Our 3rd Quezon – Bicol Escapade was to explore Padre Burgos in Quezon. I went to Calauag first and stayed there overnight. In the morning, Cam and I took a bus going to Lucena from Calauag. I was able to take a picture of the view on the top while traversing the Bituka nang Manok road in Atimonan.
From Lucena, we rode a minivan to Padre Burgos. We rode a tricycle looking for a place to stay. We weren’t successful in Tamarind Tree Resort but found the Villa Anita Butterfly Garden and Resort, along the Padre Burgos – Andangan National Road. It was already past 1PM when we arrived in the resort.
The resort has a huge garden and a fish pond. There’s a restaurant inside but just across the resort was a Pavillion for a large number of visitors. There were portions that were under construction especially the bigger swimming pool. The cottages were Nipa Huts with aircon. The staff told us of the beachfront area of the resort which was a 10-minute ride from the resort. We were accompanied by the driver of the resort and drove us to the Villa Anita beach front. But as of posting, Villa Anita was permanently closed.
It was low tide that morning and we enjoyed taking pictures and walking around the rocky beach. There was a floating “balsa” in the area. And we stayed there and waited for the sunset.
The following morning we were fetched by the boatman on the beachfront of the resort to start our island tour. The boat ride was about 15 minutes going to Borawan, just across the beach in front of Villa Anita.
Borawan came from the combination of the words Boracay and Palawan and located at Pagbilao Chica Island. It is along the coastline of the Tayabas Bay. There are different rock formations along the way.
Borawan is a place for campers. As of writing, there’s a resort already and that the place is being maintained properly. When we visited the place, there were campers and a caretaker with their small store for your needs. Because it was the Labor day weekend at that time, tourists flocked the island, so we went to the other side in a quieter place, where we had the towering rocks all by ourselves.
But beware of the secluded place without the nets, I was stung by a jellyfish here. If you could zoom the picture below, you’ll see how big the jellyfish that I encountered, and it was painful and the black scar lasted a year.
But all in all, Borawan is a good place to go, it just depends on your expectation. But for me, every new place is worth to travel.
For more information about Quezon Province, please check my posts: Gumaca, Quezon, Dampalitan Island, Padre Burgos, Quezon