I can’t remember the day that I first heard the name Jomalig Island, same as well as the first time I saw pictures of it from the internet. But after learning how raw, delicate and exquisite this island is, I knew what my heart is truly longing for. And that’s some one F crazy trip to take. So did I hear spontaneous adventure plan being made to this island? Hell yeah.
To situate you first, Jomalig (hu-ma-lig) (make sure you pronounce it correctly alright) is a pristine island that can be found off the coast to the Pacific Ocean and east of Quezon Province. It is filled with wide and long stretches of golden and white beaches, palm trees and coconut trees. Majestically lovable.
HOW TO GET THERE:
- Raymond Transportation Bus (in Legarda, Sampaloc, Manila) has a daily route to Real, Quezon (11:30 pm & 1:00 am are the 2-night trips) the bus fare is P195 and it’s a good 3-hour bus ride. You need to take the bus going to Infanta, but be sure to tell the driver to drop you off in Real, okay?
- There are tricycles at the drop off point going to Ungos Port (port in Real). Just tell them that you are going to Jomalig and pay P10 for the ride per person.
- Once you reached the port, immediately talk to the person responsible for the logging in of tourists located at the entrance.
- The fare for the boat ride going to Jomalig Island is P400 per person and the cute thing here is, meals are included! Don’t expect much, though. But you’ll be glad once the boatman hands you a plate. Please be reminded that this is a 4-6 hour boat ride. Yes, you heard it right. And as what they say, that long ride is always worth it.
- Once you arrive at Jomalig, you will just have to pay P170 for the tourism and environmental fee.
- Habal-habal is the popular mode of transportation on the island. I remember paying P70 for each habal going to our resort.
- OVERALL BUDGET: Playing around P4,000/pax
So there you go! That is pretty much all you need to know if you just want to read about the travel guide. But if you wanted to read words from my achy wild heart, which I will be glad to and will make me love you, here is this trip’s story.
Well, come on. Here I am again, exploring the beautiful and full of surprises province of Quezon. Guess I will never get tired. It’s been three years since I learned that: once fed up with all the noisy and cruel confusions of city life, all I’ll be needing is a long bus ride and an empty beach. This is it again! Except for the long boat ride: almost 6 hours sitting on a hard wooden chair inside a small boat was such a pain in the ass. Was it boring? I slept almost 70% of the time so I’ll say maybe no.
We arrived around 2 in the afternoon in Jomalig. And at times like this one, there is literally nothing else to do but to expose as much skin as you can and bum on the beach because it was darn empty. And if you don’t want to believe me when I say empty, look at the photo below:
Being able to see the beach in front of our resort had brought me to the first time I fell in love with empty beaches. The water was crystal blue, the sand was like white gold and the waves? Just enough. It was terrific to the soul.
Also Read: Weekend Trip: P500 to Cagbalete Island
After having our late lunch on the first day which was, erhh I forgot, we went to the beach to swimmm! We walked a pretty acceptable mile because we were such a picky pricks considering an empty beach to illegally call it “our own” until we found our little spot under a giant tree. THERE WAS NO CROWD. And that was perfect.
There were no fancy restaurants in Jomalig, as far as I know. But there were good people who will cook good food for you! And small stores with ihaw-ihaw.
A friend who will be celebrating her birthday in few days brought two tequilas. Freaking tequilas. Are we really strong enough for this? Are we even mentally prepared to get wasted? So on our first night, we managed to finish one bottle. One fecking bottle of fecking tequila for just the three of us. I cannot remember being dead drunk that night, but I was hella, well not that hella much, but a little bit of tipsy I guess? And I think it’s a sweet thing to celebrate island moments like that with friends that I’ve known for more than 10 years. Sweet pea.
Our day 2 at Jomalig consist of beach tours. For me, it’s a must to do the tour. The habal-habal tour costs P600 per person. And if you can spend more than P599 for an expensive-special-Samgyupsal-sit-down with your mates (i love and am craving for it lately) this one is also really worth it.
We went first to what they call Golden Sand. And it was indeed a cute golden beach. Hahaha I cannot say much with this place for we spent not more than 10 minutes in that place. Because one of my friend was 9 out of 10 irritated. I did not and never wanted to kill the vibe and all I can say is that having to walk and run there was beautiful.
