Masasa Beach, The Secret Gem of Tingloy

Batangas is a popular destination for a quick and easy getaway from Metro Manila. There’s Puerto Galera which I haven’t been to yet, then there’s Anilao, Calatagan, Nasugbu, San Juan and so on which are among the most popular beach destinations on this first class province. But did you know that despite of these numerous developed destinations in Batangas, there are still some beaches that are untouched from commercialism and developments. Just like where we’ve been to a week ago.

Few months ago, a friend of mine introduced Tingloy Island to me and asked me if I can organize or plan of going to this island with her and some friends. She told me that one of her students told her about the place. Since she doesn’t like the idea of organizing a trip, she passed the duty on me. Upon finding out how pleasing the beach on this island is, I instantly searched for a possible itinerary. Since it is very ideal for a budgeted trip I invited some friends to join us. The more the merrier right?

Tingloy is a fifth-class municipality of Batangas. It comprises primarily of Maricaban Island, as well as Caban Island and other minor islets. One of the most interesting places to visit on this place is the Masasa Beach in Barangay San Juan. It is said that it is one of the most visited beaches here, and it is famous for its white sand and beautiful sunset at the beach’s tip of the coast.  – en.wikipedia.org

When I asked my best friend about the island, she told me she has a cousin who resides there. How fortunate it was for us, it’ll be more convenient for us! I asked her to contact her cousin so to help us with our trip. So she did.

But sadly, a week before the trip my friend of mine backed out because she has some school stuff to do. Booo! Anyway, thank you Carla for introducing this place to me. We still went on with the trip. I have my High school friends and few blogger friends on this getaway.

How to Go to Masasa Beach?

We rode a Jam Liner bus bound to Batangas Pier at Buendia-Taft terminal. We asked the bus conductor to drop us off at Diversion Road. We paid less than PHP 135.00 each for the ride. We planned to take some sleep during the traverse since some of us haven’t gotten any sleep yet since last night but there’s a group of foreigners inside the bus that couldn’t stop talking. All I can hear was their voices talking to each other so loudly, I think they were drunk.

Anyway, in less than two hours we reached Diversion road and there we waited for my other friends. When they arrived, we then rode a jeepney that goes to Talaga Port (jeep with Mabini signboard), fare is PHP 30.00 each. After 45 minutes, we reached the port and there we met our boatman who will take us to Tingloy. We went to the market first to buy food and some items we needed for our overnight camping.

There are passenger boats that goes to Tingloy. It leaves Anilao and Talaga port at 10:30 AM while return trips are scheduled at 6:00 AM from Masasa and 9:00 AM from Tingloy. So since we don’t want to wake up early and leave the island that early, we rented an outrigger boat which could take us to and from Tingloy.

The two-way boat ride costs PHP 2,500. The boat can fit 15 persons utmost. You may contact Kuya Jessie, our boatman, on this number: 09997872200.

The ride from Talaga port to Tingloy lasted for 45 minutes. It wasn’t a smooth ride as waves get bothersome in some points. It was already 10:00 AM when we finally stepped our foot in the island. We were greeted by some locals but since we had our contact already we politely declined their offer.

Masasa Beach at Tingloy Island

After a couple of minutes, we were fetched by two tricycles which were contacted by my best friend’s cousin, Ate Gemma. During our tricycle ride, I can see how quaint this town is. My best friend told me that Tingloy is one of the secluded places in Batangas, and it really shows.

And these views made me excited me as we drove the road to Masasa Beach.

This really wowed me (a month of not having any travel), a secret gem waiting to be explored.

The tricycle ride lasted for about 30 minutes, costs PHP 30.00 each. We were dropped off in an area that seems to be a town. There we were welcomed by Ate Gemma. She then provided us some of the things (utensils and cooking set) we needed for the camping. Not only that, she accompanied us to the beach proper itself.

This reminded me of Diguisit Beach in Baler, Aurora.

