That Spontaneous Travel To The Heart of Luzon — Marinduque

As a traveler, of course, planning from starting point to destination and vise versa is a must. However, thru the years and possibly coming with age, I’ve learned to prep but also be open to changes while in a trip. By far, this recent trip to Marinduque has been my most spontaneous one. We’ll get thru more of it in a while.

This island hasn’t been in my bucket list before, simply just because I opt to go to other places first. Not until a few of my office mates have been sharing their plans to go there or have already been there. The spontaneity began with deciding when and why to go. A month before the trip was the only time I started working on booking a place to stay, ask for itinerary planning and even the budgeting. Why the trip? Because I needed a breather and I was up for collecting new experiences

Background

Ain’t your typical historian, but what I can tell is that Marinduque was derived from the word “malindig” or “malindug” which means “standing tall” or “elegant”. This was also referred to their volcano called Mt Malindig (yeap, this island has one).

They are considered the heart of the country cause they are geographically at the center in our map. They’re famous for its Moryonan or Moriones festival during Holy Week. It would be important to know their province is considered one of the most peaceful and with zero crime rates in the Philippines. They compete with Batanes in the rankings (hayyyyy naku, Metro Manila, kelan ka kaya?). They speak more of Tagalog, but they have this older variation. The island has lots of natural stuff to offer (if you have all the time to spare).

Transportation 

Ok, this was where the challenges began for me. For the record, I didn’t hate it, but it’s just not my cup of tea. Being a usual plane traveler, land travels are only tolerable for me at 2 hours max while 30 mins for sea travels. When it’s beyond that, my head asks once in a while the ‘are we there yet’ question. That’s just me. 

In previous years, Marinduque has their own airport. Unfortunately, it is being renovated to expand the runway. The possible target completion is next year (2025). But since this wanderlust was impatient (kaya good luck sa makakatyaga saken), I took the longer route which is bus and ferry (roro as what most call it).

All in all, my travel was 6 hrs from Manila to Marinduque but 7.5hrs when I headed back to Manila (thanks to the grueling traffic we encountered in Laguna and Batangas). This doesn’t include the 1 hr ride within Marinduque going to the hotel, so do the math.

Land travel started via bus in Quezon City thru Jac Liner (Manila to Dalahican port). I suggest you opt that route so you can already be dropped off in the port. There are other buses that offer the same trip within Manila, aside from Jac Liner. From Dalahican port, take the ferry to Balanacan port (which is the port in Marinduque). The moment I arrived, the next available ferry was from Starhorse Lines which costs at Php470, with a terminal fee of Php30 (on top of the ferry fare). Montenegro shipping also offers a trip to Balanacan. Upon my arrival at the port, that’s where you ride either a van, jeep or trike heading to your exact destination. My hotel was in the middle of the island which is why there was an extra hour. 

A few centuries later, hello Balanacan! ✌🏼

So technically, make sure you would add an extra day or two for now, if you’d go there while the airport is still being fixed. It take you almost a whole day to get there.

Itinerary

Unlike with my post on Siquijor, I’m squeezing in the itinerary here cause I only traveled for 3 days and 3 nights. And the spontaneity continues here because of one main reason, there were no available joining tours / trips that time. I just took the options the locals gave me at hand. I know a part of it was my fault, but let me explain that further (watch out for it ☺️).

I didn’t want to jampack my whole trip due to one of my agenda, aside from roaming around — to take a rest in a place where signal is limited.

Here were the places I just visited…

Butterfly Farm

Yeap, aside from tourism, exporting butterflies is one of the major sources of income of this province. I was able to visit one of the main butterfly farms which supplies these beautiful creatures not only for events within the Philippines but even overseas. 

Find that butterfly

Marinduque Hot Springs

We are Filipinos and of course we’re used to hot weather while dealing with something hot, like hot coffee and hot springs.

Since their province has an active volcano, it’s a default they’ve got hot springs to boot. For Php100, I took that slight swim. And the best part, since most might be skipping this spot due to the weather, the pool was just all to myself. 

Being the tita mode that I am, I survived for almost an hour on that pool, before finally giving it up. The weather was just unbearable for a hot springs dip.

