PALAUI ISLAND, CAGAYAN ECONOMIC ZONE

[Lydia Robledo]

I was up north- at the tip of Luzon last week. We took Asian Spirit to Tuguegarao, then drove 2 hours to where the controversial Port Irene (Boy, thousands of nice cars, sooo cheap!). Then we took a motorized banca to beautiful Palaui Island. It took us only 15 mins. Maybe some people can swim from the edge of Luzon to the edge of the Island. The island is preserved, no developments there. We home-stayed at a local's house (crude). There were rooms but I chose to sleep in a bench outside the house which was more like an open garage. The others brought their tents. There was toilet and water. The owner served simple food.
This is island is where the Sta. Ana lighthouse is, the gateway to the migratory birds coming from Russia and China etc. (smugglers, too, I suppose).
The vegetation is very good -edge to edge. It's great for vacation and birdwatching too. The sea is sooooo clear. But check on PAGASA first for the typhoon forecast.
telyd sharing

[Teddy Regpala]

Looks like a nice place to visit.

TeLyds ... tell me more exactly where Palaui island is.
I heard of Port Irene before, but don't know where it is.
In relation to Tuguegarao, dod you go east or north?
If north, then that'll be Aparri.

Thanks.

[Lydia Robledo]

Aug 5, 2008 20:46:00 GMT Teddy Regpala said:

Looks like a nice place to visit.

TeLyds ... tell me more exactly where Palaui island is.
I heard of Port Irene before, but don't know where it is.
In relation to Tuguegarao, dod you go east or north?
If north, then that'll be Aparri.

Thanks.

No, not to Appari. You go northeast to Sta. Ana via San Vicente Port.

[Romy Ocon]

Looks like a very nice place, TeLyds..... is rum-coke available there, or I've to bring my own from Luzon island?

[Lydia Robledo]

Ka Mastah, the place has a population of 500, a third may be children. You'll be fortunate if the sari-sari store has stock of Pop and ice. You can fly to Tuguegarao, hire a car to San Vicente Port, take a boat to Palaui, stay at Mang Jony's, go the trails, circle the island to Sta. Ana lighthouse facing China, nice mudflats, go back to the mainland, pass Port Irene, buy the latest converted 4wd for about P350k (they may accept trade-in of your monster) drive back to Manila, make stops along the way or do a side trips to the edges of the Sierra Madre.
I'll surely go back to Palaui soon, when the sea/wind is calm on the other side of the island.
It's the gateway to the Philippines of the migratory birds!

[Ivan Sarenas]

There's a new casino patronized mostly by mainland Chinese right beside the game fisher's clubhouse which apparently created flights from laoag straight to San Vicente. This was what someone told me anyway, so if true, one can fly to laoag then connect to SanVi. If you have game fisher friends who are members, they can hook you up with the clubhouse and rent out the really nice huge rooms that they have.
I have camped up the lighthouse years ago though and I still think that that is the superior experience. ;D

[mantarey]

Wow, we have to visit this wonderful place soon.

[Ding Carpio]

Aug 7, 2008 4:59:29 GMT Romy Ocon said:

Looks like a very nice place, TeLyds..... is rum-coke available there, or I've to bring my own from Luzon island?

I think Tanduay and Coks is available anywhere in the islands!

[Ding Carpio]

Ooooh! Pristine place. Looks like a perfect place to chill out and take some mind-altering substances! And, by that, I mean drag Nestor for some brews.

Was going to say re your photos: check the horizontal-ness of your horizon line but then I see the cloudline is right. Hmmm...nice phenomenon.

[Lydia Robledo]

Vegetation in Palaui Is. is from edge to edge - diverse flora and fauna.

Taken from our banca- the view of the NE edge of Luzon- Sta. Ana Resort, maybe the casino that Ivan is talking about. An Asian Spirit plane flies 2 x a week to and from Macau to Tuguegarao- bringing in many Chinese.


The mudflats. This is a great place to watch out for the migratory birds. This time, it's quiet but in a couple of weeks, my guide said the place wil be full of them. The Sta. Ana lighthouse on the other side of the island is also one of the best places. We almost got to that point but it began to be like a roller coaster ride so we decided to abort, could not even go back by banca, so we alighted in a nice cove and walked 2 hours back to our camp.