ISLA VERDE, BGY SAN AGUSTIN KANLURAN
GETTING THERE and BACK
COMMUTING VIA PUBLIC TRANSPORT:
NOTE: Bus terminals are in the Cubao, Quezon City area along EDSA; Taft Avenue – Buendia Avenue area in Pasay City; Alabang South Terminal in Muntinlupa.
Bus lines: Jax, Jam, DBLTB, ALPS, Dela Rosa, others.
TRAVEL TIME- Two-and-a-half to three hours travel time ex-Alabang. Add one hour ex-Quezon City.
GENERAL – Take any bus the final destination of which is Batangas City Pier, via CALABARZON (meaning, it would take the SLEX, proceed via connecting link to the STAR, bypassing the town of Sto. Tomas and Lipa City).
WARNING: Do not take any bus that goes via Lipa City. Doing so could add an hour, maybe two hours, to your travel time
Get on board and pay for a ticket up to Bgy. Balagtas which is just after the Lipa-Bauan-BATC rotunda or round-about. This is the first drop-off after leaving the SLEX. It is announced. Take a jeepney going to Bago or Palengke Bago (literally, the new market). Get off at the new market terminal.
Take a jeepney with signboard to Tabangao. Confirm that it goes to Lhea Beach where boats to IV take in passengers. Do this because some do not go to the beach, but only up to the Tabangao terminal.
The jeep unloads passengers at the beach area. Look for the motor vessel/ boat MV St. Paul. This is the boat that normally takes passengers to Bgy. San Agustin Kanluran.
PRIVATE VEHICLES:
Ex- QC – Take C-5, connect to SLEX.
Ex-MNL, PC – Enter SLEX at the Nichols Toll gate.
Ex-Parañe – Enter SLEX at the Sucat Toll gate.
Ex-Las Piñ- Enter SLEX at the Filinvest toll gate.
All – Exit SLEX at the Calamba Toll gates. Proceed directly to the link to STAR toll road. Do not take the Sto. Tomas/ Calamba interchange. At the link road, proceed all to the way to STAR. Do not take the Sto. Tomas exit. At the STAR, proceed all the way to the Batangas City exit.
At the Balagtas rotunda, take the left turn to Batangas City proper. At the V-junction where the Lions marker stands, take the right road (Warning: This is a two-way road, keep to the right lane). Approximately 200 meters further, make a left turn just before the provincial capitol compound. At the next intersection, make another left turn. Proceed some 200 meters before making a sharp right turn. Follow the sign that leads to SM. Pass over a steel bridge bridge. Just after the sign to Westmead School on the right, make a right turn. Follow this road, it will veer to the left pass the Santissima Trinidad Church, then pass SM Batangas City. Continue on this road to Tabangao/ Lobo. You will pass the Shell Petroleum Refinery, the Malampaya Offshore Gas Plant, the General Milling Plant, and the San Miguel- Purefoods Plant. Slow down at this point.
Some 50 meters away, after an upward sloping right, then left, S-curve, the entrance to Lhea Beach is on the right. Best to sound the horn. This is a sharp turn into a narrow, steeply down-sloping, rocky road. Enter carefully.
Proceed to near the beach huts to unload passengers and cargo. Then park at the designated parking area (ask for the person in-charge).
TRAVEL TIME
Ex-QC – Three to three-and-a-half hours.
Ex-Pasay – Two-and-a-half to three hours.
Ex-Las Piñ Parañe – Two to two-and-a-half hours.
NOTES:
- Passengers bound for San Agustin Kanluran disembark at Sitio Mahabang Buhangin and at Sitio Subuquin. Guest of RFC disembark at Mahabang Buhangin. Boat travel times are 50 minutes to one hour on the average,
- Boats plying the routes are outrigger boats with 30 to 50 passengers rated capacities. Over-loading during peak days/ periods are common. The passengers insist and the operators accommodate. The Coast Guard occasionally checks. There is no permanent Coast Guard detachment in the area.
- Boats to IV generally leave for the island from between 0900H and 1100H, depending on the season and the passenger volume, or passenger waiit commitments. There are no fixed schedules. They usually make only one roundtrip per day. The trip to IV is the return trip.
During peak periods, however, they make two to three round trips a day. In such cases, the first return trip might leave Tabangao at between 0500 and 0600H, the second return trip might leave at between 0900 and 1000H, and the third round trip, if any, might leave at between 1300 and 1400H.
Peak days/ periods are: End/ start of classes; Holy Thursday to Monday after Palm Sunday; Bgy. Fiestas (usually month of May); Christmas week, New Year week; long weekends; election campaign period. All the IV-based boats generally operate seven days a week. When one does not operate, for any reason, the other operators take up the slack. - If MV St. Paul has left, or did not make a trip, other boats going to IV may take on passengers disembarking at Mahabang Buhangin or Subuquin. Ask around if St. Paul has left or is not available.
