For this tour, I hitched with my former officemates to save on planning and tour expenses as such they got a group package tour which includes van return transfer from Manila to Zambales, all-inclusive meals and water, round-trip boat to Anawangin and tent rentals. All-in-all, I just spent Php3000 including souvenirs (shirt, keychain and bracelet), transportation from and to Laguna and additional snacks.
We left Quezon Avenue pick-up point at around 4:30am and arrived in Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales at around 8:30am. Our first stop before heading to Anawangin Cove is Capones Island. It is about 20-30minutes boat ride from the Pundaquit shoreline. If you will be doing this, be sure to be in your swimming attire as boats can't dock close to the shoreline so we were forced to swim chest-deep. Caution: the sea floor is rocky and full of corals so watch out for sharp edges or yet be prepared to get wounded.
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| the trek up the island from the beach/docking area |
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| quite nice view from the top |
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| on the way up to the lighthouse, it felt like an oven in here |
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| view from the lighthouse |
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| Capones Island lighthouse |
After spendin about an hour and a half in Capones Island, we headed then to our final destination - Anawangin Cove, which is approximately 20-30 minutes boat ride from Capones Island. On our first day, we explored the area and swam, bought some alcohol in the nearby sari-sari store to spend the night away. For our second day, we hiked the hills near the cove, swam again then packed-up.
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| the beach front |
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| the picturesque forest of Anawangin |
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| superb mountain view! |
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| also on the other side |
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| the famous lake of Anawangin, you need an entrance fee to get in here unless you stayed in their premises |
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| the jump-off point for our 2-hour hill-trekking |
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| the view of the cove atop flag #2 |
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| steep and rocky hill-side trekking |
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| stunning view from flag #3 |
We left at around 1pm to give time for enough rest before going to work the next day.
