Part 1: Holy Week Trip At Hundred Islands, Pangasinan

7:00 PM angeLjamie 0 Comments

Photo owned by Andy Arciga on Flickr

For this year's summer trip, we opted to go to Pangasinan and see the famous Hundred Islands at Alaminos. 

According to various legends, the islands were formed after 100 valiant warriors defended the town of Alaminos from invaders a long long long time ago.  Another myth says that the islands were formed after two datus fought each other at sea for the hand of a princess.  On both of these myths, the chilling realization was that the islands were actually the slain body of warriors.

We prepared and woke up extra early, 2 AM to be exact.  I don't want a repeat of the more than 12 hours drive we did last year going to Vigan.


We arrived at Alaminos at around 10 AM.  Our expected check in time at Nautilus Lodge was 2 PM but they were nice enough to let us drop off our bags inside the unit ahead of time.  

Rooms Nautilus Lodge

We immediately requested for a boat, since we want to spend the whole day island hoping and snorkeling.  Sadly, since it's peak season, and there's limited number of boats.  Add in the long queue at the wharf, where tourist are required to pay for the environmental and insurance fees.

So we had lunch first.

Food at Nautilus Lodge was great, and priced just right.  Sorry, no picture of the food.  We're too hungry to care.

By 12NN, we're off to our island destination.



First stop, Quezon island.

Our boat man said that they're closing the island by 3 PM since an international cruise ship is expected to dock on the island later.

Second stop is Children's island.


The water here is very shallow, so you can let your kids frolic in the water with minimal supervision.




We tried to persuade our boat man to take us to other islands, with less tourist and a better view for swimming and snorkeling.  But they were persistent that we make the 3 island rounds and nothing more; even if we tried to pay them more than the required fee.

Our last stop was Governor's island.  It's not really a place for waddling in the water.  The ground was littered with remnants of bleached corals that would cut your foot raw if you don't have slippers or aqua shoes on.

We made do, and tried to snorkel around at waist deep water.  Yes, there were fishes here and there, but not what I was expecting.  I must say that I was not awed by what I saw.

But the kids had a blast swimming around.  We used the Thenice Snorkeling Mask and found out that you can actually float with only the mask on.  No need for floaters or vest.  Since the mask was creating a pocket of air on your face and allowing you to breath normally, it gives your body buoyancy. 

For adventurous persons, there's zip line, wall climbing, rappelling, banana boat ride, kayaking, jet ski and even parasailing on these three islands. Drop by here for the complete list of activities, amenities and rates.

All in all, I would give Hundred Islands a rate of ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Travel Date:  April, 2017

Photo Credit: Andy Arciga at Flickr