Sorsogon: My best daytrip ever

Rainbow caught along Irosin, Sorsogon on our way back to the Town proper

Days before the scheduled Burias Trip, I have thought about taking a vacation leave for the 3 remaining working days of the long All Saints Day holidays.

In the PASACAO-NAGA jeep, on our supposed way back to Manila, Gina, the travel fellow, said she felt the trip was shortlived. Then, I was reminded of my plan, that prompted me to ask if they'd like to head further to Albay and Sorsogon. Without any other convincing, they, Gina and his friend, said YES. So, from NAGA, we waited until the other 2 buds gets to the scheduled 8:30pm bus to manila. I also took the time to research on possible destinations thru the wifi enabled buses (and peeping on the windows for the wifi passwords ;-) ).


Rapu Rapu was certainly in the plan since I had long wanted to see these 2 islands.

In Sorsogon, we had subic beach and bulusan lake for our plan. 

To maximize our time, We thought to start from the far end in Matnog where subic beach is. All arriving buses though are full, and waited further.

Afraid that we might loose anymore night trip,  we hopped on a jam packed Legazpi/Tobaco/Tiwi bus that arrived at 10pm.

Based from terminal workers I asked, this must be the last bus for the night. So, even if it was standing, we took it. It was as packed as the manila buses on a rush hour. I was standing on the door holding firmly on any sturdy metal I could. There was probably about 30 more passengers standing on the hall and doorway. It was only after the town of PILI, Camsur that we got a seat. 

We got off in Daraga Shell junction and waited for another bus bound to Matnog. It was past 3am when we arrived, and since it will take only a few hours more, we just napped on the deserted (Ukay Ukay) papags there.



By 7am, we were awoken by the morning heat, and beside a few men who were negotiating for our beach trip. They were telling us that the normal charge for the boat is P2500 and the least they have given us is P1500. Still, that would be unaffordable for us.

Next to the port is a fishing village, and I thought about checking it there how much they will charge us. I also saw some passenger boats arriving.

Matnog Port

A man appoached us and asked if we'll go to subic beach. I told him about our limitations. We managed to bargain the boat charge to P700 for the 3 of us.

We did not waste any time and rode the boat immediately.

The water was so cold as it is just 8 in the morning; The sand as fine as that of Isla Reta in Talicud Island in Davao.

We explored around and one end of the island is a good snorkelling site.

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

Subic Beach, Matnog, Sorsogon

After subic beach, we headed next to the fish sanctuary. Unfortunately, the nets are under repair so we can't get off the boat and feed the fishes.

The view is spectacular as each piece of land would have that blue-white color spectrum and water was sparkling clear. Nonetheless, since we can't do much in the sanctuary, we thought about moving ahead to the other spots in the mainland.

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

coasts around fish sanctuary

We went ahead back to the port. And, the problem was, there is nowhere yet to rinse. The option is only thru the public toilet in the market.

Meantime, the next plan is towards Irosin for the lake and hot and cold springs. We left Matnog without rinsing since our next destination is but another bath. In fact, Gina was on her swimwear covered in a bugger jacket and with her goggles on her neck for the coming trips.

view of Mt Bulusan from the Jeep's topload

We reached Irosin in close to 1 hour. From the town proper, we were supposed to ride another jeep to get us to Bulusan. The jeep wasn't available yet upon arrival, so we had lunch first.

The meals were extremely cheap at P25/meal. Several trike drivers were also offering service, including one who approached us as soon as we finished eating. We got our Bulusan Lake-Town-Mateo Springs trip for P350 for the three of us.

heading to Bulusan Lake

Crystal Resort

Mateo Hot and Cold Spring

From Irosin, we took a jeep bound for sorsogon city. From there, we'll take a bus for legazpi city. We planned to have a shot at the pier but when we got there, there were too many people. So we took a detour and passed by a cathedral

Sorsogon city eats @One Burgos Resto (wifi+)

Cathedral

inside the cathedral

City Center

Contact Kuya Noli for the ultra affordable boat trip quote: 09289485262
Bryan the Irosin trike service: 09183921100
For Bulusan Lake Tourism: Mark 09467587515


After Sorsogon, we went next to Rapu Rapu Island