Caramoan

Caramoan – a faraway paradise located at the north-eastern peninsula of Camarines Sur Region, is a rising and booming tourist destination in the Philippines. Popularly known being one of the premier shooting locations of Survivor (PH and US) reality TV shows, it boasts a lot of enchanting islands and amazing limestone cliff activities as well! However, even with the hye of these shows, Caramoan is ironicaly a very peaceful and lax community where people thrive in living a quite and simple life. If I may compare to othe PH hotspots, it’s like a miniature El Nido minus the mayhem of tourists and with a more peaceful atmosphere. Let’s chill out and rediscover a new venture here at Caramoan!

HOW TO GET THERE

Option 1: Bus your way! From Manila, you could take a direct bus taking you to Caramoan (13hrs). Philtranco and Remond buses (Cubao and Pasay terminals) offer these. *If you’re taking this option, better travel during the night so you would start the fun in the morning at Caramoan

Option 2: Bus (2) From Manila, you could also try buses going to Naga. Terminals of which are mainly located at Cubao. DLTB, Reymond Bus lines, RSL, Isarog Bus lines, Penafrancia, Philtranco are some of these that travel to Naga. Once at Naga bus terminal, you could ride a second bus that depart for Caramoan. *If you are planning to reserve tickets in advance, bus ticket selling closes around 8pm at Cubao Terminals. **Also, better travel during the night so you could have an option to take a bus or boat to Caramoan (see option 4 below). The boat route is faster but operates up until 11am only.

Option 3: Plane > Bus > Bus You could take a plane to Naga airport via Cebupacific or PalExpress. From there take a trike ride (20min) to Naga City bus terminal. Take a bus to Caramoan from here (5hrs).

Option 4: Plane/Bus > Boat Arriving at Naga City Bus Terminal (either by option 2 or 3 above), you could take buses or vans going to Sabang Port (1.5hrs). From Sabang Port, take a boatride going to Guijalo Port (2hrs). Then a final trike ride will bring you to the heart of Caramoan (30min). *Take note that the boat schedule operates only up until 11am.

THE BUDGET

The budget covers our itinerary using option 3 (to Caramoan) and option 4 (to Manila). Souvenirs and other miscellaneous are not included of course. 🙂

Transportation

Naga Airport to Naga Bus Terminal: Trike Ride 200php
Naga Bus Terminal to Caramoan: Bus ride 120php ea
Caramoan to Guijalo Port: Trike Ride 300php
Guijalo Port to Sabang Port: Boat Ride 120php ea
Sabang Port to Naga City: 100php ea
Below is the boat schedules to and from Sabang-Guijalo Ports

Tours and Accomodation: We stayed at La Playa Camp and Picnic Grounds (09202816362), found at the northern end of the Caramoan beach. You could either have your tent plugged in or have their cottages (aircon/fan). The best thing about this place? It’s quiet and the staff are very friendly (which I think almost everyone we met here at Bicol region). They answer to inquiries and bookings very fast as well that is why we chose this. And for those people who don’t want to be left out on the social media world, wifi is available as well! Transfers to the city center could be arranged as well. In our case we had full package – air conditioned rooms, full board meals for 3 days, island hopping tours, included all transfers for 10k php. The room and food (they served as a good for 4-6 meal everyday even with the two of us!) is good for 4 people so its probably 2500php ea if you’re in a group. You could stay on a tent or fan room for cheaper rate, you won’t be staying much here anyway right? Normally tour packages start at 2000php per person but go down to 700php per person when in large groups!

THE TOUR

Caramoan takes your island hopping ventures to a new level! With the mayhem of islands here – and with lots of hotspots per island, the list below is just a glimpse on what you could experience! ***Note that the Gota Village, Honongan Cove, and Omang Cave is rented by Survivor TV Series for 20 years as of this writing and if they’re using it, these areas are closed (which is too bad – the mayor shouldn’t have signed the contract in my opinion to give way to other tourists). Nevertheless, it doesn’t take away from the several islands you could hop into!