Potipot Island ~ A Loner's Paradise

Among all the beaches I've been, Potipot Island seems to be the best place to travel to on your own. 

Imagine how cool it is to just leave Manila one fine evening and arrive in the morning at one of the best beaches in the north. That's like enjoying your piece of heaven.

Going alone to Potipot Island is very convenient and inexpensive. 

Take a bus from Victory Liner - Caloocan going to Santa Cruz and pay fare to Barangay Uacon, Candelaria, Zambales. That will cost you about P425. Just tell the conductor to drop you off at Dawal and you could sleep the whole trip.

Now, there is, of course, a trade off from this paradise, the trip from Victory Liner - Caloocan to Dawal will take about 5 hours without traffic. Bring a comfortable regular sized pillow to help you endure the 5-hour bus ride and you should be OK.

I boarded the bus with a midnight departure from Manila and got to Dawal a little after five in the morning. 

It was easy to get a boatman from there - found two of them waiting across the bus stop. 

The boat ride to Potipot Island was at P400. My office peer went with me on this trip but I was so fixed on paying P400 for the boat that I thought the boat ride was P400 per person. My bad!!!

The boat ride is P400 per trip which I later found out by searching on line. The youngster who fetched us from the island and took our payment flashed a very suspicious smile but did not say anything about the real cost of the fare. Oh, well. What is P400?

We didn't bring food with us so we had to take a tricycle to the nearest open store to buy supplies. At 5 in the morning, the closest we could get to was far, far away Sta Cruz. The tricycle ride cost us P200 - 2-way.

Since it's about a 5-hour ride, I'm not a fan of bringing heavier things on a trip and I'm allotting more space for a bigger pillow next time, so I do not resolve to bringing food from the Metro. Next time, though, I will buy a ticket to Santa Cruz, buy my supplies and take a tricycle to Dawal. 

Once we were back at Dawal, the boatmen got our stuff and went off to get the boat ready while we waited by the Uacon shore. 

Uacon shore had the usual gray sand you find in beaches up north. The water is not too clear mostly because the sand is gray and the travel of boats mixes the water and the sand but, from my stand point, it's not dirty. Potipot Island is viewable from the Uacon shore. Looking at Potipot Island makes hanging out by the Uacon shore not too bad. 

The boatmen who took us to Potipot Island were not the usual boatmen I deal with. They were more like boat boys practicing their craft while we were on board. 

My officemate mentioned that the boat was small and scary. So for your peace of mind, I suggest you waterproof your things and keep yourself from moving too much as the boat needs to balance.

Anyhow, it was a short boat ride and our boat boys did a fine job.

Within minutes we were welcomed at Potipot Island by the clear waters, white sand and the man who immediately asked us to pay the entrance fee. 

I thought the fee was for Environmental Fee which will be used for the conservation of the place, usually what others call entrance fee, but I saw written on one big piece of wood are the words PRIVATE PROPERTY and on another ENTRANCE FEE: Regular P100 Overnight P300.

I didn't know I was entering a resort - which I later assumed to be Potipot Gateway Resort which I saw written on one trash bin.

The man asked if we were to stay overnight and I was inclined to say REGULAR, like our stay can be measured by fast food drink sizes, but my officemate beat me to answering by saying "Hindi po."

There are dozens of cottages, picnic tables and benches made of wood scattered around Potipot Island. While the use of the picnic tables and benches is free, the cottages cost P500 for a night. 

The cottages have no beds but may be used to secure bags like a big locker room while you walk around the island. If you're travelling alone and mean to stay overnight, this seems to be a slightly pricey but good option. If you're travelling with a group, this is a minimal cost for the convenience.

You still always have the option to bring your own tent and camp out.

If you take Potipot as a resort, it is bound to get bad reviews. The staff does nothing for you, the bathrooms have no working faucet - you have to get water using the pump, the washrooms are not well maintained and tables are not clean.

But this is Potipot Island, they can put up all the signs but it will still remain to be an island in the Philippines - not a lousy resort. NO TO PRIVATIZATION.

The first thing you'll notice with Potipot Island would be its clear waters and white sand. A few meters off the shore, the water is crystal clear and beyond that is green and blue - a reflection of the trees and the sky. The water is cool no matter how warm the sun makes the surroundings. 

Potipot Island has lots of ants: small, big, red and black. While the black ants bug you while you're sleeping the red ones will bite your toe and have you scratching your foot for hours. But do not scratch! I have learned by experience that the Potipot waters actually sooth the itch. So when the red ants bite, it's like their way of asking why the fuck you're not in the water.

The sun in Potipot is fierce even in the early hours of the morning so do not forget to bring a high SPF sunblock and put some on before you circle the island. 

They say, going around the island will only take about 30-minutes but instead of going through its circumference, I decided to walk in diagonals and arcs and found a tree house, a grilling station, another washroom, coconut trees, a clearing, suspicious holes, an dead tree and more ants.

A Treehouse

kuyas and their bitch

grilling station

someone's vegetable garden

coconut trees

suspicious holes

photo with the dead tree

It's nice to just sit on one of the benches or on the sand, eat your favorite chi-cha, read a book, write about your plans or just be there.

There's not much to do in Potipot Island except lounge around so don't expect a party.  I really suggest you bring a comfortable pillow because, for this trip, your pillow will be your best friend.

This is one of the best places to just sit back and relax. It's also a good idea to lay by the shore, under the shade of the trees (but watch out for ant trails) and sleep while the crashing of the water serves as your lullaby.

Potipot Shore