72 responses to “A Stormy Overnight Stay in Cagbalete Island (The Full Story)”

  1.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Wow! I didn't know that this island already has 3 resorts. The last time we went there, which was about 10 years ago, the island didn't even have a resident, except for the squatters who land grabbed a part of the island. Of course, there was also no electricity that time. All we had is a boatman's lamp. It was really scary to go to the toilet at night. But, indeed, this island is a virgin. I loved the low tide in the morning, perfect for taking pictures! It seemed to be a smooth wallpaper 🙂 Thank you for the informations. It makes me want to go back and see what's new 🙂

  2.  Avatar

    i also want to go back to this island.. this time with a good weather hopefully.. hehe yes, the low tide is so perfect!until now, they still dont have electricity but you can request to use the generator. you're going to pay for the gas.

  3.  Avatar

    hi there! this is a very helpful post.. just one question; did you bring your own tent or rented in the resort? thanks!

  4.  Avatar

    Hi BlissfulGuro,we brought our own tent. Kaya Php200.00 lang bayad namin. Pag hihiram ka ng tent Php300.00

  5.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    nicemaka punta nga!

  6.  Avatar

    I love it! I'll surely put this on my list! Very detailed post 🙂

  7.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hi. This seems interesting. I'm a actually planning to go there before the holidays. Can you give me a realistic budget estimate for a backpacker? Overnight lang naman ako dun if ever. Uwi lang din ng 1 p.m. the next day. Thank you.

  8.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Did you ever find out what pitik-pitik was?

  9.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    just want to share my knowledge about pitik-pitik it is often called dawdaw in some areas.. They say that the locals may put some ingredients usually pinipitik nila sa pgkain or inumin, then the effects may vary gayuma, lason, pampatulog or pde rin pambabarang (insects in your body). D best way bring your own food and water, even when u buy softdrinks make sure u open it yourself.. Just take extra caution not just in this island,

  10.  Avatar

    in my case, i did a spur of the moment trip to cagbalete. ganda…yun nga lang, hirap sa skeds ng bangka, kasi twice a day lang sila.http://limbonisku.blogspot.com/2012/01/cagbalete-island-mauban-quezon.html

  11.  Avatar

    @ianisme,tama!kailangang habulin ang schedule ng bangka kung hindi ma-stranded ka

  12.  Avatar

    @ Backapacker,depende kung ilan kayo.. yung fare hindi na magbago.. so yung sa accommodation na lang.. tent na lang para mura..

  13.  Avatar

    Sir/Maam!!!Thanks po sa pag-share about sa knowledge niyo about Pitik-Pitik 😀

  14.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hello there Mam! 🙂 We are planning to go there next month. Kaya lng worried ako baka hindi ako makakita ng kapilya bago pumunta ng island. Iglesia Ni Cristo brethren kasi ako. Mam any info about INC church malapit sa island.

  15.  Avatar

    Hi Sir/Maam,ang alam ko po merong INC church sa mauban quezon, that's the town proper bago ka sumakay ng bangka papuntang Cagbalete Island.

  16.  Avatar

    actually po maganda ung place aND ung kanilang sand the best kaso nga lang mahirap ang electricity 3am wala ng kuyente kasi generator lang gamit nila

  17.  Avatar

    and pag low tide mahirap mag swimming kasi ppupunta k pa dun sa medyo malalim layo p nman ng naabot ng low tide advice n din po mag suot kau ng slippers pag mag lalakad kau sa dagat kasi may mga sea urchins masakit yun maka tusok if ever nman na matusok kau patakan nyo lang ng kalamansi…

  18.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    so the pitik-pitik is not true at all?… sobrang dami po ba tao pag hoy week?

  19.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    holy week pala? i plan to bring my family this holy week..

  20.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    maam im willing to help the i.n.c group just look me there at the island of cagbalete ate rose to i.n.c din po ako at tour guide ng cagbalete island at the same time nag ma massage me at the beach sa mga turista this is my contact no.09104518108 thanks

  21.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    ate rose yung kapilya po ba sa mismong island o sa mauban pa?

