Travel: Philippines' The Hundred Islands

Hi there guys, I just wanted to share these photos to showcase how wonderful the nature in our country is. These aren't very recent, these photographs were take a year or two ago. Enjoy. Let's go to The Hundred Islands:

Hundred Islands National Park

(Pangasinan: Kapulo-puloan or Taytay-Bakes) is a national park in the Philippines. The protected area is located in the city of Alaminos, in the province of Pangasinan in northern Philippines. The islands, totaling 124 at low tide and 123 at high tide, are scattered in Lingayen Gulf covering an area of 16.76 square kilometres (6.47 sq mi). Only three of them have been developed for tourism: Governor Island, Quezon Island, and Children's Island. The Lucap wharf in Alaminos, the entrance to the National Park, is about 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.
- Wikipedia

Alaminos is a 5-6 hours drive away from Manila. It's located north of the country. I was with my workmates for this weekend getaway and we stayed in a friend's place. We arrived in Pangasinan before noon and decided to take a walk in the city center and buy all things we need in the marketplace. Mind you, this place is near the sea so all of our seafood were very fresh, some are still alive when we bought them. The city center is alright, it has the usual province plaza feel, we ate 'Papaitan' in one eatery and it's just the best! That light-tower above is located at the port. We had to take a boatride to reach the islands, our first destination is Quezon Island. All of us took photos beside the port and with that tower, taking turns on who poses and who captures the shot; we were 'tourists' there that time, so why not?



These Earthlings have arrive in Quezon Island, it is a fairly new terrain and it's awesome. Sun is shining bright, cool wind on our skin, sea water is cold, the sand feels great under our feet. We're gonna stay on a cottage near the top of the island, had to climb 3 sets of stairs to get to it.

After everything was set up on the cottage, since I don't have any chores to do, I decided to wander off by myself to explore the island and take photos. I ended up on this cliff, just 20 meters away from the cottage, where I got a good view of the sea, other islands, the floating cottages, and the beach; especially the clear waters, it's breathtaking. There are other islands and beaches in the Philippines that are indeed more beautiful than this one, but this place is already great as it is! Everything here is very calming, it's also not too crowded when we got there.



On the left wing of the island is a separate mini-island connected by a bridge is where the Zipline is. It's just low and spans from that island to the other side of Quezon where the apartment complex is located (you can stay there and dine if you do not wish to stay in cottages or in a tent).



This is the view under the bridge, it's just high enough to let a person walk under it. I took my sweet time collecting shells for keeps/token of my visit here. I was able to get a good filled cup of those shells.


And here's an Instagram worthy photo as a reward of my efforts of scavenging the place (haha).

Of course, there are other things to do here besides filling up our disk space with photos all over. We went swimming, there were floating cottages to go to near the island. We also went snorkling in the far side of the island, there were different fishes and giant clams at the seabed. We had a boat but we had to swim 150 meters to get to where the fishes are. I admit I'm not a very good swimmer and took all the effort I have to get there, luckily the life jackets help a bit.

We went to Governor's Island after, at around 4pm. It's where the highest peak is. It's a 15 minute boat ride from Quezon Island. To reach the peak you have to climb sets of stairs for a good 20-minutes. Once at the top, you will have a 360 degree view of the whole park, you will be seeing most of the islands (around 50% only because some are too far, or are hidden by the others or are too clumped together to be recognized). We were there for half an hour taking as much photos as possible to keep as memories and to post them in our respective social media accounts (haha).



There's also a Zipline there, it's just a disappointment that we were not able to ride it since they close at 5pm. The line goes from the top of the peak, across the ocean, landing onto the next island (this island has a cave too, sadly it closes at 5pm). Imagine riding on that Zipline, it would have been a super amazing experience!



The day is ending so we went back to our friend's place to spend another night before returning to Manila. As per usual, there were tons of food to enjoy and videoke to keep things alive.


On the sea. Riding the waves. Sunset bidding us goodbye.

Here are some articles to help you discover more about this place:

• How to Plan a Trip to 100 Islands, Backpacker Style
• Travel Guide: Hundred Islands Pangasinan
• Philippines Adventure: The Hundred Islands

Check out:

• Here's all the photos I captured uploaded in Facebook
• Travel: Pleasant Sea & Sands of Patar Beach
  
  
  
  
  
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