There are nice the explanation why the island of Marinduque is dubbed because the “Coronary heart of the Philippines“. To start with, the island itself is actually formed like a human coronary heart. Along with that, the association of the island is much like the anatomy of the place the guts is within the human physique. My mates and I have been in a position to go to Marinduque final April and it was actually a tremendous expertise. We had an opportunity to hitch a tour organized by Backpackers Route which is a 2-Days-1-night keep in Mongpong Island. Mongpong, to not be confused with Mogpog, is a small island positioned on the northeast a part of Marindique. It’s the nearest island subsequent to the well-known Maniwaya which is popularly recognized for the Palad Sandbar.
Whereas Maniwaya Island is really a high vacationer vacation spot in Marinduque, Mongpong Island is particular by itself. As an example, the island options some distinctive rock formations together with the one known as Ungab. Our 2D1N tour in Marinduque permits us to discover your entire neighborhood of the island by means of island hopping and habal-habal tour. We additionally get an opportunity to go to the Palad sandbar and witness some thrilling evening actions in Mongpong. We additionally concluded our tour by visiting the Girasoles Farm in Candelaria, Quezon.
At the moment, I’m sharing you the abstract of our current Marinduque escapade in addition to some notable bills we had on high of our packaged tour with Backpackers Route.
Day 1: Arriving in Mongpong
We have been picked up from Cavite on Friday evening and we have been in a position to attain Catanauan, Quezon province Saturday morning at round 5 am. From right here, we had a forty five minute boat trip going to Mongpong Island. The very first thing that may greet you upon arriving the island is the El Marinduqueño’s Island Resort. In contrast to different islands that I’ve visited to date just like the Calaguas Island in Camarines Norte or the Sombrero Island in Masbate, Mongpong is barely commercialized. There’s a common energy provide within the island, effectively furnished lodging, a bunch of sari-sari shops, a public faculty, a market, and extra. The very first thing we did upon arriving is to arrange our tent.
Since we’re already a part of a packaged tour, all the doorway charges within the island is already shouldered by our organizers. Nevertheless, in case you are planning to go to the island by way of DIY tour, understand that there’s a minimal entrance payment of Php 50 within the resort. You possibly can pitch your personal tent for Php150 or higher but attempt their cottages and rooms starting from Php600 to Php4000/evening. If you’re planning to go to the island, be certain that to ebook your lodging first by messaging them on to their official web page (El Marinduqueños Island Resort)
There’s a giant cafeteria-like corridor the place you should purchase meals, drinks, and souvenirs. It additionally acts as an occasion space which supplies you entry to their sound system and videoke machine. You even have entry to their man-made pool. Mongpong seaside contains a combination of coarse and powdery white sand. Additionally they supply some seaside actions like Banana boat and kayak. After organising our tent, we had sufficient free time earlier than our lunch so we determined to avail the so-called Habal-Habal tour. Utilizing the habal habal (bike), the driving force (information) will tour you round some unspoiled spots in Mongpong. A habal-habal can solely accommodate one guess per trip and it’ll value Php250 per tour. Our tour guides took us to a few notable location; the Pier, the Siargao Vibe, and the Hidden Paradise.
The Pier
The primary vacation spot is the pier. Though there’s actually nothing a lot to do on this space, you may get a phenomenal panoramic view of the island. You may as well seize the chance to take a pleasant Instagram-worthy image in that little shed on the finish of the pier.
The Siargao Vibe in Mongpong
Our second vacation spot is what the locals described as “Siargao Vibe“. That is in reference of Siargao’s well-known Palm Tree street. One other picturesque spot in Mongpong.
Hidden Paradise in Mongpong
We concluded our Habal-habal tour within the so-called Hidden Paradise. It’s certainly a paradise and in contrast to the shoreline in entrance of El Mrinduqueño’s Island Resort, this one shouldn’t be simply accessible. We have been instructed that it’s extra preferrred to go to this place within the afternoon as you may get a powerful view of the sundown. As a lot as we need to keep longer, we have been scheduled to return within the resort for our lunch.
The crystal clear water of Mongpong
Out of curiosity, I requested my tour information if there’s any church close by the resort and he was sort sufficient to drop me off in a small chapel earlier than we head again to the resort. The small chapel was devoted beneath the patronage of Our Girl of Lourdes.
The Ungab Rock Formation
After our lunch, we proceeded to one of many main highlights of our Marinduque escapade. We had an opportunity to witness the favored Ungab Rock Formation. Ungab is thought for its distinctive arch-like formation. There may be additionally a minimal environmental or touchdown payment of Php50. Ideally, it’s best to go to this place on weekdays because it will get actually crowded on weekends. We have been supposed to go to the Palad Sandbar after Ungab however the tide is already excessive so our organizer determined to maneuver it the subsequent day.
We went again to the resort and concluded our first day with a tremendous fireplace dancing exercise.
Day 2 : Palad Sandbar and Girasoles Farm
The marginally submerged Palad Sandbar of Maniwaya
Maniwaya Island has been sitting on my bucket checklist for fairly a while and I’m glad that i had the chance to go to the well-known Palad Sandbar. Sadly, though we arrived there on time, we have been fairly late to witness the sandbar in its full type. The tide is beginning to go excessive and the sandbar is almost submerged in water already. Along with that, the place is full of an awesome crowd. Though it was not likely a satisfying expertise or in all probability not likely how I pictured the tour shall be like, we determined to take pleasure in our time and take advantage of out of it. We took as many photos as we presumably can earlier than we head again to Mongpong and pack our issues.
Girasoles Farm in Quezon
Earlier than heading again to Manila, we had a few facet journeys. We first went to a pasalubong store in Quezon and we headed subsequent to the Girasoles Farm in Candelaria. It’s a stunning attraction that someway jogs my memory of the Sunflower Farm in Tayug, Pangasinan however higher. It options lots of picture-worthy points of interest that depict varied well-known festivals within the nation like Panagbenga, Pahiyas, and Flores de Mayo to call just a few. The doorway payment is Php100.
How a lot is our Tour prices?
The 2d1N Marinduque tour supplied by Backpackers Route is value Php2999 per head. These embrace the van and boat transfers, 3 units of meals, tent, entry to swimming pool, toll and parking charges. Right here’s the breakdowns of bills for our Marinduque escapade. I’m excluding private bills like pasalubong and further drinks.
| Marinduque Package deal Tour | Php 2,999 |
|---|---|
| Habal-Habal Tour | Php 250 |
| Ungab Rock Formation Eco Payment | Php 50 |
| Eco Payment | Php100 |
| Girasoles Farm Entrance | Php 100 |
| Complete: | Php 3499* |
(*)This excludes our first breakfast which we had in Quezon and varied private bills. Costs and costs are additionally topic to alter with out prior discover.
(**) This tour can be NOT SPONSORED by Backpackers Route and all of the aforementioned charges are shouldered by me
That is additionally the beginning of my Marinduque Escapade collection and I’ll have extra particulars about every vacation spot in my future weblog entries. For the meantime, be happy to observe my Vlog about this current journey (and please subscribe 🙂 )
