--------------- May 1, 2010
I read about Caramoan since 2006. It was known to be reached only by boat. We tried going there by road on 2007 but aborted when we reached Tigaon for safety reasons. Locals told us that the "south road" is very bad and there are rebels doing their check points at Presentacion or somewhere near Caramoan.
For 3 years i searched blogs of other people, images of the place, images of the road going there, peace and order, weather, satellite images, etc. Read at sites like TROPICAL STORM RISK for storm updates, etc. And it was only until 2009 that i saw pictures of the road posted at Flickr and youtube. I started googling images of the road until i saw them posted by members of the MCP. I told my friends that we go there by SOUTH ROAD. But the majority were scared. We were supposed to be a 5 vehicle convoy to the place, until 1 by 1 informed me as the date of travel came closer that they cannot go for 1 million reasons or more. And FEAR is number 1.
There were only 4 of us who pushed through. My friends who came with me to SAGADA (17.08523N 120.90117E) and DARAITAN (14.600509N 121.44410E) before. So i said, we use only 1 vehicle then. We used a 2007 HILUX 4x2 stock, 2.5 D4D diesel fitted with AT tires 235 / 75 / R15 Nexen at the front, Kumho at the back. We have a Tabor 9k winch installed just in case emergency comes. Well, don't worry, we never used the winch at this travel. : ) Packed all the waypoints we gathered in our garmin. Brought extra 30 liters of diesel just in case, 3 spare tires, extra v-belt, clutch repair kits, extra coolant, extra motor oil just in case, etc. And for ourselves.... FOOOOOOD!!!!! especially my FAT BOY friend. We also brought water resistant cameras, or cameras with DICAPAC, hydration packs----you need lots of water, lifevests, snorkels, lots of food, cooler, aqua shoes----there are areas with sea urchin and some rocky treks, etc, and of course cash.
To those who want to drive at SOUTH ROAD, it is doable dawgs. We did it at SUMMER. But I think it will be difficult on rainy season because there are areas with clayish earth. When this clayish earth will get wet, it will be difficult to manage because it will be muddy, i think. But I am not sure how muddy it will be, i haven't been there on rainy season. Just be slow at those narrow areas, rocky areas and uneven areas. Be careful that your propeller, fuel tank, oil pan won't hit something hard to avoid damage. The scenery is..... just soooo awesome..... : )
Well, from Lagonoy to Presentacion, it is a rough road. I saw a nissan sentra along the way which was so slow but I didn't see it in Caramoan. Maybe it just stopped somewhere near Lagonoy for some beach there. I also saw an Innova and Hi-ace along the way but maybe stopped somewhere near Lagonoy as well.
There are segments from Presentacion going to Caramoan that are cemented already. But rough segments are still long which are somewhat rocky, some with muddy earth, some are narrow. But most of the road is wide already. The segments that need driving prowess are those that are somewhat steep with some rocks, and those with downslopes and curves. I have driven to SAGADA via banaue and baguio, KABAYAN in benguet, MALIMATOK in batangas, etc... but for me, SOUTH ROAD is more difficult. It's like a drive at MALIMATOK (13.69308N 120.90515E) after SEA SPRING hotel, but longer, a lot longer.
We are all from manila. My friends and I assembled at Petron somewhere in Paranaque. We left Paranaque at 2:45 AM and reached Bigg's restaurant at PILI, camarines sur at 9 am. So that's approximately 6 hours. We left Bigg's restaurant at PILI and turned left (head east) from the highway when we reached 13.54210N 123.28315E. This road is very near Bigg's restaurant.
ALL THE COORDINATES HERE YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE TO GOOGLE EARTH SO THAT YOU WILL HAVE AN IDEA WHERE THE ROAD IS OR WHERE THE LOCATIONS ARE.
example "copy"
13.54210N 123.28315E
"paste" to the box in google earth
fly to
13.54210N 123.28315E
enter
We left Bigg's restaurant at 10 am and reached the Virgin Mary statue at Mt. Caglago (13.82989N 123.80840E) at 1:15 PM. So that's approximately 3 hours. Caramoan town proper is very near Mt. Caglago, approximately 15 minutes.
Dawgs, Caramoan is a niiiiiiiiiiicccccceeeee experience!!!!! We slept at La Casa Roa Hostel at the town proper of Caramoan for 2 nights. It is near the St. Michael's church (13.76965N 123.86268E). We stayed at an airconditioned room. The staff are nice... thank you..... La Casa Roa staff were the ones who arranged our boat as well as cooked our food for our island hopping for worry free stay and adventure. We coordinated with one of the tricycle drivers named JOVY who brought us to BIKAL from casa roa. And he fetched us at BIKAL after our boat ride and brought us back to casa roa. His phone number is 09305067251.
Our boatmen phone number = 09204748800
La Casa Roa Hostel phone numbers = 09175801850; +63548115789; 09279372227
La Casa Roa Hostel GPS coordinates = 13.77219N 123.86340E
Bed and dine GPS coordinates = 13.77219N 123.86340E
BC Hometel GPS coordinates = 13.77837N 123.86217E
Gas station is near road to GOTA = 13.78389N 123.85938E
Bikal port = 13.81159N 123.85020E
La Playa GPS coordinates = 13.81180N 123.87723E
