Tingloy, Batangas
Feb. 8-9, 2018
It has become an annual routine for me to go places during
my birthdays.
Whether it will be a solo trip, with group of friends or
even with complete set of strangers, I would always be on the go!
For this year's special birthday treat for myself, I
chose the Island of Tingloy in Batangas.
Based on the reviews that I have read, this kind of trip
is for the budget conscious people like me.
For as low as Php 1,000.00 , you can already explore a
hidden and not so famed paradise for two days and one night.
I so love tight budget trips!
We left Manila at 5 in the morning by riding a bus in
Buendia going to Batangas Grand Terminal.
The fare as of this writing is Php. 157.00.
For more than an hour, we reached the Grand Terminal then
we took a jeepney going to Anilao Port where we will ride later on a boat going
to Tingloy.
Jeepney fare is Php. 40.00.
Before we rode a boat, we bought food at Anilao market.
It is just beside the port and it is highly recommended to buy food there since
goods are limited to the island. There's no eatery or restaurants in the island
as well.
Homestays and transients are the most common
accommodation in Tingloy. I strongly suggest to have your inns near the port
areas.
Tricycle fares are a bit pricy.
We chose to have a homestay at Inay Myrna Transient House
wherein we paid Php 400 per head. We are only two in this trip and we occupied
a room that cost us Php 800 per night.
(sorry, no photos of the house. But it's just a typical Filipino modern house made of bricks for walls and tiles as floors. It has three rooms, large sala, kitchen and two bathrooms.)
The inn was near the port of Pirasan and just a
three-minute walk going to Masasa Beach.
Boat fare is Php 100.00 plus Php 30.00 for the
environmental fee.
The boat we rode stopped at Tingloy Port and so we have
to ride a tricycle going to Pirasan. We paid Php40.00 per head.
We reached the inn at 10 in the morning. The house is
complete with kitchen utensils so we cooked for our breakfast.
Electricity there runs from 10 in the morning up to 12
midnights. They have a generator that can be used during electric out.
After we ate for breakfast, we then started to explore
Masasa Beach and it didn't disappoint us!
It is truly a paradise.
We made sure that we went to its end point up to its end
point. Every area is picturesque and instagrammable!
Rock formations are also a wow!
There are some activities that you may also do aside from
swimming and long walks to its shore.
Some inn already offers boat riding for snorkeling and
island hopping. Php. 100.00 per head is the fee for snorkeling and Php 1500.00
for the island hopping.
There is also a mountain hiking to its ‘Mag-asawang Bato’
summit. Fee is Php 500.00 for the tour guide good for five pax.
I am already
contented with the long walk and swimming so we didn’t try the other activities
plus the fact that we stick to our Php. 1000-peso budget. We thought of it as a
challenge. (Ha-ha!)
By 2 p.m. we went
back to the inn to have our lunch. Again, we cooked for lunch and then we had a
nap until 5 in the afternoon.
We went back to
Masasa Beach to witness the breathtaking sunset.
At six in the evening, we already went home to the transient
and had a short conversation with our host and her husband. Inay Myrna – the
owner of the house that we rented was not around that time as she visited her
youngest daughter elsewhere. So Inay Myrna’s other daughter, Ate Janice was the
one who welcomed us.
We had our dinner at the verandah.
The couple shared some wonderful stories to us about their
other visitors, regular patrons, and how kind Inay Myrna to their guests.
I may truly say that our country is still filled with good,
kindhearted people and we Filipinos are really hospitable by blood.
They treated us as a family and that’s one thing I love
renting transients. It feels as if we really belong on a family living in that
house.
Here’s the contact number of Inay Myrna’s Transient that you
may reach:
0950-8703815 / 0905-2606413
During the time of our visit which were weekdays, there’s no
other guests so it seems that we rented the whole house. It has a big sala set,
kitchen, two bathrooms and three rooms plus a porch where you can have your
dinner and you can even rest or even there.
They also offer free videoke and there a separate television
also for local channels that you can watch.
We used the television before going to sleep.
At 6 in the morning the following day, we rode a boat going
back to Anilao Port. My companion has a work in the afternoon so we took the
first trip of the boat.
We didn’t regret riding so early because we witnessed the
majestic sunrise and how it beams to the islands that we are passing through.
Photos we took will never be enough to show how wonderful morning it was!
You must really experience it for real!
I personally had goosebumps all over while on that boat ride.
Thank you so much Tingloy Island for this very remarkable
trip for my birthday. It was another tick on the bucket list for me.
Here’s the breakdown of our expenses:
Bus Fare Round trip: 314.00
Boat Fare Round trip: 200.00
Environmental Fee: 30.00
Jeep from Batangas Grand Terminal to Anilao Port RT: 80.00
Food: 150
Accommodation: 400.00
Total Amount: Php. 1174.00/head
For our food budget, here’s what we bought:
2 kilos of Rice
Assorted Canned goods that good for breakfast, lunch and
dinner
Onions, Garlic, Magic Sarap, Cooking Oil
1 gallon of water
Junk Foods
Eggs and we hard boiled it before leaving Manila
Bread and Cheesy Spread
And yes, we didn’t buy any meat or fish.
So there! May you enjoy your visit to Tingloy as much as we
did even though we stick on our budget. J
Happy travels!
P.S. Ate Janice sold souvenir
shirts to us and we paid it via money remittance as we went home because
there’s no ATM at the island and we just brought exact money.
