Crystal clear

Dubbed as the "Boracay of the Pacific", Cagbalete's popularity has grown over the years, especially among the budget conscious travel crowd. There was a time when the island was Quezon's hidden gem, with only a few photos or blog articles about its crystal clear water and surreal low tide.

Related post: Revisiting the paradise island of Cagbalete

From the original Pansacol and Villa Cleofas resorts, the eastern side (facing the Pacific ocean) now has at least 7 resorts. The two ferry boats servicing Mauban to Cagbalete island route now need to make several trips during weekends to accommodate the huge number of beach goers heading to one of the usual equipment resorts. Suddenly Cagbalete is not so hidden any more.


One resort however has kept a low profile and has stayed literally hidden. Tucked behind a wall of mangroves on the north western side of the island , Villa Pilarosa is away from the crowds on eastern shore and is still quite a distance from Sabang (Cagbalete's public port). In fact a tourism staff gave me a quizzical look when I indicated "Villa Pilarosa" while registering at the town's tourism office. "There is no resort with that name in Cagbalete..", she said. I smiled and just said, "its on the other side".

If not for a couple of colored flags, one would totally miss Villa Pilarosa, as there is no clearly visible beach.  There is a small gap among the mangroves that leads to nondescript structures of the resort. The owners deliberately chose this spot because it felt secluded and secure, the latter was proven after typhoons left the the resort facilities unscathed over the years.

But the thing that would be very hard to miss is the huge expanse of shallow water, one of the clearest I have ever seen, along the resort's beach line.

Cagbalete's best swimming area

The water is so clear and shallow that you can be more than 200 meters from the shoreline at still be at waist deep water. Boatmen would bring guests from other resorts here as part of their beach-hopping package. The owners of Villa Pilarosa allowed the boats to dock in the northern part of their property, away from where the resort's cottages are.

All through out the day boats making a beeline to the swimming spot would be the normal scene. On the second day of our stay, there were already at least 10 boats there by breakfast time. But the area is so wide that it could never get really crowded, even with the huge number of transient visitors.

Cagbalete's signature low tide

When tide gets low in Cagbalete island, the water really disappears (especially on the eastern side) and you can see the pattern the waves have temporarily etched on the sand. On the eastern side the water can recede to as far as 800 meters from the usual shoreline and the dry area can stretch for kilometers.

Related post: amazing Cagbalete low tide

The tide started receding by 2PM and stayed low until after sunset (Tide level and low/high tide times, by the way, depends a number of factors including the time of the year, the position of the sun and the moon, etc). The next lowtide came after midnight and lasted until sunrise.

Starry starry night

Villa Pilarosa's magic did not end at sundown.  No time for sleep here, not when the sky dazzled with a billion stars. Fireflies lingered in some of the mangroves and occasionally meteors streaked by.

Even with the artificial light coming from the power plant on the mainland, light pollution was still very minimal that the Milky Way was clearly visible.

Everything just fell into place: clear skies (occasional clouds), low tide, moon set, beautiful mangroves, the Milky Way at just the right location.

Colorful sunrise

By the time you think you have enough of the stars and the fireflies and gets ready to hit the sack, its time for sunrise. There is no shortage of beautiful mangroves along Villa Pilarosa's shoreline.

So I lingered among the mangroves for a bit longer. Breakfast can wait too :)

Villa Pilarosa's rustic appeal

Though they have an air-conditioned cottage that can accommodate about 6-8 persons, everything is kept simple in Villa Pilarosa. The large non aircon cottage is spacious and comfortable and can accommodate a large group of 10-12 pax. [Contact Jun 0999 3663884 / 0908-7300411]

There is cabana nearby that can accommodate maybe another 10. So even at full capacity, there is still way less number of people here compared to other resorts in the island.

The seeming lack of fancy facilities is more than made up for by the resort's overflowing hospitality.  It is homey and it felt like your own private resort.  The resort's unofficial policy is to leave the fun to you and they take care of the rest.  You can have all the fun under the sun and come back to a lovely meal cooked per your instructions. (You can use the resort's utensils and they don't charge you anything for cooking or washing the dishes. Though they don't ask for it, tipping is highly recommended)

You'll have to bring your food for cooking though and the resort does not have short orders. The staff will happily buy the supplies for you at Mauban market - that's one less thing to worry about.

The ever smiling Mang Pando, the resort's resident boatman, can fetch your group at Sabang if you are arriving via the public ferries. [Contact: Mang Pando +63-9073843253]

Update 2016/01/23: If you are a large group (16-20 pax), you can just hire a boat to take you straight from Mauban to Villa Pilarosa.  [Contact Mang Tedison +63-0947-614-1261]

Travel tips

Convinced on spending a summer weekend here? Here are a few tips :)

From Manila by bus

If you leave Manila by 11PM - 12 midnight, you would be the Lucena Grand terminal around 3-4AM. You can then get catch the first bus to Mauban, arriving there just before sunrise. There are regular trips from JAC and JAM bus lines in both their Kamuning and Buendia stations. Fare is 210 - 220 pesos

Environmental fee and boat rates

You'll have to register and pay the environmental fee (50.00 pesos) at Mauban's new tourism office. It used to be by the entrance to the port but now its located near Gat Uban's statue along Mauban's "baywalk".


Public ferryboat (M/B Neneng and M/B St. Anthony)  fare is 50 pesos. but if you want to rent your own boat, here are the rates as of April 2015 (one way and round trip boat rental):

• 1-2 pax     - 1000, 1500
• 3-5 pax     -  1500, 2000
• 6 pax        -  2000, 2500
• 7-8 pax     -  2500, 3000
• 9-10 pax   -  3000, 3500
• 11-15 pax -  3500, 4000
• 16-20 pax -  4000, 5000