Liwliwa beach in San Felipe, Zambales is one of the famous surfing spots in Luzon. In just around 3 1/2 hours drive from Manila, you'll reach the peaceful town of San Felipe which is now popular among the youth as an easy to reach beach travel destination.
If I were to compare the vibe in Liwliwa with another famous surfing spot which is San Juan, La Union, the vibe here is more laid back and chill than the latter. The shores are wider since most of the resorts are located at an ideal distance from the beach. This gives the tourists a wider beach shore to enjoy. Right now given the boost of popularity of Liwliwa, more aesthetically designed resorts and accommodation options have been constructed over the years, giving now the tourists more choices for comfortability and flexibility depending on their budget. I visited this beach before with a few close friends who were my work mates at that time. We just stayed overnight and rented a simple kubo hut for us to stay.
The advantage of having guys in the group is that there's someone willing to help set-up a bonfire. Another group of tourists also helped us with it. So we just chilled by the beach with a bottle of beer in our hands. If I remember it right, this was the first time that I get to travel with my now very close friends Jec and Jam, that is not part of a company event. I guess our friendship developed more over time as we continued to travel together. Kareen, our bunso was also with us which made this trip much more fun.
We just stayed overnight in Liwliwa for we just planned a quick escape that one weekend. We didn't find many food options around the area back then but I'm sure there are lots now due to its recent popularity over social media. I just wish that the town officials are able to consistently preserve the cleanliness in the beach and protect this wonderful gem of nature.
Have you heard about the Depth or Death Pool of Pangasinan? This tourist spot in the town of Agno, Pangasinan recently gained even more popularity because of the unfortunate drowning accident of a couple. Then I remembered that I haven't made a blog entry yet during our trip there one summer with my close friend Mae and another highschool batch mate Joey.
Given that the town of Burgos is just beside Agno, Cabongaoan beach became one of the popular jump off point for tourists who are interested to see the famous Depth or Death Pool. You can easily join group tours offered by local travel agencies and so that was what we did, we joined an overnight tour. Travel time from Manila to Burgos, Pangasinan via land travel will take you around 4-5 hours depending on traffic condition.
Cabongaoan beach has fine, creamy white sand along its shores. You will find some rock formations in the area that is perfect for your instagram photo shoot. It's a perfect place to relax and unwind since mobile network coverage is limited and you are far from the bustling part of the town. The most unforgettable experience actually for me was when we opted to pitch a tent beside the beach and slept there. We were gifted with a clear night sky, full of stars and so we slept literally under the stars with the sound of the waves as our lullaby.
And as seen in our pictures, we did enjoy swimming in the clear waters of Cabongaoan beach and admired the beauty of its creamy white sand. At some point, we did try to go and see the Depth Pool which you can reach by walking through the rocky areas of the beach. Beware though that the rocks are really sharp and I can't say that it was an easy walk. Here are the photos of what you need to walk through in order to get to the Depth Pool.
Upon reaching the Depth Pool, we have decided not to proceed going down because there were so many people that time and the area doesn't seem safe. Lucky for us though that the waves at that time were not too rough. We just decided to take a swim at a clear beach just beside it since we didn't want to go back right away to Cabongaoan and go through the rough rocky walk back soon. My friend Mae and I decided to just go for our own photo shoot.
Then came one of the usual highlights of a beach trip, the unobstructed and beautiful sunset view. We enjoyed looking at the sky during twilight after we pitched our tent.
Others may equate sunset to sadness but I feel the opposite. It's one of the most beautiful creations of God in this Earth. Our trip in Cabongaoan may be short but it was so much fun and a worthy quick escape.
