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Looking for a great place to spend your vacation leave or spare time? Do you want to try something different like staying overnight in an island? Then I suggest you visit
Potipot Island. Potipot is a small island that is located in
Uacon Candelaria, Zambales. It is so small that you can explore the whole island in an hour or less but what makes this island special is its crystal clear water, its cream-white fine sand and above all, the view that this place has to offer.
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| See how clear the water is? |
How to get there?
From Manila, take the Victory Liner Bus in Caloocan or Cubao. Your bus should be routing to Sta Cruz-Iba, Zambales. It will take 5-6 hours of travel and a number of stop over before you reach your destination. By the way, tell the bus conductor to drop you off at Brgy Uacon (Wacon), Candelaria or you can just tell him/her Dawal. As you reach Uacon/Dawal, you will see lots of beach resorts you can choose from. Aside from the room, these resorts offer boat services to bring you to Potipot Island. We chose not to get any accommodations from any of those resorts because we want to spent the night in the island. Instead we make an arrangement to a local bankero. Boat ride ranges from 400 pesos to 600 pesos (roundtrip) so you need to use your bidding skills here if you want to save money from this trip.
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| Be aware of sign boards |
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| My friend Tracy and the Potipot Island |
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| Local Bankero that will bring us in the island |
Reaching the island, you need to pay again. 100 pesos/per head will allow you to enjoy the island for the whole day or spend 300 pesos/per head if you're planning an overnight stay. I strongly suggest you stay in the island for you to witness the beautiful and breathtaking sunset and sunrise scenery in Potipot.
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| Playing with our silhouettes |
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| Just a little drama |
Amenities
Potipot is a private owned property but don't expect a flamboyant utilities/amenities. There are no restaurant nor 5 star hotel rooms (even 2 star hotel rooms isn't available) in the island so should bring your own food. It is still an adventure so don't expect much. The only grandiose in this trip is the view that Potipot Island possess. There are picnic tables and cottages that you can rent, and restrooms are also available. Again, don't expect much of them. We bought our own tent in this trip but we chose to sleep in the sand. A long story to tell... Hehe. And before I forgot, there is a grilling spot in the island. You can grill and cook your food there.
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| Grilled liempo for lunch |
For those photography enthusiast, there are lots of great spots in the island that you can include in your portfolio so never waste your time sitting in one place. I suggest you take a 360 degrees tour in the island to appreciate more its beauty.
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| Inception in camera (photo from Tracy Gonzales) |
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| Waiting for our go signal. Hehe |
Reminder:
Know the schedule of buses going to Manila. Buses here are not operating 24 hours. So always know the first and last trip of buses.
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| Potipot Island experience will always remain in my memory |
Budget Breakdown
Bus Fare (MNL - Dawal, roundtrip) - 840 pesos
Boat (Good for 5-6 pax) - 400 pesos
Tricycle (Dawal - Victory Liner Teeminal) - 45 pesos/head
Overnight Fee - 300 pesos/head
Tent - ***
Food - ***
Nice tripping for barkadas... So camping is the best way to do overnight in the island.
ReplyDeleteHi Geejay, I think overnight camping to Potipot Island will be a great adventure for my team. I do have a question though, until what time open ang island? Kc our shift ends Friday Afternoon around 12, so kung 5-6 hours ang travel time, darating kami dun 8pm.. what do you think? Can I contact you through email instead? thanks and btw, great blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Sir, I believe the island doesn't have a closing time but the issue here is the boat that will take you to the island. 8pm is too late and dark so it will be hard for your team to seek bangkero that will take you to Potipot.
DeleteMaybe (just maybe) what you can do is to contact nearby resorts that offer Potipot island ride and ask if you can avail "just the ride" going to the island (since you're staying overnight in the island) with your eta (which is 8pm).
Sorry for not giving you a solid answer because I am not really sure if you can really reach the island with that time. So what I can do here is to give you suggestion. Hope this still helped you Sir.
hey no worries sir. sir talaga. lol, masyado pormal! :P
ReplyDeleteGusto ko adventure eh, ayoko ng may accommodation sa resort, ganda Team building activity din yun, I want to test my team so I think this is a good adventure and besides i've always wanted to try overnight camping. But that's a good suggestion, i'll consider that.
Uhm, alam mo ba kung may nagpapa rent ng tent dun?
Hahaha serious ba masyado?
DeleteWell, may mga bangkero ung hotels, try nyo "patagong" kontratahin pag wala kayong makitang bangkero na magdadala senyo sa isla. =P Btw, nag reply din ako sa comment mo dito: http://geejaytravellog.blogspot.com/2013/02/mt-pinagbanderahan-and-bantakay-falls-atimonan.html
Tent, nung pumunta kami last year, walang tent rentals sa isla kaya better bring your own nalang po para mas sure.
Hi..I just want to ask if that 400 pesos for the boat ride is already a back and forth one? or its 400 going to the island and another 400 going back..tnx for the reply
ReplyDeletesorry for the late respond, 400 is one way palang po yun. =] pag magaling makipagtawaran mas makukuha nyo ng mura yung boatride nyo.
DeleteYo! Good day! Uhmm.. Pwede po ba dun ang 3 days and 2 nights sa island? As is sa island lang? We don't want to accommodate din sa mga resorts dun kasi it's too expensive or whatever... Hoping for your reply asap :)) Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteYup pwedeng pwede just make sure lang na yung items nyo [like food, water, etc] is also good enough for the number of days of your stay.
DeleteSan yung terminal?
ReplyDeleteI forgot the name of the terminal but It is the only/nearest terminal located there. Magtanong lang po kayo sa mga locals at yun po yung ituturo nilang terminal na may biyaheng pabalik ng Manila
DeleteCan i ask if that 400 (boat) is back and forth? hehe We will go there on 17th of May and its our first time so no idea how much it the boat fare to potipot island thanks :) pls reply
ReplyDeleteYes it is back and forth already. Boat rental ranges from 400 pesos to 600 pesos (roundtrip) so you need to use your bidding skills here if you want to save money from this trip :)
Deletefollowing question may bayan din ba ang bata sa boat and entance? kids to 2 and 7 y/o// thanks ")
ReplyDeleteWhat I am sure of is that the 7 y/o kid is not exempted on the fees.
Delete