Pundaquit is fishing village located at San Antonio, Zambales. It’s home to expansive sand beaches popular with surfers and skim boarders, plus laid-back camping sites, and friendly bars with sunset views over the South Philippine Sea. A 10-minute stroll from the beach, Pundaquit Falls has natural rock pools for swimming. Hiking trails cross the Pundaquit River and lead to the summit of Mount Pundaquit, which has panoramic views of mountains and the sea. (Information from Google.)
We booked our day tour island-hopping thru Tanaw de Hardin Resort. They are partnered with Destinare Beach Resort & Campsite. They also facilitated the boat rent for our island-hopping.
Our first island visit was on the Capones Island. The boat ride took 30-40 minutes approximately. As we approach the island you can already feel the excitement. That feeling, you can’t wait to dock and take pictures as many as you can. The thing is, you can’t post to social media those best pictures you took. You need to wait until you get back to the Pundaqiut shore since there’s no signal at the islands. We did not stay long. After some picture taking, we call our boat operator and set to the next destination; Anawangin Cove.
It’s not an island…
Boat ride to Anawangin Cove took longer. Approximately close to 1 hour from Capones island. As misconception, Anawangin Cove is not an island. You can actually go to the place thru mountain hike. But of course that will take longer and not for everyone. Unless you’re use to hiking and trekking.
When we arrived, an officer, caretaker, cove ranger; sorry I don’t know how to address her; logged our names and paid 20 pesos each. I think this is for environmental fee something. At the entrance of Destinare Beach Resort & Campsite, many guest were lined up to enter. Luckily that we booked earlier so we don’t need to wait and they let us enter the camp in few minutes after paying the cottage/table that we will use inside the camp.
Inside the camp, there’s a pool with pay of course and some unfinish attractions(about that time we went there) with minimal fees for entrance. There’s a viewing deck (Wishing Mountain) but we didn’t go since we feel exhausted already from our boat ride. Some recreations to enjoy inside the camp is available. Billiard table and a table tennis. We did play billiards and table tennis our little family bonding time.
We left the camping site before sunset. The sea is rough when we traveled back to Pundaquit shore. That was the longest boat ride I ever had. I wanted to reach the shore as fast as we can. Not because I’m afraid of the big tides sinking our boat but because of pity to my wife and daughter. They don’t really enjoyed the boat ride to home. Probably need more time to convince them to do another island-hopping.
Suggestions and notes:
- Booked your stay at the Anawangin cove camping site in advance. It’s hard to get cottage for walk-ins specially on peak dates.
- Schedule your boat ride early so you can stay longer on islands you’ll visit.
- Food and beverages are available at Destinare Beach Resort & Campsite. Bring everything you can, there’s no corkage. The price is twice at the camping site.
- It’s better to stay overnight. So little time too much to do.
- If you have children or seniors with you, book a kubo. You’ll have your own restroom. The public restroom is always congested. That is if they not built additional restrooms yet.
- You can cook your own food. Bring portable LPG cooker if you can.