It took us about 15 minutes walking in the shore to get to Masasa Beach, easier compared to the downhill hike that I read in some blogs.

Camping at Masasa Beach

We were amused on how pleasing the beach was. The water is so clear, so tempting. The sand is fine but there are parts of the shore that are rocky, but that doesn’t matter.

After minutes of absorbing the view, we then set up our camp and started to cook for lunch. The sun is shining at its peak, it was so hot. Good thing there’s a small cave that served as our shade.

This is by far the hardest camping experience that I ever had. There’s no tree wherein I can at least set up the hammock that I brought and the approximate source of water is at least 10 minutes walk from the shore. No, I’m not complaining. This trip only showed how real camping is. So when we went to the water well area, we already brought everything that have to be cleaned so we can no longer go back and forth. But for your convenience you may asked some locals for a fee to get pale of water.

“Can you see that blue-green roof on the right side? That’s where the water well is.”

One more thing that I liked about Masasa Beach is the rice fields. I don’t know but I’m fond of rice fields maybe because when I was still young I lived in our province where our house is surrounded by rice fields. This just reminded me of my another home.

After we had our lunch, some took a nap, rested for awhile and some started to go crazy over the beach.

There were no other tourists that time aside from us.

The entire stretch of the beach was ours.

Despite of the scorching heat from the sun, we couldn’t resist but to expose ourselves under the sun. After all it is fun under the sun. 😀

I love the water of Masasa Beach. The seabed was fine, the sea was very swimmable (if there’s a word like that).

We walked towards the other end of the shore to see and explore the beach area. We noticed a damaged structure. It seems like it’s an old resort.

We went back to our area then suddenly, boatmen started to sail their sailboats. We wonder where they’re going. It could have been perfect if they sail during sunset.

It was 5:00 PM when I gave up, I felt tired so I took a nap. I missed the entire sunset, good thing I had awaken for a few seconds to take some snap of the sunset view on this beach.

A very lovely golden sunset to end the day. After a few seconds, I went back to my sleep. I woke up just in time for dinner (naka-takas sa mga gawain). 😀

We then lit a bonfire then spent the rest of our night with alcohol, chips, stories and craziness. One of the craziest night ever.

Since I drunk too much that night, I got a hang over the next day. I couldn’t get out from my bed so I forced myself to dip into the water to lessen the headache I’m feeling. And it’s effective.

Anyway, it was already 10:00 AM when we gathered our things and prepared for our departure. We went to Ate Gemma’s house to shower and fixed our things.

We left Masasa Beach with good memories and hopes of coming back. This is one of my travels that I don’t expect it to be that crazy and exciting. It surpassed my expectation. Certainly, it isn’t just the beach alone but the moments with my companions that make this travel very memorable.

I hope the municipality could take some actions on cleaning the surroundings as we noticed that there are wastes (plastic, disposable plates and utensils) scattered around the beach area. The beautiful beach might just end up into waste if the surrounding is unclean. So for campers, visitors and the community of Tingloy let us keep the beach clean. I feel it could be better if the community could charge a minimal fee for campers and visitors of the beach and put this fee in maintaining the place. I think that could be a great help in keeping the area pleasing to the eye.

Going Back

We left the island past noontime. The boat brought us to Anilao port since the current was too strong if we go to the original port that we’ve been. It took us about 1 1/2 hour to get back to the mainland.

At Anilao port, we rode a jeepney going to Diversion Road. Travel time is about 45 minutes with PHP 30.00 fare per person. Then we rode a tricycle going to Grand Terminal. We had some snack first at the terminal since we haven’t had our lunch yet. Afterwards, we rode a bus bound to Metro Manila.

It was already 6:00 PM when I reached home.

It has been a great weekend spent with my high school friends and few blogger friends at Masasa Beach. If you’ll ask how much we spent on this trip, we spent about PHP 1,200.00 per person.

Kuya Jessie
Boatman
Talaga/Anilao to Tingloy
09997872200