And then there was Puno ng Walang Forever. Hahaha funny? I didn’t know why the hell or who was responsible for naming it. But going there was scenic! The tree is standing in the middle of a vast green plain land. It makes sense.
And do you ever think about the bitter energy coming from my two friends bitching about not having a boyfriend since birth? You bet.
Our habal drove and drove and drove and there was a bit where I felt like I was in a movie – that kind of movie where you’ll feel the extra wanderlust runs through your veins after watching? It was super nice to drive on top of a wide hill while you can see the ocean from afar and down under you. Ahhhh so if you’re planning to go to this tour, I suggest you to create your spotify playlist now. How about some ABBA? You gotta make it as remarkable as you like!
Lingayen Cove was iconic. And the countless times I’ve seen people going to Jomalig with this view in their backgrounds? I can’t recall. Locals call it “Little Batanes” but damn, it was a different flavor. Though I know I haven’t been and seen Batanes yet. But this place was hell one of a beauty! I wanted to spend the rest of the day here. I was proposing it. So I just joked to my friends, the waves are similar to Hawaii! Even though I haven’t been there as well.
And then we drove to what they call Little Boracay of Jomalig, the beach has a whiter sand compared to other beaches in the island and has a wonderful tropical vibe so I sat down there and think when will be the next time I’ll be in Boracay. I hella miss Boracay, anyone else?
My friend who has been irritated, bought fresh buko juice in the hopes to refresh her mind. But lol maybe nothing has changed?
Disclaimer: I am not supporting using single-use-plastic straws anymore, okay? Those are bad for our environment, for the ocean and for the turtles.
Moving forward to the next destination, Kanaway Beach was the farthest destination. Making the beautiful ride became a little bit (super slightly) pain in the ass. Kidding! What makes this place mesmerizing was there are a lot of rock formation scattered in the vast golden sands that stretches from one place to eternity. Forgive me, I wasn’t able to take photos for I was busy figuring out about the tour guide’s explanation of how one rock formation is like a turtle. There are also nearby islets that can be accessible by foot during low tide.
But we weren’t able to spend a lot of time on this beach because of my friend who complains a lot about beach tripping. So travel lesson, do not force people to go on a beach hopping trip if they don’t want to.
How nice it would be to explore it so deeply.
Me and another friend kept on educating my irritated friend that it is not everyday we get to see grand and breathtaking scenes like these. I mean yes, right? You gotta be more present and learn how to appreciate everything that’s in front of you because you never know. I personally think I’m still on the process of learning to “seize the moment” as well. But I try my hardest.
So taking everything in mind, Jomalig is such a perfect destination to be intimate with nature. And there are a lot of positive things that can happen when we reconnect with nature because it is so good for the mind and body. There’s a magic whenever I’m near the ocean. I feel like, by just a snap of a finger, I am already inspired. Bumming on the beach helps us to feel good and do good and think good. Imagine playing your favorite playlist on an empty dazzling beach with your most daring swimwear because there’s literally no one around! Do I hear skinny dipping? If yah dare.
The addicting yet calming sound of the waves giving the shores unlimited kisses and a bottle of ice cold beer is appeasing.
Going to Jomalig is one of the trips that I like the most because it was so peaceful being there. I was happy. There was a post that I saw in my newsfeed about “dreaming deep” instead of “dreaming big” just a week ago and it’s all about following what your heart truly desires.
And if you have watched the film Mamma Mia! (I totally love that film by the way) you’ll understand what it is. “Life is short, the world is wide. I want to make some memories.” has been my life mantra after seeing the film. I just want to explore and learn the world as much as I can while I’m still young and able. People my age were raising their eyebrows on me questioning why I don’t have big savings. It’s time to start saving money for the future they said. I should have own a car by now they said. And they’re correct, for I maybe, unfortunate with financials right now.. but I am (I guess) very fortunate with spontaneous adventures for my age (might not as well YET).
I guess maybe in this life, after all, it is okay to take a nontraditional path. Regardless of everything. Because who cares! And I am willing to take that path. To just follow the call of travel and not worry about the expectations of people around you.
So there, take care of yourselves, kids.
Love,
Marron
