Last September 16-17, I was finally able to go to the beach for some much needed relaxation with my friends/officemates. But before the relaxation, we volunteered through DENR for the 32nd International Coastal Cleanup which was simultaneously done in several countries.
It was just the perfect balance of work and play as we explored the beautiful province of Zambales.
WORK
Prior to this weekend, I have already been to Zambales twice for my hikes. And I was excited to go back because I remember this to be a very beautiful place. Luckily, DENR provided us a private bus with comfortable seats going to Zambales. We all left a little past midnight and most of us just slept while on transit.
I woke up a little past 5:00AM and found out that we have already arrived at the location at San Narcisco, Zambales and that we were only waiting for further instructions. Immediately, my friends and I got down the bus to get ready for the program. After some welcoming remarks of Zambales officials, the hosts gave the go signal to start the coastal clean up.
Because it was our first time to do this, we were very clueless as to how this will go about. All we know was that we needed to pick up trash but we did not know how long we should do it. Initially, we thought that this would last the entire day and that we had to bear the heat of the sun for the entire duration. We were wrong about it because after an hour when we went back to the starting point, we saw a lot of volunteers surrendering their sacks of trash for weighing and so we did the same thing.
I am proud to say that we were able to pick about 3.5kg of trash. And after doing so, we went back to the bus to get ready for the next agenda – lunch with the governor of Zambales.
The bonus is that the lunch happened in Crystal Beach! The officials of Zambales discussed the purpose of the International Coastal Cleanup and how this is just the start of many more projects to come to promote the province of Zambales.
After the lunch, we headed to the office of the governor for a focused discussion of our group’s, Tayo Ang Kalikasan, projects. Afterwards, we bid goodbye to the group as they were all going back to Manila while we were planning to still go around.
PLAY
We rode a tricycle to Bakasyunan Resort where we checked-in for the night. It was a decent resort but we got a bit disappointed on the beach because it was not what we saw in photos. Good thing; however, that there are boats around which we hired to take us to Magalawa Island the following day.
We got up early to eat breakfast before heading to the boat transfer to Magalawa Island. It took us about an hour and forty minutes to get there but it was worth it because of the beautiful water, white sand and the tranquil environment. There is an entrance fee of P100 per person and someone from the island will automatically collect it once the boat docks. We stayed for about an hour and a half at most before going back to our resort to pack up.
Thank you, Tiene for inviting us to join you in Zambales and for hosting our dinner the night we left for Zambales.
Thank you, Eid, for taking most of the photos and for the good company!
It was a long time coming but I am glad that our “getaway” finally pushed through!
Thank you for reading!
Escapades 
Magalawa’s water looks inviting! How long was the boat ride? My friends and I are looking for a quick (and budget) getaway near manila lang. 🙂
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Hi! Boat ride was a bit long, around an hour and forty minutes, one way. But the water in Magalawa is superb. 😊
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