  22.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    I,ve been there last February with my travel mates and 3 guests,it was so nice,better trek than to rent a boat,from mauban proper kasi mababaw din naman yung tubig maglalakad din,and takes same time,di naman ganun kainit maglakad :),I,ve heard about pitik2 story but dont worry, people of Cagbalete are so friendly and accomodating,dont be afraid of them actually we need them for our convenient stay :), if you want a cozy place stay in Villa Cleofas but for Holy week the 3 resorts are fully accomodated because Cagbalete island,s popular already… if ever you guys wanted to tour around anywhere in Luzon,join our tours,just contact me, 09153097813/09333082680

  23.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Just this holy week (2012), the department of tourism decided to raised the boat transportation from P80 (2-way) to P180 (2-way for adult) / 140 (2-way for children). The additional P100 would go to what they call Environmental fee (like in Boracay). Some genius tourism officer in the area or some official may have thought of a way to get easy money. This is an unreasonable price addition considering i did not see anything that may show where this money is going, even the locals there do not see any improvement with the process. The locals even think that everything now is wrong in their place. I did see several police officers and coast guards roaming around without doing anything useful. I would like to commend a “porter” who somehow care in arranging the irate tourist passengers who are waiting the boat even it was no longer his job to do so, a job that should be done by the insensitive police, coast guard and tourist officers in the area instead of just roaming around gossiping. Receipts for the boat ticket that were being issued to some tourists do not have BIR Number which makes me believe that there is red tape on going with this new boat fare. Process of the tourist office / coast guard is not organized also that made us wait for the public boat under the heat of the sun for 4 hours. I just noticed that the cost guard on duty that time (Coast Guard Luna) seems very interested with the registration form where all tourist signs, probably not of security concern but because this would determine the amount of rebates they will get. It makes me feel that the tourist office just want your P180 boat fare so they make ways for you not to learn about private boat rentals specially if your more than 15 in the group which sometimes make it more economical to hire private boat than to pay the P180/person that the tourist office are charging. Even the locals believe that there is some anomaly on going so this needs to be resolved or else there will be lots of unsatisfied guests who would not care to recommend or go back to this place. See the names of the officers managing this area. Anabelle Calleja – TourismTon2 Pansacola – TourismXyra Manipol – Development CenterRachelle Pansacola – Development CenterJames Laureles – Coast GuardGodoFredo Diaz – Barangay Captain

  24.  Avatar

    Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.

  25.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    @Anthony Fusingan I share your sentiments. Been there this summer '12 too and if I have to describe in some words the port officials' systems? Chaotic. Disorganize. Palpak. (agawan sa banka, etc.)But of course maybe we can expect some improvements the next time around. Meantime, you may check out more of Cagbalete photos on my site http://malate.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/cagbalete-island/..and of course, if time permits I shall blog about my @!#+?! port experience too. Nice post Mich!

  26.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    @ anonymous – those are not squatters… majority of them are caretakers. Cagbalete are privately owned. We inherited huge hectares of land from our Lolo (Pastrana/Pansacola). Ours is facing the Pacific Ocean side. Our caretakers and their growing families are still with us. We consider them family too. When we were small we frequent Cagbalete…. it was in fact our summer getaway.. Our playground. Back then it was pristine and beautiful (still is). I knew it wasn't going to be kept a secret from the rest of the world. I find pitik-pitik as a myth. My lola would tell us a lot of stories (not just pitik-pitik) when we were growing up. It's all up to you to believe.

  27.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    @ marlon,Hello, thanks for sharing infos here. Nung nakapunta ako ng Cagbalete, napaki-usapan ko yung caretaker sa Villa Cleofas regarding sa electricity. Siguro, depende na rin sa budget, pwedeng ikaw yung magshoulder or magbigay ng pangbili ng gasolina na gagamitin para sa Generator.Thank you also for that reminder… IMPORTANT:Make sure to wear slippers or sandals kung maliligo or mamasyal man sa dagat during the lowtide. Medyo maraming sea urchins at kung ano-ano pa. Mayroon akong kasamahan na sa sobrang ganda ng Cagbalete ay natuwa sya na mamasyal at maglakad-lakad at nakatapak siya ng sea urchin. Namaga yung paa niya for about 2 weeks, nilagnat din siya.

  28.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    @ anonymous,sir/maam,about sa Pitik-Pitik, hindi ko po alam kung totoo siya. Pero nung pumunta naman ako ng Cagbalete, wala naman akong na-experience. Yung kwento about sa “pitik-pitik”, kinuwento lang siya sa akin ng isang local from Mauban na kasamahan ko sa trabaho. At ng isa pang rumorondang kagawad sa Mauban, na pinaalalahanan ako tungkol sa “pitik-pitik” bago ako sumakay ng bangka papuntang Cagbalete.

  29.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    pitik-pitik can deadly within hours if lason ang gagamitin….i personally know someone who's husband died because of pitik-pitik….imagine going on a family vacation that will end up in tragedy because of that? and the doctors can not explain the cause of death. the relatives were the one who conclude about the pitik-pitik because he's not lumaki in Quezon even if his parents were there. napagkamalan daw siguro…. another friend of mine, almost lose her husband because of pitik-pitik also. bigla na lang nag-diarrhea ng sobrang severe. buti na lang nung dinala sa hospital they made a culture of his stool and the result stated that he ate or he had taken a very, very, very spoiled food that cause his severe diarrhea. buti na lang naagapan. they even know who did it to him. and when he was confronted, he just shrugged his shoulder. usually naiinggit ang gumagawa nun. so beware! kahit saan meron marunong gumawa ng pitik-pitik. usually from the southern part.

