Philippine Summer Destinations, part 4

Never a surfeit of summer destinations in the Philippines! My bucket list of places to visit runs endless. Fortunately for the peripatetic me, I’ve been to quite a few. Now that is summer, these holiday retreats beckon any soul.

Here are a three more choiced spots in the Philippines which I highly recommend.

Hilutungan Island, Cordova, Cebu

This small speck of an island in the central eastern seaboard of Cebu sports wide stretches of shifting sugar-fine white sand and clear clean warm waters. But Hilutungan Island’s claim to fame is its marine sanctuary which rapidly becoming as one of the most popular in central Philippines. The no-take haven boasts of tens of thousands of fishes of various sizes, from the elusive barracudas to meter-size bat fishes and the small anemone fishes, most of which literally would feed off your hands (travel tip: bring bread!). The island is also a renowned diving spot with a steep wall of corrals. It can be accessed by boat from any point in Mactan (a day’s rent goes from $25 to $75, depending on boat size). Snorkeling fee at anchor bays around the sanctuary is about $1.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/100s, f/14, 18mm, ISO 100
approaching Hilutungan Island, Cordova, Cebu, the Philippines


Batanes

Semi-tropical and semi-temperate, Batanes is the most isolated province in the country. It is accessible only by plane as there are no passenger ferries between mainland Luzon and Batanes. A ticket from Manila via Tuguegarao (Cagayan) is about $100 one way. Relatively uninfluenced by the outside world, the islands evoke of pastoral and rocky vistas associated Ireland or even New Zealand. Of course, there are still the requisite white beaches like the famous swimming hole of Nakabuang in Sabtang Island. Now this is unmistakably tropical Philippines.


the Nakabuang beach in Sabtang island, Batanes, Northern Philippines
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/1250s, f/4.5, 18mm, ISO 100, -1/3EV


Baguio, Benguet

Baguio is the original summer capital of the Philippines. Established in the early 1900s by the Americans, the city is synonymous to mountain retreat- verdant, foggy and cool. Sitting some 1,500 meters above sea level, the temperature can be some 8 degrees (centigrade) lower than the lowlands’ in the day. At night, the air can be downright chilly. A bounty of pine trees, orchards of strawberry, tracts of flower farms and dramatic panoramic mine views awaits the city traveler. And wait, Baguio is itself a highly urbanized city so easy comforts are never far away. Metropolitan convenience is definitely part of its charm.


an Ifugao hut in the Botanical Gardens, Baguio, Benguet, the Philippines (picture taken by my wife)
Canon PowerShot Pro1, 1/250s, f/8, 7.2mm


part of an ongoing series on Philippine summer destinations:
part 1 - Alegre (Cebu), Pandanon Island (Bohol), Siquijor Island
part 2 (the isolation series) - the sandbar of Bais (Negros Oriental), Inampulugan Island (Guimaras), Mambucal (Negros Occidental)
part 3 - (Pagudpud, Bantayan, Dakak)

Marine abstraction- a series

I confess. I must have a love affair with the sea. The colors, the tropical warmth and the splash never fail to bring me to a different place. Whenever I am on a boat, I easily stray and work with my camera in creating images of abstraction. It is an ongoing series that I visit all too often.

#1

I don't know what speed the boat was traversing. It was fast. I wanted to capture the seemingly effortless slice in the water. The sun was too bright this morning and proper exposure in a wide aperture can only be done in fast speed which will only freeze the splash too sharp for my taste. I wanted the waves to be as dreamy as I saw them. The solution was to make the aperture narrow enough so that I can get to take a shot at 1/50s- the slowest speed possible with my incorrigibly shaky pulse.


at the Hilutungan Channel, Cebu, the Philippines, January 12, 2006
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/50s, f/13, 55mm, ISO 100


#2

For several weeks at times, my life could be a series of overtime work, weekend report writeups and tense meetings. In our own way in this modern world, we are fast becoming experts in handling stress by default. When one set of visitors in the office requested that they wanted to go to a seaweed farm, I obliged. Occasionally, I get reminded that when things go rough, I still could get to visit the sea, on a weekday no less. Not bad at all.


on the way to Hilutungan Island, Cordova, Cebu, the Philippines, February 17, 2006
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/80s, f/22, 55mm, ISO 100


#3

On occasion, the sea can be royally blue. It was not just the depth of the waters which created this hue but the sun was bright beneath slightly cloudy skies. I willed myself to teeter half-out of the bouncing falowa to get a clear shot of the ribbed side of the boat against the wild waves. I held on tight to my camera, with the strap secured around my neck, with my other hand holding on the boat for balance. As a warning, I need to admonish people that this stunt is not for everyone.


on a boat from Sabtang island to Ivana, Batan Island, Batanes, the Philippines, April 22, 2006
Camera: Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/200s, f/4, 25mm, ISO 100


#4

This was in the same trip in Batanes. I remembered the waves were about to become more serious with us. The waters were still shallow though and the boat was trudging slow, trying to build up momentum. Always a captive to the sea, I was hypnotized. Well, almost.


in the falowa ride from on a boat from Sabtang island to Ivana, Batan Island, Batanes, the Philippines, April 22, 2006
Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/125s, f/5.6, 55mm, ISO 100