New Bicol Destinations: Tikling Island, Subic Beach and Juag Fish Sanctuary

Words below are penned by my good friend Archie Sigue who took his family with him for a roadtrip to  Bicol.  This young dad knows that there is no better time to introduce loved ones to the joys of traveling, no better way to nourish love of country than let the kids discover for themselves just how beautiful the Philippine really is at an early age.

Share in their discoveries as they explore these new tourism hot spots  in Bicol that is sure to become popular in months and years to come. Adding Tikling Island, Subic Beach and Juag Fish Sanctuary to my bucket list ora mismo. 🙂 You should too! ^_^

Daragang Mayon!

Road Chronicles: Bicol Roadtrip

As a last hurrah for the summer, I invited my family to join me in one of my travels–a road trip to the southern end of Luzon.

In my elementary days, I read about Mayon volcano’s near perfect cone and have always been fascinated by it. I always wanted to know what it’s like to see it in person — does lava flow endlessly from it’s mouth? Does it rumble? Does it always explode? Two years ago, my questions have been answered and I fell in love at first sight with the Daragang Magayon. And now when my kids started asking me questions about it, I thought its best that they see it in person and let Mayon satisfy their thirst for knowledge.

Travel and create lasting memories with your family

Then, we headed straight to Sorsogon. I heard there is a gem there waiting to be explored, one of the pink beaches in the Philippines which have just caught the radar of travelers–Tikling and Subic Islands. So we rode a pump boat towards an island with a sliver of white sand seen from afar. As we got near the islands, I noticed how clear the water is. You can clearly see the beautiful coral reefs under the water. And as we set foot at Tikling Island, the first thing I noticed is how fine and cool the sand is. And upon closer inspection, yes there are specks of pink corals!

Tikling and Subic Islands are best for travelers who are willing to rough it out. You can land on Tikling Island for only a couple of minutes as it is privately owned. At Subic Island, you can stay overnight as there are cottages and tents for rent. But these islands are not for creatures of comfort as the accommodations are very rustic and basic at best, which suits me quite well. And although some sections have fine, pinkish white sands, the area is also littered with broken corals.

And to cap our trip, we visited the Juag Fish Sanctuary. It is truly worth the visit. I’ll let the pictures explain why…

Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary in Matnog, Sorsogon

Thank you Arch for sharing your Bicol road trip! =)

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Road Chronicles: Bicol Roadtrip by Archie Sigue is the first entry to Penfires’  Travelistas Corner. 

Travels enrich the soul, trips widen horizons, and family vacations make for great bonding moments.

It’s a great blessing to be surrounded with friends who share the same passion about travel, about loving our beautiful country and honoring our amazing places with visits they deserve.

If only I can afford it, I want to be always on the road, exploring as much as I can of our beautiful Philippines. But well I can’t, not just yet anyway. So I say it with pride that I also live vicariously through the travels and discoveries of my friends. They’ve been to off the beaten path destinations, places I’ve never been to, tourist spots that are on my travel bucket list waiting for fullfillment.

Stories and pictures from their trips excites me and I bet will excite you too! Let us all discover more of the Philippines through the eyes and experiences of the Penfires community travelistas.