  30.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    no one would like to experience pitik-pitik if you know some stories about it….just be cautious….

  31.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    hi there i read all the comments as of now cagbalete island ay inaayos ang kalakaran ng turismo ang daloy ng turista ay inayos na din ang mga resorts ay nadagdagan na ng 3 kong over load na ang mga resorts my home stay pa don na survey na ang ptikpitik o what so ever called ay walang katotohanan isang kwento ng pamilyang inaapi sa isla gumawaw po sila ng kwento para katakotan sila dahil binu bully sila ang mga lahing bisaya inaapi .thats all try nyo…..

  32.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    try to use some punctuation marks in creating your sentence, so that we can easily understand what you're saying.Tagalog naman, pero nakakalito intindihin to.anyway, thanks na din sa update.

  33.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thanks po sa mga update about Pitik-Pitik.

  34.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    hi po! im planning to go to cagbalete with my mate dis holy week! my update po ba kau regarding room rates and fares going there! any information will be much appreciated! thank u! God Bless!!

  35.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hello po!I apologize but I havent been to Cagbalete recently, but I think di naman po nagkakalayo ang presyo for the accomodations and all.

  36.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    okey po! thank u! excited nko! sana everything will go as planned hahaha

  37.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Have faith! :)Enjoy!

  38.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    hi holy week ba kau nagpunta dun sa cagbalete?tingin nyo po sa holy week fully booked lahat ng resorts dun?

  39.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Mga 1st or 2nd week po ng March kami nagpunta dun, di po Holy Week. Not really sure if maraming tao dun kapag Holy Week, ang alam ko hindi pa naman ganun dinadagsa ng tao ang Cagbalete, which is good.

  40.  Avatar

    just got here 3days ago..super ganda sa cagbalete..although i will not really recommend this if you're the type who's planning to swim the whole day since ang low tide d2 ay parang naglakad ka sa megamall before you find the the best location to swim.. 10am-5pm po ang low tide.. this is more for the nature lovers, for wildlife enthusiasts, the corals in baliscar are really a sight to behold esp the sand ripples na pwede mong tulugan so puti at sa pino hahaha.. i love this place.. will definitely go back here.. i havent really heard of anything about pitikpitik, the people were so warm..this place truly is a paradise 🙂

  41.  Avatar

    Hi allAsk lang po kung sat and sun day po punta ng cagbalete maramidinpo bang pumuntang mga tao? and about sa pitikpitik tutuo po ba ito?\saan po magandang mag stay na resort dun kahit na tent lang.Thanks

  42.  Avatar

    Plan po namin pumunta ng cagbalete this coming august w/ my frnd. thanks

  43.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    @ june villasan, enjoy po. hope you can share whatever stories you have and updates too 🙂

  44.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Maganda daw sa Pansacola. Though I havent tried it since sa Villa Cleofas kami nagpitch ng tent. 🙂

  45.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    hi! we plan to drop by @Cagbalete. Your stories helped a lot… hope wala na ang pitik pitik stories.. it scares us a lot. The priced increased already when we inquired.

  46.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    we planned to go in cagbalete this coming week! maybe this coming sunday i hope we have a wonderful outing tnx to all your info i learn and know a lot about the island.

  47.  Avatar

    Hi,Thanks for reading po. Hope you'll enjoy your coming trip. Planning to go back to Cagbalete too. Ive heard that there's a new resort there. 🙂

  48.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hi! Thanks sa blog na to. Very helpful 🙂 Anyway were planning to go there next thurs. Pwede po bang pa update kung ano ng meron sa place. Sa mga nakapunta ng holy week, marami po bang tao? Sana di pa fully booked. Sana may magrespond. Thanks!

  49.  Avatar

    Di pa ako nakakabalik sa Cagbalete Island ulit. Pero gusto ko ulit sya mapuntahan. Ang lastest update is merong bagong resort – Nilandingan Cove. Based sa reviews, mura, maganda and maayos ang service nila.

  50.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hi! Tanong ko lang, ano recommended niyo na pagsstyan for two persons? Saka preferred niyo ba na magluto ng sariling food namin? pero pwede rin magpaluto??? Thank you!!!

  51.  Avatar

    I have read in some blogs na maganda daw sa pansacola, but i wanna try ung nilandingan cove, ung customer service nila accomodating pag may mga questions ka

  52.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hi Try niyo sa villa Noe maganda siya saka malinis 🙂 Mababait din sila.. magdala na lang kayo ng maraming food kasi mahirap maglakad papuntang baryo para sa food.

