At the end of every travel series, I usually write an article about tips and things to know about that particular destination. The same goes true for my trip in Anawangin Cove, Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island in Zambales.

It’s been two years since I waited for this trip to happen. One feature that enticed me to check this place out were the pine trees on a sandy beach which is truly a unique setting in the Philippine landscape.

We visited these three places and in summary:

1. Anawangin Cove had a good angle of the beach, the sand, the mountain range, the lake and the pine trees. 
2. Nagsasa Cove is a bigger and more secluded version of Anawangin with much lesser people.
3. Capones Island was unassuming and actually became the highlight of the trip with its golden cogon grass and the lighthouse.

There are a lot more beautiful places to visit in this part of Zambales but we didn’t have enough time to explore everything. We were four in all and we met up in Olongapo. Please note that these are based on my personal experience and hopefully this will just serve as a guide to help you in planning your own itinerary to these wonderful places in Central Luzon.

Itinerary

Day 1:

• Arrive in Clark around 7pm  
• Travel to Olongapo & Find a place to sleep

Day 2:

• Travel to San Antonio & Buy food  
• Anawangin Cove – arrive lunch time or earlier, depart around 3pm 
• Nagsasa Cove – don’t miss the sunset here! and overnight

Day 3:

• Capones Island – trek to the lighthouse and beach bumming 
• Head home

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Coming from an uncomfortable sleep in Olongapo City, we proceeded to San Antonio, Zambales, via bus so we could journey to Anawangin Cove. It was only a two-hour bus ride and we were lucky enough to have seats reserved by Anton and his wife, Teresa. The bus was almost full since a number of couch surfers were also headed to the same destination.

Anawangin Cove, Zambales
February 19, 2011

reaching Pundaquit or Pundakit beach

We arrived in San Antonio and dropped by the wet market which was just a few meters from the highway. This was a camping trip so we needed food and drinks to sustain ourselves until the next day.

Pundaquit Bay

Rode a trike going to the beach and we were met by Mang Johnny’s boatman who carried plates and kitchen utensils for our cooking later on. The jump off point to Anawangin cove and the other islands was located in Pundaquit bay. Even the beach there was already a good place to hang out and swim – though the tides seemed rough and could easily swallow you into the deep.

our boat, good for 5 persons (including the boatman)

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and still keep your full-time job!

In one of my blog articles last month, I discussed how I was able to travel to 4 countries within 4 months and still maintained my full-time job in a BPO company. I’m writing this entry as a second part of that blog post.

Seldom do people know that apart from those 4 countries, I also traveled to 8 local destinations in a span of 8 months. It started in August of 2010 and ended during the first week of March 2011.

“Ed, I have a question; have you resigned from Company X”?

Friends and former colleagues would ask me this question because it seemed like every Facebook status message that I posted within those months, I’d point out that I was in a different place. Even I couldn’t believe the feat that I just achieved.

In the previous article, I talked about Booking Ahead, Filing for Vacation Leave, Planning your Itinerary and Saving Money. Here are some more travel tips you might find useful.

How to Travel to 4 Countries and 8 Local Destinations within 8 Months
and still keep your full-time job:

• Combine your Vacation Leaves with Your Days Off. Given that I only have an average number of vacation and sick leaves every year, it would be crazy to think that all the days that I went out were filed using my VLs. Simple mathematics would show that the number of days is not enough to cover for the acquired spots. That’s why it would be wise to use your rest days together with your vacation leaves. If it’s possible, holidays can also be combined. Let me summarize my travels during those instances:

August 2010
3 days – Bohol (August 21-23)

September 2010
9 days – Hong Kong and Macau (September 1-9)
3 days – Boracay (September 11-13)

October 2010
4 days – Manila (October 1-4)
4 days – Malaysia (October 16-20)

November 2010
5 days – Iloilo and Guimaras (November 25-29)

December 2010
Was just spent in Cebu.

January 2011
8 days – Thailand and Cambodia (January 18-25)
4 days – Davao

February 2011
4 days – Zambales (February 28-21)

March 2011
5 days – Sagada (March 2-7)

Pretty extreme, is it not? If you manage your leaves, you’ll have longer time to travel.

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