San Vicente

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Capari Resort, San Vicente, Palawan

Palawan By angkulet September 29, 2012 Tags: accommodations, Capari Resort, Palawan, resort, San Vicente 1 Comment

After getting lost a number of times, we finally found Capari Resort. I asked by the way why the sign says “Caparii” and was replied with, “The old name really had two i’s, we changed it to only one i.”

There were about fifteen people when we got to the beachfront – gorgeous Caucasian hunks to be quite honest, playing beach volleyball, football, as well as an Asian who was skimboarding. But shortly after, they all boarded a speedboat and went away – to some island we surmised, much to our sadness(!). Except for a family in another hut, the resort was completely empty.

Getting Lost in Panindigan, San Vicente, Palawan

Palawan By angkulet September 28, 2012 Tags: Palawan, Panindigan, Panindigan Avenue, Panindigan Bay, Panindigan Fisherman Village, San Vicente, travel 2 Comments

It was another bright and extremely sunny day in San Vicente. Out in the balcony, we could see this white beach on the other side…

We considered going there but were told it would take 45 minutes to drive there on a habal-habal (motorcycle). We decided to rent one and drive it ourselves.

Steve, the owner of Peace and Love Resort where we were staying at, rented it to us at only Php300 for the entire day’s use.

Before doing anything though, we thought it was a good idea to check out “Beach 1” on the map, which was 10 minutes away from the resort.

Going down this dirt road was a bit of a challenge for Lovely who was not used to driving in dirt roads… but we made it!

You can see how cloudless the sky was! We lathered on LOTS of sunblock but still… Regardless of the heat, it was quite a beautiful day!

The sea was calm, so much calmer than the afternoon before, and though Beach 1 is supposed to be the least pretty on the stretch of Long Beach, it was beautiful in the 10am light.

Long Beach, San Vicente, Palawan

Palawan By angkulet September 27, 2012 Tags: Long Beach, Lovely, Palawan, San Vicente, travel 3 Comments

This is a map that we got from our Peace and Love Resort where we were staying. On this map (click here to view large size), you can see Poblacion on the left side and “Beach 1”, “Beach 2” and “Beach 3” in the middle. If you talk to the locals, these beaches have their own names, but since this is a map that we took from our German-owned resort, the beaches are only labeled by number.

Just like in Boracay where they have Stations 1, 2 and 3, with the best sand being at Station 1, the best and finest sand can also be found at Beach 3. And Beach 3 is where we told our motorcycle drivers to take us to.

Here are some aerial shots of Long Beach from the official website of San Vicente, Palawan.

And this is an aerial shot of the beach where we found ourselves that Saturday afternoon. Except that the sand was of a yellowish color.

Peace and Love Resort, San Vicente, Palawan

Palawan By angkulet September 26, 2012 Tags: accommodations, Palawan, Peace and Love Resort, San Vicente, travel 3 Comments

The sun was sweltering hot on that bright, cloudless afternoon that we arrived in the little town of San Vicente. Picardal Lodge was fully booked and we were directed to Peace and Love Resort, that, we were told, in the state of that afternoon, was not ideal to walk to. We got two motorcycle drivers, for the price of Php10 each, to bring us to the resort. That is not saying that you cannot walk to the resort, it is just a few meters away from the town proper on a semi-paved road that goes uphill, but we had my three-year old with me and quite a few bags.

Here is a map that was provided to us in our room by the resort. Click here to view a large version. On the lower left corner is Picardal Lodge, and on the upper left corner is Peace and Love Resort.

The front building was being constructed when we were there last August 25, but we were told by the owner, Steve, that they will have finished all construction in three weeks. By now, it should look like this:

Though, when we were there, it looked like this:

That’s Lovely with the motorbike we rented for the day to go around the town with.

And the road really looks this way:

So just imagine how unsure we were if we had the right place when we had to pass by the construction workers and I didn’t know where the reception was.

We were welcomed by the owners of the resort though and when I asked to be shown the rooms, he opened a door and this is what I saw.

Accommodations in San Vicente, Palawan

Palawan By angkulet September 25, 2012 Tags: accommodations, Alicia's Pension Haus, Capari Resort, Erica's Guest House, John Eric Lodge, Min Nah Hyun Lodge, Palawan, Picardal Lodge, San Vicente, Station 5 Inn, travel 4 Comments

I have a 2006 edition of Lonely Planet Philippines and in there, nothing about the town of San Vicente can be found. But then of course, there is Google. I had intended to stay at Picardal Lodge because it was recommended by a friend but when we got there, we were told the lodge was fully booked for that weekend. We asked them for recommendations and they recommended Peace and Love Resort.

