LONG BEACH OF SAN VICENTE, PALAWAN: LONGEST IN THE PHILIPPINES
Feeling relaxed and ready
for another adventure, by the strike of four in the morning, Carla and I rode
the tricycle towards the bus terminal of Puerto Princesa City. During the night before, we were told that
the first air-conditioned van leaves at five in the morning bound for San
Vicente, Palawan. Unfortunately, the van
just left in a matter of seconds as we arrived at the terminal. Van schedule is indeed not fixed. But a non air-conditioned bus was there to the
rescue.
Along with a group of locals,
a few tourists and even livestock on board, off we traveled the long journey
towards the long beach of San Vicente, Palawan.
Travel time was approximately four hours.
We decided to explore the
long beach on the second day of our stay at San Vicente, Palawan. On one rainy morning, we walked for a
distance from the Peace and Love Resort to reach the so-called Station 1 of the
San Vicente Long Beach. We decided to
have our breakfast near the shores (if there is one open restaurant/resort) but
to no avail.
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| the trail to the long beach on one rainy morning |
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| a wet trail can be rewarding at times |
Stepping into the first station
of the Long Beach, I was honestly disappointed.
It was more of a fishing village and the sand was not that fine with sea
weeds sprouting from every direction and a few traces of littering. It was not the picture painted in my mind (at
least for the day!).
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| the fisher folks at the first station |
We moved back and walked
towards the public market to have our breakfast. Afterwards, with the great haggling and
bargaining skills of Ma’am Carla, she exclaimed: “we’re going to the second station of the Long Beach”. And a tricycle driver with a sound system
enough to move the party goers became our tour guide at a very reasonable
price.
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| station 2 of the Long Beach |
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| the wave is calling for a swim! |
The Long Beach of San
Vicente is becoming a tourism hub, with reports on the completion of an airport
anytime soon. Even locals relayed that
famous entertainment celebrities and politicians started to invest and purchase
lands near the shores. It has the
potential of becoming another Boracay Island as they say. Any commercialized white sand beach resorts
will always be referenced to the famed Boracay Island.
The staff of the resort from
where we are staying told us that there are three stations in the Long Beach of
San Vicente, on the same division as that of Boracay, but the reverse is the
description. They said the best one is
at the farthest end, Station 3.
It was a visit devoid of
expectations for me since all I knew is the fact that the Philippine tourism
office has marked the Long Beach of San Vicente as the longest white sand beach
in the Philippines, spanning 14 kilometers.
We were lead to Station 2 of
the Long Beach. Our tricycle driver
agreed to wait as we explore and dip into the shores of the San Vicente
Beach. A complete contrast from the
first station, I saw a relatively clean and long shoreline with towering
coconut trees that surround. There were
no corals and pebbles as we step on the shores and the sand was indeed fine.
The panoramic landscape of a
beach is oftentimes revealed under a good weather condition. A few drizzles welcomed us back then, yet,
the raw beauty of the island and the infinite stretch of shoreline easily
registered into our senses.
The Long Beach of San
Vicente is a promising beach destination.
1 comments
promising indeed. lalo na pag operational na airport sa san vicente. dadami lalo tourist sa el nido and port barton. lalayo nga lang sa balabac
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