Boac Town Proper

Within the island, there are a lot of pasalubong shops. But since I was staying within Boac, why not pass by to buy for treats for home. I had to limit the shopping though cause I am not checking them in. The type of travel is a challenge on its own and to carry them all throughout will add more to that challenge. If you’d stay in this area, take some time to take photos as most houses and establishments in this place are historical or heritage houses — Instagram or blog worthy.

Boac Cathedral

As the residents here are predominantly Catholic, no wonder you’d see a lot of churches in such a small island. Built in 1792, it’s structure gives a zap back in Spanish era vibes. 

Tres Reyes Islands (Three Kings Islands)

On the southern part of Marinduque lies their so-called Tres Reyes islands, named after the Three Kings — Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar. Another spontaneous decision for this, as his was soooo last minute for me. There are actually a few small islands surrounding Marinduque which were the options given to me. However, this called me up for the challenge and indeed, it was an absolute one for me.

From the town of Gasan, you need to ride a boat to reach them. They maybe three but only one can be your stopover to swim and bask under the sun. Overlooking from Gasan, their order isn’t the same as how we say it —- Gaspar, Melchor and Baltazar (the farthest among the three). 

Our trip was in the morning and because there ain’t any joiners, the boat was too light that the waves were too much for me. Kudos to the fishermen cause for them that was just typically ok. Thanks to Bonamine, I survived the whole boat ride. I will be blunt in saying if you get seasick easily or you ain’t used to boat rides, this isn’t 100% recommended. But if you’re up for adventure and what awaits in the end, then give it a go.

The other side of Gaspar island…and our welcoming committee here was a dog 🐶

I might have been scary inside for most of the rides, but no regrets, cause this was what I got after all that. It was white sand and was even blessed to see a little sand bar (as the tides were getting high na..hehe) at Gaspar island. 

This was at 11am and the sandbar was subsiding lil by lil

A Few More Info

> Nightlife or Dining - Most shops close as early as 8pm, so either eat early or take out some food / booze in your hotel room. I didn’t stay in the town proper so it may be busier at night there, but if to speak of majority within the island, that’s what has been informed to me.

> Malls - SM and Ayala Malls haven’t invaded this yet, which is also good in a way given the simple lives of folks here. If you would need some stuff, better ask the locals where you can buy certain items.

> Wifi and even mobile signal, apparently, are still a challenge so save your my days / stories when you are already in your hotel. And for me, better explore the islands, not just for the gram (but more for the self).

Tips (and I really mean it)

> Bring some cash with you. While many of their establishments have GCash (e-wallet) or card facilities, better to have enough cash on hand to pay for your transpo’s and local tours. Good thing the hotel I stayed in eased me up in such concerns. Better to be safe than spending extra time looking for atms. If you could also book in advance for your local tours, do that to have an idea how much cash you should have on hand. 

> Pack lightly. Given their airport is still in the works, it’s hard to roam around with added weight due to your baggages. 

> There are times power interruptions happen in the island, even if there is no storm (similar to one of my cases in Siquijor), so don’t forget that power bank and charge when lights are back up. 

and the most important tip I can give that made me survive my whole damn trip

> Don’t be afraid to frigging ask and speak up! If I kept mum and relied totally on my own, I could have not went out of that hotel room the entire time. While I am a firm believer of being careful in dealing with strangers, but I guess asking the hotel staff or drivers wouldn’t do much harm right? From navigating to asking where I can buy stuff to even what time should I be transiting, name it they would help if they know the answer. If in doubt with the first answer you get, ask another one again.  

Definitely, there’s way more in store in Marinduque that I underestimated, but as the locals I’ve encountered told me, this is a reason for me to get back soon. Given I’ve missed out a few beaches and food tripping which I used to do too, this might be something to consider. For now, I’m fine with what I’ve experienced and another one for the books.

To everyone I’ve met there and had exchanges of life stories with, massive thanks beyond words! Thank you Marinduque for awakening my dampened spirit lately…Sharing perspectives relating to this trip very soon.

For now, have you been to Marinduque or is this island on your upcoming trips? Give me a buzz and let me know your thoughts.

Till next time!