While we are on the subject of accommodations in San Vicente Poblacion, I have to say that the choices are very limited. I did not get to go around anymore to check out all the other places because when I went to Peace and Love Resort, I was already in love with the place.

Here is a list of other accommodations though, with help from from Josiah’s blog at Lakas.com.ph, click here for the link.

PICARDAL LODGE

Located in front of, and across the street from, the market as well as the terminal, this lodge is very accessible. It has a nice garden and its own restaurant, and really friendly and helpful staff. If you want to know more about the lodge, there are pictures and more details here:

It has good reviews for its rooms and customer service but DO NOT take the description found on its Facebook page literally. “Picardal Lodge is surrounded by pristine beaches, shores with plenty of corals and exotic fish, huge open sea for deep sea diving, sport fishing, and sailing, virgin forest with plenty of waterfalls and caves, vast mangroves, challenging highlands, clean sea breeze, and has the longest white sandy beach in the Philippines – the 14-kilometer Long Beach.”

It is NOT on the beach itself but in the heart of town, surrounded by concrete. In its description, it might be taking into account the entire town of San Vicente. The 14-km long beach is outside of town and best accessed by renting habal-habals/motorcycles.

I did not get to see the rooms because they were all occupied.

Rates:
Php400/night/room and Php600/night/room

Contact Information:
Cel. No.: +63 919 2392224 (Francis Picardal)
+ 63 920 476 4854 (Nelita B. Picardal)
E-mail: francis_rique@yahoo.com

Going to San Vicente, Palawan

Palawan By angkulet September 24, 2012 Tags: Itabiak, Palawan, roro bus, San Vicente, transportation, travel 6 Comments

One of the places that I always wanted to check out is the town of San Vicente in northwestern side of the island of Palawan. It is posed to become the next big destination because of its 14-km long beach.

Classified as a first class municipality, San Vicente is bounded by the South China Sea in the West, the municipality of Taytay in the north, Roxas in the East and City of Puerto Princesa in the Southwest. (Source)

We we’re coming from El Nido so we took a bus bound for Puerto Princesa. Roro buses have regular schedules of every 2 hours coming from both directions. In between Puerto Princesa and El Nido are two towns, or what you would call stop-overs: one in Roxas and another in Taytay.

Roro bus schedules from El Nido look like this:

4:00 AM*
6:00 AM – airconditioned
8:00 AM
10:00 AM – airconditioned
12:00 PM*
2:00 PM – airconditioned
4:00 PM
6:00 PM – airconditioned
10:00 PM – airconditioned

*As of writing, these airconditioned trips have been cancelled.

Fares are Php 483 for airconditioned and Php350 for non-aircon buses.

Each town is also two hours apart. So the buses that leave El Nido and Roxas at the same time ideally get to Taytay at the same time; and the buses that leave Puerto Princesa and Taytay at the same time get to Roxas at the same time. We had our first stop-over at the bus terminal in Taytay.

My Travel Wish List for the Year

Travel By angkulet March 28, 2012 Tags: Albay, Biliran, Bulalacao, Calicoan Island, Calicoan Villa, Capari Resort, Donsol, Eastern Samar, Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Misibis Bay, Naga, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Panicuason, Sambawan Island, San Vicente, Sorsogon, Stonehouse Gardens, Surf Camp, Tambaron, travel 5 Comments

I am compiling a list of places to go this year.

1. Tambaron, Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro

An island owned by the family of one of our friends, we are invading this resort in May.

Visit their website at tambaron.com and view this video made by one of the guests to see what Bulalacao has to offer.

The upcoming trip will be a reunion trip of sorts with our Travel Factor friends, and it will be the first time Lia (age 3) and Calix (age 1.5) will be together on a trip!

2. Misibis Bay

Located in Cagraray Island, Albay, this resort is considered to be a top-end resort; but because this resort is only in Albay, a place that I consider to be accessible, it is on my to-go-to list.

They recently had a summer sale for March-May 2012 for only P16,000+ net for 3d/2n package for two that made me think this place is not so expensive to go to after all! Too bad we already have other plans for the summer but I am going to wait patiently for the next promo and off we will go!