- A last resort is to rent smaller pump boats, maybe up to ten passenger capacity, at higher rates. For big groups, say 20 to 30 pax, a better, safer and cheaper alternative is to go to the nearby Berberabe docking area where boats, usually 30 pax capacity, which normally ply the Puerto Galera route, may be available for rent. There are no commercial accommodations in the area. No bed-and-breakfast types. The people are friendly. Tents may be pitched, particularly in the Mahabang Buhangin area.
RETURN TRIP
On regular days, the boat picks up outbound passengers in Mahabang Buhangin at around 0400H. Best to be at the pick-up area by 0330H. During non-peak days, it is best to advise the boat pilot as to intended day of return to the mainland. If the group is big, he would be more accommodating and wait for late-comers.
If one gets left behind, the only options are to go back the next day or to hire a pump boat. During peak periods, when two trips are very likely, and three trips a possibility, ask those living in the vicinity of the docking area. They would usually be informed.
FOOD and WATER
- There are no restaurant and such in the area, only small tiendas with limited offerings. Other than light meriendas, cooked meals (turo-turo) are not available. Soda (no diet types), beer, and ginebra are available. Rice (bigas), fresh eggs, common snack items, 3-in-1 instant coffee powder, cooking oil, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, canned milk, canned sardines/ mackerel are usually available. Choices as to brands, varieties and sizes are limited. Fresh vegetables, garlic, onions may be available, but also limited in selections.
- Fresh fish is not a common commodity in the island. Only catch in excess of consumption needs are hawked. Tulingan, when available, is imported from the mainland, cooked and sold in the island.
- Block ice, typically industrial grade, is imported, daily, from the mainland. These are sold for retail in the island. The supply does not last long.
- Wash and bath water from shallow wells is available. Saltiness varies. There is one pitcher-pump well beside the RFC place.
- Local drinking water, not salty, is sourced from further up and transported in plastic containers. This is pumped from a shallow well not far from residences. It is not recommended for drinking by city residents as this could take getting used to.
- Visitors are advised to bring packed first-day lunch, food supplies. Cooking equipment and implements too, if there are no arrangements for local accommodationsThey are also advised to bring their own cooking and drinking water in the proper quantities needed for the expected duration of stay.Tube-ice made from purified water may be purchased in the vicinity of SM-BATC. Block ice is also available in the area. Occasionally, these are available from mobile dealers in the beach area,
WHAT TO DO
- SNORKELING – Bring surf shoes (the broken corals can hurt un-accustomed soles) and snorkeling gear.. A good spot is the place locally called Lalanguyin
- SWIMMING – The area is more for snorkelling than for swimming. A good swimming spot is the Mahabang Buhangin area.
- HIKE UP MT. DAGIT-DAGIT – A leisurely traverse of the 300 meter high hill would take around four to five hours, From San Agustin Kanluran, the recommended route is a one-hour coastal hike to Bgy. San Andres, then up the hill, traversing westward. You will set down somewhere near Bgy. San Agustin Silangan or the Sinampalukan area. Ask for directions to Mahabang Buhangin.
Bring trail food and enough drinking water (at least two liters). - SCUBA DIVING – Small outrigger boats, with engine or hand rowed, can be rented from within the vicinity..
- ENJOY the SCENERY and the AIR.
TRIVIA:
- The island has six barangays. It is part of Batangas City.
- The president of SIKAP BUNDOK owns a small piece of seaside property in Barangay San Agustin Kanluran. People in the area generally know him as Tito Rey. However, the place is open only if he is around.
The property is three to five minutes walk from Mahabang Buhangin. Located at coordinates N 13d 33m 53s, E 121d 03m 04s.
ABBREVIATIONS:
- BAT – Batangas, Province of
- BATC – Batangas City
- BGY – Barangay, the smallest political/ governmental unit in the Philippines.
- CALABARZON – The economic region composed of the provinces of CAvite, LAguna, Batangas, Rizal, QueZON.
- IV – Isla Verde (literally, Green Island), the anchor point of the Isla Verde Triangle. A center of marine bio-diversity.
- RFC – Reynaldo F. Cuyugan, the SB president.
- SLEX – Southern Luzon Expressway- Starts at the NIchols/ VAB toll gates, and ends at the Calamba interchange.
- STAR – Southern Tagalog Arterial Road – Starts at the Sto. Tomas toll gate, and ends at the BATC toll gate.
- VAB – Villamor Air Base, formerly Nichols Air Base.
COSTINGS (AO 12/2014)
- Fare ex-Pasay to Balagtas PHP165.00
- Balagtas to Bago 10.00
- Bago to Lhea Beach 25.00
- Bangkero transfer fees. 5.00
- Stevedoring, varies, usually. 25.00
- Boat to IV 100.00 adults
- 85.00 snr/ young 00.00 children
- Toll- Filinvest – Calamba. 121.00
- Connector 25.00
- STAR to BATC. 76.00
- Parking at Lhea 50.00/24Hr.
- Fetch fresh water per 5 gal. Carbouy 5.00
- Tube ice 10.00 / takal
