The Zambales Mango Festival was held earlier in March but
for true-blue Zambaleños, the feast of the golden yellow kalabaw or piko
varieties comes around Holy Week. Between
San Narciso and San Marcelino towns is the diversion road informally called the
Mango Highway, and at this time, the fruit stalls there are teeming with green
and golden ripe Zambales mangoes. The sweetest variety is called Santa Elena
grown in Sta. Cruz town, but the supply dwindles fast especially after the
choice picks have all been packed for the export market. It is very seldom though that the locals and
the out-of-town visitors specifically ask for this variety.
There is more fun in Zambales though than looking for Santa
Elena mangoes. This has something more to
do with geography. The province is
hemmed by the West Philippine Sea, and all but two of its 13 towns lie along
the more than 100 miles of coastline. On the eastside is the Zambales mountain
range with its famous peaks, Mt Pinatubo, which blew its top almost 25 years
ago, and Mt. Tapulao, which hosts endemic flora and fauna with new species
discovered a few years ago.
The rugged coasts include beautiful beaches and coves
that have become popular destinations of local and foreign tourists and nature
explorers these recent years.
Beach resorts can be stringed from Subic to Sta.
Cruz. Busloads of beach lovers from Manila
and nearby provinces usually stop at the Subic resorts. Surfing aficionados though flock to Pundaquit
in San Antonio, La Paz in San Narciso, and some more resorts further north.
Zambales takes itself as a major surfing area in the
country. The almost linear beaches are wont to be rough during some months of
the year, creating big waves that surfers love to ride on. Surfing tournaments
have been held here. In the Crystal
Beach Resort of San Narciso, surfing tutorials have attracted a growing
clientele of this water sports.
The hub of cove explorations is Pundaquit, the fishing
barangay (village) of San Antonio town whose coastal boundary turns around
Sampaloc Point, the western tip of the terrestrial arc of Subic Bay. From here, the explorer can select his cove
destination going southward from the nearest, Anawangin, to the farthest and biggest, Silanguin.
Between them are Talisayin, now privately-owned, and Nagsasa. The boatride to Anawangin is 30 minutes; to
Nagsasa is roughly one hour; and to Silanguin almost two hours.
We have gone on a family trip to Nagsasa, going around
rocky formations to get there, and getting a distant view of the white sands of
Anawangin and Talisayin coves set against verdant green forests, predominantly
of agoho trees, on the low mountain sides.
According to the Aytas who manage Nagsasa, there was no
sandy beach before Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991. The lahar that deposited on Nagsasa and other
coves became their white sand beaches.
The coves were in fact forbidden territory before 1991
when there was the US naval facility in Subic-Olongapo, and a US naval
communication center in San Antonio. The mountainous stretch along the coast
was the target practice area of the US armed forces, and it was dangerous even
for fishermen to come near the shore during military exercises. Mt. Pinatubo hastened the termination of the
US bases in Subic and Clark, but it created new touristic coves along the
coasts of San Antonio, Zambales.
Except for variations in their terrestrial structures,
the coves are very pristine: the sea in
varying degrees of blue, white sandy beaches, and rugged low brown mountain
walls with curtains of green agoho trees.
In Nagsasa, there is a very shallow stream that curves as it flows to
the sea, thus breaking the monotony of the white sandy shore.
The coves do not have the amenities one expects in places
like Boracay or El Nido. In Nagsasa, there are comfort and bath rooms; and huts
or tents can be rented. The Aytas
maintain a store for basic necessities, and operate a power generator for a
limited time during the night. Definitely, there are no mobile phone signals.
Nagsasa and the other coves are best for camping. The waters are definitely clean for swimming
being so far away from the sewerage of population centers.
The coves can be accessible to hikers and mountain
climbers. For Nagsasa, the starting
point for the guided mountain trek is a fast food restaurant in Subic town, and
this would, according to the Ayta guides, take from three to four hours because
of frequent rests and photo-ops of the trekkers.
Pundaquit is also the most convenient jumping-off place
for the Camara and Capones Islands. A
boat ride may not take half an hour to get there. Camara is all rock, hence, Capones is the
preferred destination for camping, picnicking and snorkelling.
From our beachfront in San Narciso, one has to depart for
Capones very early in the morning, preferably before the sun is up. It takes almost an hour to get there. The joy of the landing comes in seeing live
corals, sea weeds and small colored fishes swimming around, through the clear
and calm sea water.
The early hours are good for swimming and
snorkelling. Capones is a rugged island
with sparse vegetation, white sandy beach and rough rock formations. It’s a must that first-time visitors climb
the old lighthouse, more than a century old, built by the Spaniards in the
early 1890s.
Late hour departure from Capones is not advisable since
the sea gets rough. In our experience,
we boarded the boat for home as soon as we have finished our lunch. The better course is to camp overnight, and
depart after breakfast and the morning swim.
Our most recent venture is in Magalawa Island, neighbor
to San Salvador and San Miguel Islands, all of them between Palauig and Masinloc
towns. All three are inhabited fishing
villages. They have public elementary schools and San Salvador has a high
school.
Magalawa is the perfect destination for beach
lovers. It can be reached from Palauig
town by boat in 30 minutes. One can
drive to barangay Luan for the boat that can take you there in about 10
minutes.
This island is still pristine: white sandy beach and green vegetation along
the coast. Visitors have a choice
between the public swimming area and a privately-owned resort.
Being a fishing village, there is plenty of sea food to
buy for lunch picnics. At the resort,
boats are for hire for whole-day leisurely rides around the island or out at
the open sea.
Definitely smaller than Magalawa Island of Palauig is Potipot
Island of Candelaria town. It is said
that it’s sandy beach is whiter than Boracay’s, and that it would take about an
hour to explore the whole of Potipot.
It’s summer, and it’s the best time to explore the coves
in southern Zambales, and hop from one pristine island to another starting from
Capones in mid-province to Potipot in the north. May be it’s also time to get a surfboard,
learn the rudiments, get thrown off every now and then until the art of riding
waves is fully mastered.
