Philippines

Trip diary: Bolinao, Pangasinan

Posted by Cat Ramos

Note: Company trip, 15-16 March 2014

I always love going up north, especially during the summer months. Aside from a huge variety of things to do, the beaches are less crowded than in the south.

As Manila is becoming hotter and more humid by the day, I did not pass up an opportunity to go to Bolinao on a company outing. I have only been to a limited number of places in Pangasinan, and only when I was much younger, when my mom used to go home regularly to her hometown in Alcala.

The thing that I like with company outings is that you don’t have to do anything. You just show up! Also, the company usually provides a budget for activities like this. Even if you have to shell out for other things like food and alcohol, it won’t cost so much.

Unfortunately, the team was decimated to just three: Vernon, Vic and myself. Karlo and Kevin both had some stuff to do for the weekend. Doesn’t matter in the end because — crush alert! I got Doraemon, Kilimanjaro and Guy Smiley in the trip too. This vacation is going to be awesome!

Together with 3 other teams, we fit into 2 vans. We left Manila at around 1am Saturday. It was a good 7 hour drive. But our driver was probably a frustrated F1 driver who drove really fast that we thought we could shave an hour off the total time. Vernon even dubbed him “kamikaze driver”. Unfortunately, kamikaze-san was bad at directions. If it weren’t for Vic riding shotgun, we would have been lost. Vic was awake for the entire duration of the trip, on Google Maps on his phone while he helped navigate the way to Bolinao — instead of Dagupan, where we were wrongly headed because kamikaze-san took a wrong turn. :-/

Poor Vic. He had to stay awake to make sure the driver is on the right road while the rest of us were trying to sleep. Operative word: try. It was probably the worst sleep I had in a moving vehicle. I couldn’t sleep no matter how hard I tried. The ride was so jerky and made me nauseous. Even the hardy Vernon had to lie down on the seat so he wouldn’t throw up. I think it is partly due to the kind of van we had. I can’t explain it as I am not good with vehicles but almost all of the company shuttle vans are like this.

After a quick breakfast at Adora’s, we drove to Puerto del Sol, our base for the next 2 days. After a quick look around, I was convinced that the hellish ride was worth it. This place is sweet! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!

20140525-192510-69910147.jpg
Our Lady of Guadalupe

20140525-192122-69682717.jpg

20140525-192756-70076124.jpg

IMG_6737[1]

IMG_6738[1]
I love arbor lanes. I especially love these because the flowers are so colorful.
IMG_6739[1]

IMG_6740[1]

IMG_6742[1]

IMG_6754[1]

One group stayed in this gorgeous hut. Lucky!
One group stayed in this gorgeous hut. Lucky!
The resort lobby always smells like a spa. Just wonderful.
The resort lobby always smells like a spa. Just wonderful.

IMG_6741[1]
After helping kamikaze-san navigate, Vic is lights-out as soon as we arrived at the resort.
While waiting for our tour to begin, we played Frisbee at the beach. It was so hot but no matter — I was having a grand time. Aside from Frisbee, you can also play beach volleyball. Here are some of the activities you can do at Puerto del Sol:

Water activities
1. Snorkeling: P300 per person equipment rental. 4-6 persons in a group
2. Kayak: P200
3. Canoe: P200
4. Scuba diving: Open water diving, 60 feet
With equipment rental: P2,000 per dive spot
Without equipment: P1,500 per dive spot
Tank rental: P250 per tank
Tank refill: P300 per tank
Whole equipment rental: P1,500 per dive
Discovery Scuba (includes equipment): P3,500 per person
With 1 open water dive: P2,500-P3,000 per person
Dive spots: Giant clams, Patar Sanctuary, UP Marine Sanctuary (Santiago Island), Bolinao Santuary, Silaki Island

Massage Services
1. Full body aroma massage: P620 per hour
2. Foot spa with pedicure: P450
3. Body milk scrub: P880
4. Reflexology: P620
5. Manicure and pedicure: P250

Tours
1. Land tour (minimum of 5 persons) – Patar/Bolinao town
– With van: P300 per person
– Without van: P175 per person

2. Boat tour (2-4 hours) – Silaki Island, Marine culture area, UP Hatchery, MPA (Marine Sanctuary of Arnedo and Balingasay)
– 2-3 persons: P2,500 per boat
– 4-5 persons: P3,000 per boat
– 6-8 persons: P4,500 per boat

3. Hundred Islands Tour (2-4 hours) – Quezon Island, Governor Island, Children’s Island. Option for island hopping and snorkelling on personal account.

