Carabao Island: first destination for this gypsy...Romblon

San Jose , Romblon
4.19.2010



My first ever beach trip for the year 2010 happened last month with relatives of 4 adults and 5 kids. My ever so generous cousin Ate Vienne paid for everything, airfare, resort and food for 4 days and 3 nights in the beautiful Carabao Island in Romblon, a 30 minute boat ride away from Puka Beach of the famous Boracay Island.



With all the chaos that happened in NAIA 3, we finally boarded our 72 sitter to Caticlan. The flight was on time and after more chaos arranging 5 kids on a sitting arrangement, we finally took off. We arrived in Caticlan hungry to start our vacation. As I was pulling luggage after luggage, I saw my cousin chitchatting with a tattooed tall white guy, then another tall guy appeared. Turns out they were the present management of the resort where we will stay. The tattooed guy was Martin, the other non-tattooed was Hilmut. Two men helped us with our bags and led us to 3 worn out…really worn out vans. Just after few minutes, we pulled over the ferry station and helped us through. The ride was 45 minutes, it was almost 5pm and the waves were strong, some got seasick, but was able to hold back while my Liv and Nico enjoyed the bumpy ride. Finally our banca got closed to an island, we got so excited to see that the place seems quiet and not commercialized as Bora. For another 3 minutes we walked to our resort…and were greeted by…a beautiful, quiet place called Ivy’s Vine Resort. Excited like a poodle on heat, we unpacked and changed into our vacation outfit. For the rest of that afternoon the kids enjoyed a quick dip while I breathe thick sea salt air.


Martin and Hilmut prepared our dinner that night and served us pork & beef curry, it was surprisingly delicious! They also served us vegetable salad with vinaigrette dressing. I loved it!



Warned by the Germans, the lights go off at 11pm and will be back by 4am. We thought, it’s cool, I mean, I’m sure its not that hot and we’ll probably sleep off the no-fan night. We were wrong.
Once the lights went off…I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead…tossing and turning, the kids woke up and couldn’t sleep. I got off the bed and walked out of the veranda with the emergency light. For few hours, we were up and fanning ourselves until I can’t keep my eyes open anymore…I had to go to bed.



I heard a clicking sound…I woke up and turned around, my cousin took a picture of me and my nieces on our very best sleeping moments. I stood up and the beautiful shoreline greeted me…aaahh! This is what I live for…after few minutes, the kids woke up one by one and the boys started to play around chasing crabs, while my cousins and I ran to the nearest place with coffee. The local bakery was only 5 minute walk away from our place. For 3 mornings, we spent few minutes there and were greeted by locals with smile on their faces, they would offer us a seat, a coffee, a bread, I would smile back at them feeling nice. It gave me some time to practice gratitude, the town locals were all very nice. By 8am the Germans together with their local chef, Cathy served us our hearty breakfast. The foods in the resort were all delicious, except for the pancit that we had (it was just a little bit salty) but the rest…I loved them all! Especially the vegetable salad that they always serve.



That day is for island hopping and for the kids to enjoy some snorkeling experience. We only went to Puka Beach, snorkeling area, then we settled to have lunch at one part of the island near Lorenzo resorts in Bora where again, another lovely lunch of seafood, before heading off to Boracay to buy some pasalubong at D’Mall. We set off to go back to our own hideaway mid afternoon, the kids were tired and between you and me…I remember my stomach cursing me.
As soon as we got back, I went straight to the shower room and took a refreshing bath to take out all the salt on my skin…and sand on my butt.


The next day, my cousin arranged for 5 motor bikes to take us to the other side of San Jose. As I hang on to our driver, I sandwiched my kid between my legs and sang him his favorite song. I usually do that when I feel that he’s starting to get nervous. We arrived on a beautiful beach in San Jose, where residents of Romblon quietly live in front of a long stretch of white sand and clear blue sea water. It was haven for me. There was no resort, they told us that they will just wait for us while we go for a swim. Although the waves were strong at that particular day, I fell in love with the place. After an hour of playing with the waves, we all went back to our resort and enjoyed a quiet afternoon.




The rest of our trip was enjoyable, it was a chaos though, I mean handling 5 kids was like managing a day care center. We got back to Manila just in time and I saw my dad waiting for us. I kissed my nieces and nephews goodbye and thanked my cousin and her best friend (whom we all love because she is uber nice!) for a wonderful summer getaway.
I recommend Carabao Island to anyone who would like a taste of Boracay for few hours and retired to a quiet place at night. Romblon is a place if you want to breathe and think and practice a lot of gratitude.




*since this was free trip (a treat from my cousin) I cannot give you a breakdown of our expenses. All I remember was the Cebu Pac airfare which was a bit high because we had a late booking.


For more info about Ivy’s resort, you can visit this site: http://cicetaiwan.com/