by Joey Cuerdo, event organizer
The trip to Bagasbas Beach in Daet, Camarines Norte is always an epic. I know all the tricks of the trade in travel to Daet, from trying to flag down a provincial bus on EDSA to taking un franchised vans with hawkers wooing in scurrying commuters who missed the last trip out of Manila.
But work ended late, I knew the last aircon trip was at 9.30pm (Superlines Cubao) and for pete’s sake, it was Valentine’s Day. I needed to have a special dinner… None of this though could cancel the appointments I had to make in Daet.
The ultimately last trip out is at 11.30 via non aircon bus. Regular fare was P398 (aircon is P485). There is a reason why you pay extra apart from the air conditioning. From what would be a sleeping 7 hour ride, I had to sit in a cramped seat for 9 grueling hours. But you do have options (Superlines 9123449, 4143319), Philtranco (8535220), road trip 370kms from Manila (search Daet on the Go and click “how to get there”) and my road trip was really just out of necessity… Normally, the ride is a sleep-through. For heavy sleepers, it would be : board, get comfortable, wake up in Daet at 6am.
I call Attorney Debbie Francisco, my high school mate, now the Tourism Officer of the Province of Camarines Norte working under Gov. Egay Tallado, and she says our meeting is at 2pm. It’s 10am, the amihan wind happened to be just slightly above calm, blowing on shore, swells are at 4 to 5 feet. Not ideal but the waves call me… I love this job.
During our meeting, she says things are on again this year! Yeahooo !!!
The Bagasbas Summer Surf Festival Year 4 will be on April 15-17 (Friday to Sunday), the weekend before Easter. SAVE THE DATE!
This is the one time of the year where the government gives you such a good deal for you to go out of the city and have some fun. Prior to this Director Nini Ravanilla of Dept of Tourism (DOT) Region 5 already gave her all out support, so it was really just up to Attorney Deb to say it was a “go” to get everything going… and that she did!
If you haven’t heard of it yet, look it up on Google or Yahoo and you’ll see what you’ve been missing…
The news was great and I just couldn’t wait to let the news out. But then tourism talk continued.
Of Calaguas Island’s powder white sand beating Boracay’s, of Kinamanokan’s marine sanctuary having now a 10-year un-touched regenerated reef, of true to the name “secret” surf spots, of 400 year-old churches in neighboring Vinzons and other towns, and of one of the most amazing islands Apuao Grande, where you have remnants of an Australian retirement village, complete with a golf course, the island on one side blessed with surf and on the other side unbelievable calm.
Camarines Norte truly lives its slogan out… Come to Camarines Norte. So much to see, so much to discover.
So what is the deal for the 4th Bagasbas Summer Surf Festival? To
follow on my next email…
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Cheers! Summer’s-a-comin 🙂
Spnsored by:
Life in the Bukids 