Hundred Islands, Alaminos

As early as January, my sisters in law and I have already been planning for our family summer outing for this year. There are a lot of beach choices from North to South of Luzon, but since they will be driving all the way from Baguio, we decided to travel around Pangasinan instead.

We first tried Sierra Vista in San Fabian, Pangasinan. We arrived noon time and stayed for one night. Nothing is special about the beach of San Fabian. We were disappointed to see the place, it is not as beautiful as the pictures they presented on the internet. Sorry, have to be honest.

The next day, we are off to Alaminos City where the Hundred Islands National Park is situated. If you are coming from Manila, travel time is around 5-6 hours to reach the place. For a trivia, Hundred Islands, according to sources, is actually comprised of 124 islands and islets at low tide and 123 at high tide and are scattered along Lingayen Gulf. Among these islands, only three are developed and commercialized for tourist attractions – Governor Island, Quezon Island, and Children Island.

We were actually surprised that there are many lodges surrounding the sea. Some of these lodges’ contact information is not available on the internet. That’s also the reason why we stayed first in San Fabian and decided to day tour Hundred Islands. If we only have this information at hand, we should have stayed in Alaminos and saved a lot of money that time.

When we get to the National Park, there are already available free cottages for relaxation and picnic purposes. We reached our destination early lunchtime so we decided to eat first while we also secure our entrance tickets of P20 each from the Hundred Island National Park Center. After which, we negotiate with one of the boats docked near Lucap Pier. Options are P2,000-2,500/boat (depends on number of passenger) if you want to see all 100+ islands; and P1,500/boat if you only wish to visit the three developed islands. We chose the latter since it’s already afternoon (boat must be back by 5pm) and we have kids on board.

While we are sailing, our boatman, who also happened to be our tour guide, still managed to show off the rest of the islands. According to him, not all islands were given names. To name a few, they have Quinco Island, Clave Island, Scout Island, Sulpot Island, Monkey Island, Abad Santos Island, Hernandez Island, Romulo Island, Devil’s Island, Cathedral Island, etc.

Governor’s Island is where we first stop. One attraction of this island is the View Deck where you have to trek all the way to the top. The experience was very tiring, but once you reach the peak, it’s all worth the exhaustion. Picturesque sight is waiting for you up there.

Additional attraction of Governor’s Island is the Pinoy Big Brother House. This is where the PBB Teen Edition housemates, Kim Chui and Gerald Anderson stayed during their last few days as Big Four.

Our next island destination is Quezon Island. Named after Manuel L. Quezon, the island is the largest and has a long bridge and nice view decks.

We stayed longer in Governor’s and Quezon Islands as our companion kids really enjoyed swimming in the clear water and fine sand. It’s getting late and to avoid encountering big waves, we decided to skip the Children’s Island. Our boatman showed it to us from afar. According to him, the island is very crowded and the water is quite unclear.

By 5:45 pm, we already reached the port. If you have been swimming in the islands or get wet and want to change and freshen up, there are available shower rooms where you have to pay P10. I don’t know, maybe it’s just too crowded on the day we were there. The shower experience is very uncomfortable for us. The bathrooms are not well-maintained and there is not enough water in the shower. On a lighter note, lots of memento items (from key chains, shirts, magnets, hats, and native products) are available from the souvenir stalls near the wharf.

Hundred Islands is in Brgy. Lucap, Alaminos City, Pangasinan, Phils.
For more information, log on to http://hundredislands.ph