NOT SO DISTANT ALLURE
A quick tricycle ride from Tingloy port led me to the start of the trail to the beach. The path snakes across a thin residential area and across rice fields. It’s an easy, no-sweat walk down to the shore, where coconut trees stood in line, as though guarding the precious beach.
It was overcast during my visit so the sand was not as sparkling, but it was fine and fair despite the gloomy atmosphere. The shallow waters were serene at the time (low tide). It was so clear notwithstanding the apparent scarcity of light. To the east are sharp cliffs that skirt the coast. At their feet is a paved walkway that leads to another sand-and-shingle beach. This part is more rocky road than vanilla, but still scenic.
Development is hardly felt (if felt at all) in this corner of Batangas. There are no resorts or hotels in sight, encouraging the more natural option — camping.
CLOSE BUT CLOISTERED
Masasa’s calm is astonishing. Despite being only four hours away from Manila, swarms of tourists are yet to conquer this shining territory. Concealed in the southern edge of Maricaban Island in Tingloy, Masasa is away from the hungry gaze from the urban north.
Tingloy is the municipality in Batangas that is not part of mainland Luzon. Its main island is Maricaban, which together with another island, form a fish silhouette rising in the middle of Verde Island Passage. The fish appears to be hurdling the Calumpang Peninsula (Mabini) from Balayan Bay to Batangas Bay. Masasa is the fish’s belly.
While neighboring (and very popular) Anilao is just an hour boat ride away, Masasa manages to swim under the radar. Most tourists in Anilao, after a day’s hike up Mt. Gulugod Baboy, reach only as far as Sombrero Island. Masasa stays unbothered. A part of me is hoping it stays that way.
A quick tricycle ride from Tingloy port led me to the start of the trail to the beach. The path snakes across a thin residential area and across rice fields. It’s an easy, no-sweat walk down to the shore, where coconut trees stood in line, as though guarding the precious beach.
It was overcast during my visit so the sand was not as sparkling, but it was fine and fair despite the gloomy atmosphere. The shallow waters were serene at the time (low tide). It was so clear notwithstanding the apparent scarcity of light. To the east are sharp cliffs that skirt the coast. At their feet is a paved walkway that leads to another sand-and-shingle beach. This part is more rocky road than vanilla, but still scenic.
Development is hardly felt (if felt at all) in this corner of Batangas. There are no resorts or hotels in sight, encouraging the more natural option — camping.
CLOSE BUT CLOISTERED
Masasa’s calm is astonishing. Despite being only four hours away from Manila, swarms of tourists are yet to conquer this shining territory. Concealed in the southern edge of Maricaban Island in Tingloy, Masasa is away from the hungry gaze from the urban north.
Tingloy is the municipality in Batangas that is not part of mainland Luzon. Its main island is Maricaban, which together with another island, form a fish silhouette rising in the middle of Verde Island Passage. The fish appears to be hurdling the Calumpang Peninsula (Mabini) from Balayan Bay to Batangas Bay. Masasa is the fish’s belly.
While neighboring (and very popular) Anilao is just an hour boat ride away, Masasa manages to swim under the radar. Most tourists in Anilao, after a day’s hike up Mt. Gulugod Baboy, reach only as far as Sombrero Island. Masasa stays unbothered. A part of me is hoping it stays that way.
DAY 1:
4:00 AM: ETD - Manila
6:00 AM: ETA - Batangas City Grand Terminal; ETD - Batangas City Grand Terminal
7:00 AM: ETA - Anilao Port; Buy goods from wet market 11:00 AM: ETD - Anilao Port
8:00a AM: ETA - Tingloy; Free time
9:30 AM: Trekking to Masasa Beach
10:30 AM: Preparation (Tent pitching, Lunch preparation)
7:00 PM: Dinner
9:00 PM: Socials/Beach Bumming
DAY 2:
7:00 AM: Wake-up call! . Breakfast!
8:00 AM: Explore Masasa Beach
11:00 AM: Early Lunch / Break Camp
1:00 PM: ETA - Head back to Tingloy port
2:00 PM: ETD - Tingloy
3:00 PM: ETA - Anilao Port
5:00 PM: ETA - Batangas City Grand Terminal; ETD - Batangas City Grand Terminal
8:00 PM: ETA - Buendia
TRAVELLER’S TIPS:
- Buy your fresh goods at Manila. Meat, vegetables, and fruits are more expensive at Tingloy because they just get the supplies at Manila. But if you’re planning to have a seafood feast, it’s cheaper to buy from Tingloy wet market.
- Be sure to have your own cooler and water jug. The ice in Tingloy is limited due to their power shut down.
- Their electricity shuts off at 12:00 AM an turns on at 12:00 PM. So be sure to charge your batteries before midnight.
- We had our accommodation at Tingloy because there are no public CRs near Masasa Beach. So even if you’ll go camping, you might want to have a decent bath before heading back to Manila. You may contact Coun. Florencio Mandanas (09178414715) if you want to rent a room. The room costs 200.00/head/day.
- The last boat trip from Tingloy going to Anilao during Sunday is at 9:00am. If you can’t make it, you may hire a private boat. I’ll tell you, it’s a bit pricey. The small boat costs 3,000.00. But it depends on your haggling skills. We got ours at 2,500.00 because Coun. Mandanas has a contact that agreed to that amount.
- It’s not a tip, but I’ll include it here. There’s a friendly brown dog at Masasa Beach. You might want to play with him.