My Summer Vacation in Alibijaban Island

It took us roughly ten hours to reach the island of Alibijaban. Upon arrival at the island we were welcomed by the white sands and kids playing by the beach. We opted to rent a room instead of pitching up tents, since one of our friends wanted to have a room. The rooms cost us Php 1,500.00 for an overnight stay. This already includes lights and electric fans.

Alibijaban Island from afar

The house owner is very nice and accommodating. She helped us settle down, making sure that she could provide everything we need for our stay. She lent us their cooking utensils, like a pot for cooking our rice, a grill for our inihaw, a pitcher for our water, some tupperwares to store our food and plates. 

We finished cooking just before eleven in the morning. It was too early to eat lunch so we decided to take a quick dip into the beach. The beach was refreshing after being soaked up in the heat of the sun. Honestly speaking, the beach at this side of Alibijaban is not that beautiful. It is full of stones and weeds are all over drifted by the waves. 

the Alibijaban shore

Before 12 noon, we got out of the water and decided to have our lunch. Our lunch is inihaw na tulingan and salted eggs with tomatoes and onions. We also have green mangoes sliced as our dessert.

After lunch, most of my friends decided to take a nap. I on other hand was not feeling any sleepy. I urged two of my friends to take a walk on the beach. It was a good decision for us to take the walk as the beach area is very windy unlike in the house where we are staying that was hot. After spotting a bench and table under a tree, my friends then decided to take a nap.

At around two in the afternoon, after I took some pictures and my friends awaken from their afternoon nap, we then decided to explore the island. We wanted especially to see the sand bar and mangrove trees in the area which is very popular among tourist.

river full of Mangroves

the shore filled with Mangroves

They say that the sand bar is just walking distance from where we stay. So instead of hiring a banca, we decided to search for the sand bar on foot and by the help of our guide – a black dog. We were walking along the shore when the black dog decided to tag along with us. He even went ahead of us trying to show the way. We also met some town’s people on our way and they also gave out some directions. And most of them are surprised that we are following a dog to lead us to the sand bar. 

After almost an hour of walking, we saw one of the most beautiful part of the island. It has a shore line with mangrove trees. Unlike the pert where we stayed, this place has no weeds and there are only few stones. There was even a floating-like cottage that is invitingly relaxing. We did not wait for long to get a dip into the water. After the long walk, we all wanted to freshen up.

We were also able to get a chat to the caretaker and told us about the sand bar. He said that the sand bar would show up at low tide which is around five in the afternoon. We can wait for the low tide and stay at the cottage but we need to pay for the use of the cottage as it is being rented out. I think we pay for Php 20.00 each to use the floating cottage.

the floating cottage

Unfortunately, we were to able to see sand bar. It was already getting dark, but the low tide has not yet revealed to us the sand bar. The caretaker serves as our bangkero to bring us back to the other side of the island – where our accommodation was located. On our way back, the bangkero stopped and showed us to where the sandbar was supposed to appear. 

We spend our night by the seashore drinking a mixture of beer, gin and powdered juice with chips and boiled sea shells. We enjoyed our day of adventure and getting to know the whole island with its people and their way of living.

the morning at Alibijaban Island