Basked in Bolinao

Together with my boyfriend's teammates, we went to Bolinao, Pangasinan over the weekend. Since they were the ones who planned the trip, I can't provide a breakdown of the expenses but just to give an idea, we spent around Php2,500-Php3,000 per head. That's already inclusive of the van rental & gasoline, overnight accommodation and food.


We met up in Makati and left around midnight. Four to five hours later and we already reached Bolinao market. Since it was still early, stalls were still closed so we were only able to buy some supplies and had light breakfast before we headed to Villa Soledad. 

We got the St. John cottage. It has its own bathroom, a spacious room with 5 double beds which can comfortably fit 10 people. It also has a mini kitchen which was good because we the other members of the group cooked all of our meals. :p

After breakfast, we went back to the market to buy the rest of the groceries for lunch and dinner. When we went back to the resort, the others took a nap while the others cooked lunch. 

After lunch we went to our first destination: (the not so enchanting) Enchanted Cave.

There's an entrance fee of Php70.00 (Php50.00 for entrance -- which used to be just Php20.00! -- and a refundable Php20.00 if you're not going to swim).

Some pictures of the cave:

cave entrance (looks like a prison cell!)

Since we did not swim, we were able to refund the Php20.00. :p

Next stop was Cape Bolinao Lighthouse. This is quite disappointing since the lighthouse is locked so you can't go up...bummer! 

Final stop was Patar Beach which is about 10-15 minutes away. It was so hot that day we decided to rest in one of the cottages first...occasionally buying ice cream on stick to beat the heat. :D

basking in Bolinao

the 'golden' sand

The sand was okay. It was not as white as other beaches' but it was powdery. My only complain are the big rocks. It was hard to get that far into the water because of the rocks. I have never seen a rock almost as big as a photocopying machine close to the shore. :-| The waves were also a bit strong.

As we were about to leave, the manong asked us to pay Php150.00! Huh? And this is a public beach by the way. Good thing my boyfriend's teammate speaks their dialect and we just paid Php100.00 (still not acceptable if you ask me). What's weird is that they will even give you a government-issued receipt.

Overall, it was okay for a weekend getaway if you're looking for an alternative to Batangas' or Zambales' beaches.