Friday, May 23, 2014

Explore Ilocos Sur: Choose Pinili Beach

First beach resort that comes into your mind when you think of Ilocos (in general) is Pagudpod, due its incomparable breath-taking beauty.

However, in our quest for discovering some undiscovered beach resort in Ilocos Norte, we found a non- commercialized beach resort in Badoc.Four hours ride from Vigan. The resort is located in the in the middle of residencial section of the barangay. It's accesible to the main road and some sari-sari stores.

Beauty-wise, the I love the idea that its a virgin resort .... I love virgin (resorts lol) hehehe.. 

At the seashore, sand is not that fine but once your dip into the water, the sand is very fine that you can even make it as facial scrub. Sand color is grayish to black... so it's something different, very unusual...
No entrance fee. Cottages are available for PhP1,500 overnight. For day stay cottage is P800 only.  All fees within the resort will go to their barangay fund for their community projects.Since it's a non-commercialized resort (no resort name), there are no fancy facilities , there's only one shower room per gender (1 for male , 1 for female) wherein you have to pay P10 every shower. 

If you want to try boat ride to the other part of the beach, some resident fishermen are offering it for only P20 per head. On the east side of the resort is an old bridge that connects the resort part to a damaged mansion believed to be owned by Marcos family.


The view of the damaged house reminds me of Corregidor Island.
When visiting the old, be sure to wear your thick slippers because there are plant thorns all over the place. Below is the side of the house facing the sea area. From there you can enjoy watching the beautiful view of the sea...



Some debris of the old house can be found on the sea. The water is very clear and inviting but swimming on this part is not recommended.

An old terrace is standing beautifully just few meters away from the mansion. If everything is still up , the terrace would be the best place to have dinner while watching the sun as it sets.

This is the view of the beautiful sunset from the old terrace.
On the other side of mansion is a veranda with a "Mosque" archi.


The break-water where the sun strikes is where the old mansion located.

On our way to the old mansion...

Relaxing trees and sky view during sunset.

This is the west part of the resort where in there are some domesticated fishes...


No on in the area explains the reason or history of this place, all information are based on the conclusions made by some residents.

What I like about the Pinili Beach.
  • Fine and gray color sand... 
  • It's raw-- no facilities, no hotels, no cottages, etc.
  • It's clean -- the community hand in hand helps to maintain the cleanliness of the resort.
  • Good advocacy as the proceeds will be allotted for the development of their barangay.
  • There's a good access to mobile network, mobile internet and sari sari stores.
  • The old mansion spice up my curiosity on history about the wealth of the Marcos' :)
What I don't like about the Pinili Beach.
  • Cottages are not really for overnight stay. No beds.
  • Water supply on the shower rooms is limited.
  • It's low tide when we went there.

Must haves
  • Bring your enough potable water.
  • Charcoal if you have plan to cook.
  • Utensils for the food - knife, plate, cups, spoon, etc.
  • Flashlight, if you wish yo catch small crabs during night (another activity you might  want to try).


We kept on dreaming of going into fancy and luxurious beach resorts, yet we forgot that the Philippines offers other choices... choose Pinili...

Together let's travel,
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