Paguriran Lagoon
Hello fellow adventure-lusting buddies!
Let me take you to the first destination of my first ever backpacking trip. You can check out how I planned out our itinerary in my previous blog post on How to DIY Bicolandia.
From the airport, we took a tricycle to the Grand Terminal (P50, 10 minutes tops) and then took a UV Express to get to the City Center of Sorsogon (P90, 1 hour travel time). The UV Express dropped us off at Savemore and from there we walked for a bit to get to where we could board a jeep to Sawangga (P44, 2 hour travel time) but do tell them that you're going to Paguriran Lagoon because not all jeepneys going to Sawangga will drop you right off Paguriran.
If you're worried about the long drive, don't be. The whole drive was so scenic with the mountains carefully staying in the background as they lined the vast ricefields. Then it suddenly hits you that it'll be some time 'til you drive through this kind of view again, so you pretty much just want to take mental pictures of the world before you.
And alas, we have arrived at Paguriran Lagoon!
Upon getting a sneak peek of the beach surrounding the Lagoon in the middle, we were already shrieking in the girliest way possible! One word to describe it: U N R E A L
Cost of enjoying the beach
We rented a cottage there for P150 only since we wouldn't stay there the whole day (whole day rate is P300) and we bought this giant freshly caught fish for lunch (P280) and asked the people in charge there if they could cook it for us. So all in all, with the cottage fee and the paluto, we only paid P200.
In order to get to the lagoon, you need to cross the beach first via this long expanse of sand bar where you would get a panoramic view of the mountains touching the sea.
Plus, it's the perfect way to get a tan if you ask me, 'cause you're half-soaked in water and half-exposed to the sun. I swear I could stay there ALL DAY.
How clear is the water? It's insane!
After crossing the beach, you get to the lagoon. The lagoon composes of a lot of beautiful rock formations where you could already hear the sound of the waves crashing into the tall rocks as you get closer to arriving at this well-kept secret.
You could actually climb the rocks to jump into the water. But we didn't bother to try because we got about 4 cameras on our necks, in our bags, which limited our activity. HAY. (We got too excited okay.)
Sorry about this, Shanen. I just had to post our real tug-of-war situation of to swim vs. not to swim and you clearly depict it. WE SWAM ANYWAY.
And then we headed back to our cottage to eat lunch, paid our dues, and took another jeepney back to the City Center of Sorsogon to get to our next destination! Don't worry, jeepneys pass by every now and then going back to Sorsogon so you don't have to wait for a long time.
Paguriran Lagoon was definitely worth all the travel time, even if it was on the other end of Bicol. It has such a unique character whom you should get to know in your life, and I wish we could have gotten to know each other a little better! Sadly though, the last jeepney ride is at 3pm so we had to drag ourselves out of that place. But as the thought of our next destination formed in our minds, we were rushing towards the next adventure once again and we cannot wait to get there!
If you have always wanted to stay in a farm while drinking fresh lemongrass iced tea mixed with homemade honey straight from their bee farm, click on the next destination below!
Detailed itinerary:
5:10am Flight to Legazpi
6:10am Arrival (Hello Mayon!)
6:10-6:30am Tricycle ride to Grand Terminal, Snack and Restroom break
6:30-7:30am UV Express to Sorsogon City Central
7:30-9:30am Jeepney ride from Sorsogon City Central to Paguriran Lagoon
9:30-11:30am Swimming and Picture Taking (or instagramming basically.)
11:30-12:20pm LUNCH
12:30-2:30pm Jeepney ride back to Sorsogon City Central
2:30-3:40pm Jeepney ride to Irosin, including waiting time (Next destination: Balay Buhay sa Uma Bee Farm!)