I had been longing to go to the fast becoming popular backpacking haven beach called Anawangin. The place is located in San Antonio, Zambales. And I guess the best way to do it is to bring some of my officemates who are also into nature.I know its difficult to organize a climb, but we should always share the experience.
Since its just gonna be on a weekend and to maximize the time we have, we left on a friday night. The bus left Manila at around 11pm, and arrived in San Antonio early in the morning of Saturday (4am). There are two ways to go to Anawangin beach, one is by via boat, the other is by trekking and traversing Mt. Pundaquit. We decided to take the latter. I could consider the trek easy. We started still dark and opted to take a guide. According to the blogs I saw on the net, the traverse would take 6-7 hours. It took us 5 hours, not bad.
Arriving at the beach, you will be greeted by pine trees. The sand (which is actually lahar) is very white and fine. The beach is very nice and the water is warm. You can go far into the water and is still not too deep. The pine trees are situated close to each other that you can place a hammock. There are also several bamboo tables you can use for preparing food. The beach is perfect for pitching tents, swimming/dipping, and even bonfire during the night.
The next morning we went to a hill beside the beach to have a birds eyeview of the place, very good place for taking pictures. Theres also a river beside the hill, also a perfect place for dipping. The water is crystal clear and is surrounded by pine trees too.
We break camp around noon and for the last leg of our trip, we dropped by Capones Island. This island has an old lighthouse that I believe was created during the spanish era. After spending some time travel, we went back to San Antonio then back to Manila.
Our trip is tiring but is very much satisfying. Compressing three major points (trek, beach and lighthouse) in just two days is already feat. Already looking forward to our next trip.
HI, you have an informative post. we will trek Mt pundaquit and camp at this beautiful anawangin cove on June 12, 2009. Thanks for the tips and pics. Lucilyn - http://www.kayapamountaineers.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteHi Lucilyn,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Appreciation.
Just some addnl info.
Since its already the rainy season, be very CAREFUL on your planned trek. There are wide rivers on Mt. Pundaquit that becomes full of water during this time. If you could recall, this is the place were three AMCI members died last year when they encountered flashflood at the height of a typhoon that hit Luzon.
hi we will be trekking pundaquit this comming nov 26 i just like to ask if there is a good camp site there or do we really need to resume trekking going down to anawangin?
ReplyDelete@champ, from what I've observed. There is no campsite on Mt. Pundaquit summit, there is also no water source on the area. I also have never heard of climbers camping there. But I have not fully explored the place,..... but why camp on the summit when the beach is just a few hours away. ;)
ReplyDelete