A Weekend on a Sleepy Surf Town - Zambales Philippines

Located in a small town of San Felipe in Zambales, Liwliwa is a nice surfing spot 4 to 5 hours away from Manila, depending on the traffic and/or how suicidal the driver is. With the beauty of this place, I can’t believe it wasn’t packed with tourists the day I was here, especially that it was a weekend.

The beach and hostel area have a real, cool vibe around which makes you feel isolated from the commotion of the city. They also have beautiful sceneries and beach dogs coming to you asking to be petted and some good back scratching.

I left home at around 4 in the morning, I arrived in Manila an hour earlier than I expected, and I kept repeating to myself that I should have slept more. I arrived at Pasay Victory Liner bus station at around 7:30 AM and the next bus passing by San Felipe, which is Iba, Zambales, was set to 8:30 AM trip so I had to wait for an extra hour. The fare cost me PhP 303.00. Don’t forget to tell the conductor to drop you off in front of Bubolon Elementary School. Beside it, you’ll see a line of tricycles waiting for passengers.

I paid PhP 60.00 but you can negotiate and you might get it for as low as PhP 40.00, if you’re alone, that is. I should have only paid cheaper than what I paid for since I was alone, but I have a soft spot for tricycle drivers so I just let him overcharge me. I know that’s silly, but whatever. If you’re with a friend or more, the fare should only be PhP 30.00 each.

The hostel’s common area; completely identical with the one in La Union.
I stayed at The Circle Hostel. It’s an identical hostel I stayed in La Union, though I only paid PhP 400 here, which is PhP 150 cheaper than the hostel in its La Union counterpart. The hostel was nice and the staff was friendly, my only complaint is that they didn’t have wifi and shower didn’t have water so I had to squat to wash my already shampooed hair to rinse my hair with the water coming out of the faucet.

Kuya Andy was my surf instructor, but I think he’s also a caretaker of this resort (or he owns it??) They offer cottages good for 3-4 people that cost only PhP 1,200 per night.

The wave was flat but it was still possible to surf. I went to the beach to find an instructor to guide me. As I was walking on a beautiful strip of sand, I met a nice guy (or so I thought; a story about it later!) who happened to be alone as well. He introduced me to his instructor who was also his friend. I was supposed to pay PhP 400 per hour, PhP 200 for the board rental and the other PhP 200 for the instructor, but since the instructor knows the guy, he asked to only pay half. The guy said he’ll pay for it since we surfed at the same time. I refused but he insisted so I let him pay.

I used a longboard this time and like what the instructor said, I needed to make an adjustment to get used to it since I started with a supboard. I fell the first two tries and did well on the next. I accidentally hit my left foot with the fin of the surfboard while I was dragging it out of the water. It bled a little.

Important tip: Drag a friend to come with you if you’re planning to surf or you’ll end up not having any picture evidence of you, being a badass in the water.

More important tip: Test your waterproof camera for leaks before dipping it in the water.

One of my most important possessions – my Xiaomi Yi action camera – got wet and stopped working. I got really upset but I guess it was a blessing in disguise. It’s better that it happened that time than the next time I will use it. My next trip would be my one-week solo trip to Siargao and I’d go nuts if it happened in the middle of that trip. Someone suggested washing it with fresh water and putting it in uncooked rice for a week in order for it to absorb all the water. I’m yet to see if it shows any signs of life after this operation.

What sucks about it is that I was planning to buy a Fujifilm X series camera so I can have better pictures of my trip. I already talked to someone selling his, but this happened and if ever this won’t function again after this ICR (or Intensive Care Rice technique as someone on the Xiaomi Yi Facebook group calls it,) I have to spend my new-camera-money to buy a new Yi. So, maybe my dream of having a new camera will just happen next year since I can’t afford to spend on any more material things or I won’t be able to travel.

The next day, I had a cup of instant noodles by the beach, had a shower, and prepared myself to go back home. I hopped on a tricycle to bring myself to the main road. The lady at the hostel told me I could hail a bus going to Olongapo in case I won’t easily catch a bus that goes straight to Pasay. I said I’ll hop on the very first one I’ll see and I saw a blue and white bus going to Olongapo, it cost me PhP 55 to go there. When I reached the bus station, I had to walk for about two minutes to go to Victory Liners. I just had to ask people there because I didn’t know where was it. The bus going to Pasay cost me PhP 218.

All in all, it was a fun trip and I am happy I did it.