Games and other activities
1. Billiards: P280 per hour
2. Mahjong: P550 for the first 3 hours
3. Videoke
Cafe del Sol: P550 for 1 hour – consumable
Game Room: P2,200 for 2 hours – consumable
4. Pool: P110 per hour
5. Darts: P110 per hour
6. Table tennis: P280 per hour

IMG_6743[1] IMG_6744[1] IMG_6745[1]

Our first tour stop is this seaside spot. Look at how craggy the rocks have become, after being buffeted endlessly by the violent waves. Obviously, we cannot go down near the water as it is not very safe. So we only admired the rock formations from atop the cliffs.

Can you imagine surfing in this kind of water? @_@
Can you imagine surfing in this kind of water? @_@
WILD!
WILD!

IMG_6746[1]

The next stop is the Patar lighthouse, located on a 300-ft hill. There’s really nothing to do here except take a quick picture of the lighthouse, maybe admire the view a bit and eat ice cream them head on to the next stop.

IMG_6749[1]

Annoying. Vandals should be shot.
Annoying. Vandals should be shot.

IMG_6751[1]

Now this next stop is the highlight of the morning. Patar Beach is really a sight to behold. Under the blazing midday sun, its white sand shines brightly and the blue waters shimmer invitingly. Not even the burning sun could stop the others from jumping right in.

IMG_6753[1]

Me? I found my own hut, laid down and snoozed! The breeze was really, really cool and it was all I need to doze off. Well, that and the several glasses of Bacardi-Coke I had for lunch.

Lunch? Yes, well, I had to drink. Otherwise, the others will drink up everything. They actually started drinking the Bacardi in the other van the night before and I was surprised to see that the bottle was half-empty at lunch time the next day. I was pissed because Vernon bought it — he asked me what I wanted for drinks and I said Bacardi so he got one.

IMG_6752[1]

After lunch, we headed to the huts to chat with the others while they played cards. Doraemon asked me if I wanted to play — even if I did, I couldn’t because I don’t know pusoy dos or tong-its. Oh well, it was another one of those high school moments. “OMG, my crush talked to me” kind of thing. 🙂

When the others went away to swim, I took a nap. Sure, the water was tempting. But sleeping under the cool shade of the hut with a lazy wind blowing sounded like such a good idea. I woke up really refreshed. I wanted to sleep longer but we were headed to the falls in the afternoon so we went back to Puerto del Sol to freshen up and then drove to the waterfalls. Of course, the drive wasn’t without incident. We got lost on the way back from Patar Beach to the hotel, and from the hotel to the falls.

This place is awesome! The water was so clear and quite cold. It is about 9 or 10 feet in the deepest part. The great thing was I was able to swim to this part (and back) without any help. Then I also treaded the water for sometime, like how Endre did it in the Danasan waterfalls. It is tiring but I’ll work on that soon. Baby steps.

Also, when I wasn’t swimming, I was checking out Doraemon, Kilimanjaro and Guy Smiley. V and V knew all my office crushes and I love the fact that they sometimes act like my “wing men”. Back at the snack hut, Kilimanjaro even introduced himself to me because he said we haven’t been formally introduced. Landi lang. 🙂 I am pretty sure he does that to everybody. Besides, I know he’s got a kid and a wife. I just find him cute, that’s all.

IMG_6757[1]

Ahahahah. Maybe I will regret posting these pics of Thor but what the heck. In our team, we don't get depressed -- we get even. I am just waiting for the comeback. I hope I am ready!
Ahahahah. Maybe I will regret posting these pics of Thor but what the heck. In our team, we don’t get depressed — we get even. I am just waiting for the comeback. I hope I am ready!

