Masasa Beach, Tingloy, Batangas

Going to Masasa Beach during summer weekend and long holiday break is like a Cath-22 situation. Those escaping the traffic, noise and unbearable heat of the city, will distressingly find the same circumstance (while in transit and) upon arriving in the island. But it still is a beautiful beach destination, offering diverse and fun activities for the fit and adventurous.

  

Masasa was where our latest office adventure took place. We created a chatgroup of 18 members just for this activity. As the days neared for our scheduled outing, unti-unti na kaming nalalagas (as expected).  In the end only 8 of us survived and went ahead.

 

We left Manila around quarter to 5:00 am. Half were late for the agreed time, including me. We arrived at Batangas Grand Terminal two hours later and boarded another jeepney going to Talaga Port. It took us more than an hour to board a boat. Honestly, napaka-disorganized ng queuing system. Walang maayos na waiting area for passengers. Maraming nakabilad under the scorching heat of the sun, waiting for the assigned number to be called para mag-board ng boat. Nakakapagod papunta pa lang! It took us another hour and a half by boat to finally reach Masasa Beach Port.

While waiting for our chartered boat that will take us to our accommodation, we encountered ate selling an ice candy, brazenly shouting “Matigas masarap, masarap sipsipin!” We can’t help but laugh. She sounded and looked innocent. 

Nanay Rosie Place is a well-known transient home in Masasa, offering different types of accommodations. Her beachfront property is very expansive, mainly catering to big groups. But there are actually more native accommodations around the vicinity, some even providing tents for budget travelers.

After having our lunch, we rested a bit, and afterwards availed the island tour package, which was the highlight of our activity. The tour included, snorkeling right in front of Masasa Beach and Sepoc Island, and visit to Caves, which according to our guide was the shooting location of the now-defunct fantaserye Marina. Medyo maalon going to Sepoc but it was fun. What I actually enjoyed the most was the fish feeding and turtle searching. While the main Masasa Beach ay halos di mahulugang karayom sa dami ng tao, there are actually beach areas that are almost devoid of people, medyo malayo-layo na lakad nga lang.

The following day, majority of our group trekked to Mag-asawang Bato, which is more or less two hours away from Nanay Rosie’s. 6 kami umakyat to witness the sunrise but in the end, 2 lang kami nakapag-summit, the rest nag-give up na halfway. It was so peaceful at the top of the two giant rocks. I could see the people at the beach below, swarming like ants.

Despite all the inconvenience we suffered going to the island, and the incident involving one of our colleagues losing her cell phone, I guess the beautiful things outweighed the bad. Like the sunrise and sunset I witnessed in Masasa were gorgeous; and just a few weeks after this trip may naging lovebirds na sa grupo. Well sometimes the best things happen unexpectedly.

From Manila, take a bus bound for Pier Batangas (bus stations in Buendia or Cubao) and get off at Batangas Grand Terminal. Then take a jeepney going to Talaga Port. Lastly, take a boat going to Tingloy.