  53.  Avatar

    Hi All, I went to Cagbalete last May 3, Villa Cleofas was fully booked, we ended up staying in MVT on our first night. Then on our 2nd day we transferred to Nilandingan Cove. We made the right choice, we had an AWESOME experience there. The owners were there and they are so nice. Accomodating sila and maganda ung amenities. Just sharing =)

  54.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Hi! Papunta din kami ng Cagbalete this coming summer kaya nakita ko itong page na ito. Regarding sa pitikpitik, I've been working here on Quezon, and base sa mga narinig ko dito, nag-eexist nga ang pitikpitik.Based on the local stories I've heard, pitikpitik is cyanide poisoning. Kaya sya pitikpitik, inilalagay ng manglalason ang cyanide sa mahabang kuko, at kapag ilalagay sa pagkain ng lalasunin, pipitikin nila ung daliri nila para malaglag ung cyanide. Cyanides or other chemicals that fishermen use. by Kurapikta

  55.  Avatar

    Hi Kurapita,Thanks for that detailed update. It's been a while since I heard any updates on Pitik-Pitik. My friend and her daughter just went to Cagbalete last week and they enjoyed the whole place. It was pretty safe. If ever that Pitik-Pitik is really true up until now, hopefully, they're going to stop it soon.

  56.  Avatar

    tol my nameet kbng kpatid sa lokal n mlpit dun .plano kase nmeng pmunta this weekend

  57.  Avatar

    Hi everyone!Does anybody here have Nilandingan Cove's number? I really wanna go there but whenever I call their posted number: 09173900027 I keep getting “the number you dialed is incorrect”. Please help :c

  58.  Avatar

    Hi Anna, just send that number an sms, or better yet leave a message at the Nilandingan Cove facebook/fanpage. 🙂

  59.  Avatar

    Hello po! May phone number po ba yung Villa Cleofas? Saka saan po kami mag-cocoordinate kapag pupunta kami dyan? Salamat po ng marami!

  60.  Avatar

    May malapit po bang kapilya (INC) dun sa mismong Island ng Cagbalete or sa Mauban po talaga? Thanks in advance!

  61.  Avatar

    Ang alam ko po is dun lang sa Mauban bago tumawid ng Isla ng Cagbalete.

  62.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Meron po bang bangka kahit early morning ng Sunday kasi need namin sumamba sa INC Chapel na malapit at Mauban lang yata

  63.  Avatar

    Thanks for sharing bout pitik-pitik stories. My bf and his family went to cagbalete last sat. 8 of them suffered diarrhea after the trip. 2 yung dinala sa ospital..ang as of this moment nakaconfine pa yung isa. Hindi pa din nila alam kng anong nging cause. At first akala nila dhil sa pusit..pero yung iba sa nagkadiarrhea nde naman kumain nun. Another thing na tinitignan nilang reason is yung water sa island. For those who are planning to go there.. magingat nalang po.

  64.  Avatar

    Thanks for sharing bout pitik-pitik stories. My bf and his family went to cagbalete last sat. 8 of them suffered diarrhea after the trip. 2 yung dinala sa ospital..ang as of this moment nakaconfine pa yung isa. Hindi pa din nila alam kng anong nging cause. At first akala nila dhil sa pusit..pero yung iba sa nagkadiarrhea nde naman kumain nun. Another thing na tinitignan nilang reason is yung water sa island. For those who are planning to go there.. magingat nalang po.

  65.  Avatar

    Thanks for sharing. Baka nga sa water or sa panahon na din? Pero siguro kahit saan naman tayo mapadpad, kailangan talaga mag-ingat lalo na sa water intake para lang sure.

  66.  Avatar

    Hi there. We are planning to visit the place this coming week. We are from Manila. Kung magdadala ng sariling sasakyan hanggang port, may mapaparkingan ba na safe? thanks

  67.  Avatar

    Malapit lang yung port dun sa municipal office/tourism office, you may ask there. Commute ang na-try namin.

  68.  Avatar

    Hi,We're planning to visit Cagbalete on September w/ my two kids. I just want to ask, during this month, is it safe to travel on boat from Mauban to Cagbalete? Thanks…

  69.  Avatar

    By default pong malakas lagi ang alon sa Mauban.

  70.  Avatar

    ano pa yung the best resort jan?

  71.  Avatar

    may bagong resort dun – Nilandingan Cove. Try mo. Maganda ang reviews. 🙂

  72.  Avatar

    Meron po bang malapit na INC chapel sa cagbalete mismo?thanks po

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