We left the falls when it started to get dark and made it to the hotel for a nice, hot dinner. The set meal that got the most “votes” from everyone was this: grilled fish steak with vegetable and camote okoy. It was OK. I don’t always enjoy eating when I am on trips, as I’d rather be doing something else than eating. The okoy was good, but a bit of an overkill. To have it with rice is too heavy for me. But apparently, it was no problem for Guy Smiley who was volunteering to eat up leftover okoy from everyone — he was sitting in front of me on the table so I got dessert right at the start of the meal 😉

IMG_6759[1]
Move over, Harry Styles and company….here’s No Direction!
IMG_6760[1] IMG_6761[1]

I didn't take a picture of the dessert, for obvious reasons ;)
I didn’t take a picture of the dessert, for obvious reasons 😉

After dinner, I thought of going swimming in the pool but I was so full so I decided not to. Instead, I watched Vic and Vernon play table tennis and billiards. I didn’t join, and even as a scorer, I was lousy. Look, Thor trumps Captain America!

  • Table tennis winner: Thor
  • Billiards winner: Thor
  • Trash talking winner: Thor

IMG_6763[1] IMG_6764[1]
Later that night, everyone went drinking in the room beside ours. Vernon and Vic joined the others while I called it an early night. I don’t know, I guess I still needed my sleep and I was really not in the mood for drinking.

It was a deep, deep sleep until I heard the phone ring in our room. Yeah, I was in the same room as V and V because I didn’t want to stay in a room with girls who are not my friends. Besides, V and V are practically my family so it was no problem for me. Apparently, the reception received a call from a hotel guest, complaining about the racket our group was making. It was maybe 3am, I must be lonely. No, I was sleeping. So I wasn’t part of the ruckus.

The following morning, we had breakfast with some of the group. Maybe the rest were still sleeping after partying into the wee hours. After breakfast, we headed out to the water for a swim. Tough luck! The water was so shallow and seabed was full of rocks. It is deeper after the breakwater but swimmers are not allowed beyond that for safety concerns. Thor and Captain were throwing a football at each other but it doesn’t look much fun as they cannot really run or dive and then they have to wade after the ball after a missed catch. I tried to swim but my knees kept scraping the bottom. If I float on my back, my butt skims the rocks. I give up! A flooded Espana is way deeper than this!

Still, it was a nice weekend. It would have been more fun if the 2 other clowns were there but all in all, it was good 🙂 But note to self: for beaches with a soft sand bottom, better head to Pagudpud. 🙂

20140525-190637-68797978.jpg
Day 2 breakfast at Puerto Del Sol

Facebook Comments

comments

5 thoughts on “Trip diary: Bolinao, Pangasinan

  1. Rachid

    for those looking for afarfdoble accomodation around Patar Beach, ping this number Beeboy 09204526157.In our case, I initially thought about Rock Garden Resort which had the least expensive accomodation. Unfortunately, when we got there, all their cost friendly rooms are fully booked. We ended up knocking each available resort. Fortunately, we got an absolutely perfect rate from this very kind and accomodating resort….to the extent that I promised him i’ll post his number on the blogs to payback the discounts.…prices are quite negotiable…i mean it. —by the way, if ever you’ll call him, kindly inform him you got the number from a post by Ian on the internet (that guy who promised you to post your number); Just so he knows i didn’t break my promise cause I told him to give me the same rate when I come back, which i’ll surely do.they can arrange everything else for you at reasonable rates including transport, food, utensils, and you can request to try their coco harvests.

  2. Teenee

    Hi Cat, guess we’d take the “hellish ride” because you said it’s all “worth it.” Going to visit Bolinao soon. By the way, thanks for dropping a line or two in VisitPinas. Catch you around 🙂

    1. catchan1980

      Thank you for visiting, Teenee! Your pictures are always awesome 🙂

  3. Agness

    This place is so colorful and full of beautiful flowers. How could I missed it last time? Grrrrr! I’m so angry right now. Stunning pictures!

    1. catchan1980

      I love the flowers too 🙂 Maybe it’s our version of spring?

Leave a Reply to catchan1980 Cancel reply

Content Protected Using Blog Protector By: PcDrome.