Sorsogon City. Paguriran Island and the City Tour.

Sorsogon City is the capital of Sorsogon Province and I’ve been to this city for several times already but I never had to chance to really explore and appreciate its beauty.  So on that long weekend vacation last month, after the failed first day attempt to go to Jovellar town in Albay, I then informed my friends that we will be going to Sorsogon City on the first day instead of going to Jovellar. Our initial plan was to go to Jovellar on our first day, but upon learning that the last trip of the jeepney from Jovellar to Guinobatan is at 3pm, ininform ko na lang ang mga kaibigan ko na sa last day na lang kami pupunta ng Jovellar para mas maaga kami makaalis ng Guinobatan town going to Jovellar.

Paguriran island

On our first day, me and my friend arrived in Sorsogon at around 2pm. Our plan was to go to Paguriran Island located in Barangay Sawanga. We are still waiting for one of my friend to arrive in Sorsogon kasi galing pa sya ng Naga City, which is about 3 to 4 hours travel to Sorsogon City. Para naman di kami mabored ng friend ko sa pagantay ng isa pa namin na kaibigan, we then decided to roamed around downtown Sorsogon. We strolled around the city center.

Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral

Our first stop was the Sorsogon Cathedral. And then after roaming around the church, we then proceeded to the Provincial Capitol of Sorsogon Province. Nagikot ikot kami sa labas. Pumasok din ako sa loob ng building at nagikot ikot. After a few minutes, lumabas na din ako at tiningnan din namin ang public park. A few minutes later, we then walked to the city Baywalk. It’s a 10 to 15 minutes walk from the Provincial Capitol. Okay din yung Baywalk nila. Madami din ang tao but mostly mga students and mga nakatambay sa lugar. There are also several food stalls in the area.

Sorsogon Provincial Capitol

city baywalk

St. Louise De Marillac College of Sorsogon

At around 5pm, dumating na din yung isa ko pang kaibigan and then pumunta na kami sa City Grand Terminal to ride a jeep to Barangay Sawanga. After an hour ride, we then reached Barangay Sawanga. This barangay is located in Bacon district. Just a trivia, Bacon was a former town and it was merged with Sorsogon town para macreate and Sorsogon City. Trivia trivia lang.hehehe! Anyway, after namin bumaba ng jeep, naglakad na kami papunta sa beach at nakita na namin ang Paguriran Island. Did you know that Paguriran Island is just a walking distance from the main beach? Walking distance lang talaga sya kasi pwede mo syang lakarin lang.hehehe! Kapag low tide kasi, mga 1 to 2 feet lang ang lalim ng tubig sa dagat at mga 3 to 4 feet naman kapag high tide. Sobrang lapit lang ng isla from the mainland, siguro mga 10 to 15 minutes na paglalakad lang. Kaya walking distance lang talaga ang isla na to.hehehe!

the view of Paguriran Island from the mainland of Luzon

Barangay Sawanga Beach near Paguriran island

Anyway, nagtanong tanong na kami sa resort owner for their overnight rates and napapayag namin yung resort owner na 500 pesos per night na lang yung small nipa hut nila. 600 pesos sana yun, humingi kami ng 100 pesos discount.hehe! It was really not a big accommodation.  It was just a small nipa hut with a fan and 1 bed. We just requested for an extra mattress para naman may mahigaan kaming lahat. Nagpaluto na din kami ng dinner sa resort owner kasi pwede din magpaluto sa kanila.

lagoon during high tide at Paguriran Island

After maging okay na ang accommodation namin, pumunta na kami sa isla ng isa kong friend. We waded through the sea kasi high tide sya at pumunta na kami sa Paguriran Island. The island is not really a big island. Maliit na isla lang sya na halos lahat matutulis na bato nga lang ang isla. There is also some vegetation in the island and there’s also a lagoon in the middle of the island. It’s actually a nice island lalo na kung gusto mo lang magunwind. We just stayed there for about an hour because it was already getting dark na din.

So after exploring the island for about an hour, bumalik na din kami sa resort and our dinner was already served by the resort owner. Nagpaluto lang kami ng ginataang langka na may kasamang tulingan na isda. Masarap yung pagkaluto nila kaya medjo naparami ang kain ko.hehe! After dinner, nagkwentuhan at naginuman na lang kami ng mga kaibigan ko and then a few hours later natulog na din sila, at ako  naman ay nagtrabaho. Well, one of the cons of working online is that I don’t have a vacation leave or a sick leave kaya naman minsan, kahit nasa bakasyon ako, I still need to work para kumita. So ayun, I worked till the wee hour and then at around 2 am, natulog na din ako.

hermit crab

Duka Resort. Our nipa hut accommodation

We woke up early the next day at nagpaluto na din kami ng breakfast. We weren’t able to witness a beautiful sunrise because it was a cloudy morning. While waiting for our breakfast, we decided na pumunta na muna sa isla. Naglakad na kaming tatlo papunta sa Paguriran Island. Nagswimming kami sa lagoon and then umakyat din sa pinakamataas na bahagi ng isla. After namin magswimming, nakaramdam na din ako ng gutom so I then called my friends para makapagbreakfast na din kami. When we arrived at the resort, prepared na yung ginisang corned beef and fried egg for our breakfast. Kumain na kami and then nagbanlaw na because we still have several destinations to visit on that day. Binayaran na namin yung mga dapat namin na bayaran sa resort at nagpasalamat na din sa mabait na mag-asawa na may-ari ng resort. Umalis na kami sa resort and then we waited for a jeepney at the barangay road, at dahil medyo matagal ang pagdating ng jeep, we just walked for a few minutes and for a few kilometers and then may dumaan ng jeepney. We told the driver that we are bound for Pagol Beach and he said it is just a few kilometers away from Paguriran so siningil lang kami ng 15 pesos na fare para sa amin ng tatlo, that’s 5 pesos each! Sana ganun pa din kacheap ang pamasahe sa lahat ng jeep! Hehe!

Pagol Beach, Barangay Bon-ot

Around 15 minutes later, we arrived at Pagol Beach. Our plan was to just take a picture and take peek of how Pagol Beach looks like, and the driver just waited for us habang pinuntahan namin ang beach. Sinabi kasi namin na saglit lang naman kami and pupunta din kami ng Sorsogon City proper. So after we saw the beach and took some beach pictures, bumalik na kami sa jeepney and we then proceeded to downtown Sorsogon City. From Sorsogon City, we then travelled to Castilla town to visit the Malawmawan Island. So ayan po, dito na po nagtatapos ang aking kwento. By the way, if you need the contact number of the resort owner, here’s the number: +639204223940, that’s for Duka Resort, and the owner name is Mr. Efren Duka. So dito na po nagtatapos ang kwento ko tungkol sa Paguriran Island sa Sorsogon City. Til next time! That’s it, pusit!