for day trip, P300 for overnight stay). The rate of their kubo is P500 for the small (good for 5) and P1,500 for the big one (fits 15-20 persons).

It was almost 6PM when we landed on the island. Since it was starting to get dark, we wasted no time in pitching up our beach camp. We also prepared the dinner right away (medyo tom-guts na kami). Half of the group grilled our bangus, while the other half (including me) prepared a pasta dish.

Here's what I prepared for the group that night, Pasta Putanesca. While it doesn't really look like one, at least its taste is very much close to a real Putanesca. Sa Tapulao ko dapat lulutuin ito eh..
After dinner, the four of us wanted to sleep already, wala nang socials-socials na naganap basta natulog na lang agad. I guess we're just too tired from the very busy day we had.


Saturday - November 3, 2012

The following day, a perfect weather and a perfect beach welcomed us. Oh we just want to dip in the sea.

tulala?! mga bagong gising..
I just wanna be on the beach... sunburn! ♫♪♫
It was an ultimate beach bumming day for the four of us, we just swam around, jumped around, rolled around, strolled around... sobrang enjoy lang buhay hayahay! We were also very fortunate that the number of tourists that day was quite tolerable.

fine white sand.. Awesome!
As much as I want to capture more photos of this beautiful beach, my camera battery went dead. sigh.

Our stay in Potipot Island is far better than what I expected. We encountered nice people and the weather did not turned against us. It was overall a fun and memorable experience. woohoo!

By 2 PM, we left Potipot Island, traveled by boat back to Dawal Beach, then simply walked towards the highway. There, we just waited for bus bound for Manila.


29 comments:

  1. I wanna roll on its sand!! Nice island!

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  2. What is the source of freshwater in the island? Groundwater or rainwater?

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  3. Nakarating ako dito last summer, company outing sa zambales taz sidetrip yang potipot. maganda diyan, maliit lang na isla naikot ko siya in 20 minutes kaya lang ung swimming area mabato, ung mga officemates ko puro dugo dugo ung paa nila. :)

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  4. Wow! How I wish to travel in this Potipot Island Gateaway. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.

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  5. Hi Ivanlakwatsero, I have been reading your travel blog and I enjoy your posts. I actually went to Bolinao last Nov 2012 and I referred to your blog for the whatabouts and where to stay. Thanks! Planning to visit Potipot next by Feb kaso nagaalangan ako kung maganda pa rin. I was thinking about the crowd and quality of the beach. Grateful if you could advise kung okay pa din! Thanks again :)

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    Replies
    1. Potipot Island is a nice beach. it's recommendable :)

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    2. sir my water source po b dun?ung pedeng inumin?
      at my mapaglulutuan po b dun?incase naw la kming dalang camping stove??

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  6. Nice fiesta yung foodtrip nyo. Sana ganyan din nung kami noon :)

    http://geejaytravellog.blogspot.com/

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  7. Kuya may bayad ba pag mag te-tent lang po reply po? thanks.

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  8. Sir Ivan,

    Great blog, really wonderful to read your stories. Would like to know if you have boatman contacts in Dawal. Also, do we have to bring our own water or may makukuhanan naman sa island?

    Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. hi,

      I was not able to get a contact number e.. pero ayos lang naman na mag-arrange ng boat right there and then.. may sasalubong na sa inyo sa dawal beach. And yes, you have to bring your own hydration.

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    2. magkano po rate ng boat??

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  9. may kuryente na po ba sa potipot??

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  10. sir negotiable po ba kaya ung rate nila na P300/night if 4days and 3nights mag sstay dun? masyado kasi mataas rate kesa sa anawangin pero worth it naman sa ganda ng sand sana negotiable sya.

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  11. if you want to potipot island check out www.potipotgateway.com They offer great service and amenities

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  12. Hello po, balak po kasi namain na magdala nalang ng tent, kapag nagbayad po ba kame ng fee na 300/night. carried na po un dun? o we have to rent pa din ung tents nila? :)

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    Replies
    1. as far as I know, walang tent rental doon. you really have to bring your own..

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  13. Hi, we're planning to go to Anawangin/Nagsasa/Potipot and we only have 2 days. Will it be possible? Where do you think we should spend the night, in Potipot or in Anawangin or Nagsasa? How much is the boat fee? Hope that you reply. Thanks. GOd bless! :)

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    Replies
    1. Magkalayo po ang Potipot at Anawangin/Nagsasa.
      Hindi pinapagsama sa isang itinerary.

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  14. sir, yung fee po ba sa pag-pitch ng tent kasama na sa ph300 na overnight fee or bukod pa yun?

    thanks ng marami!

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  15. nice...were planning to go to Zambales this May our option is Anawangin and Potipot...but i would want to go to Potipot since i was able to explore Anawangin na via trekking...

    nice blog thanks for the info Ivan :D

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  16. hello ask q lng po mgkano ang expense s ngaun kc sbi 350 daw per head even a child is it true

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  17. hi ivan...

    i came across your blog when i was searching for blogs about potipot. i also have a detailed blog about it and i'm thinking it might answer some of your readers' questions (future questions, maybe) and if you don't mind, i'd like to share my blog about it (as i also did with arisonlinenow.com) at http://weexplore.weebly.com/places.html

    thanks!

    donna

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  18. Thanks for this blog Ivan! ;)

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  19. thanks for the sharing :) punta kasi kme dito bukas. may bayad po ba talaga sa potipot? thanks!

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  20. Yung cottage na p1500. Sabe mo po kc good for 15-20 .. 15 kc kame so kasya tlga kame dun? Thnaks po

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