Travel Review: Vacation Spots around Bicol Region, Philippines

It is not natural for us to be this sedentary. Travel is in our genes. For most of the time our species has existed, “we’ve lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers moving about in small bands of 150 or fewer people,” - Christopher Ryan (Civilized to Death)

I am a big fan of traveling and discovering new vacation spots since I started working. I promised myself that I would travel around the Philippines first before I start exploring foreign destinations. Here is the list of unforgettable travel destinations and adventure tours that I went on in the Bicol Region, Philippines in 2022. You can consider these places when planning for your next trip.

#6 Your Brother's House Tribal Village

Reconnecting with nature is made easy and accessible at Your Brother's House Tribal Village. Located at Barangay Pawa, City of Legazpi, this perfect vacation spot is surrounded by lush green vegetation as it features tribal-inspired exteriors, ready for that picture-perfect shot. I've been here at the tribal village a couple of times already since they opened, but on every visit, the ambiance of the place never fails to amaze me and makes me feel blessed to be with nature even for just a quick weekend getaway.

You can choose what kind of room you would like to spend your visit in--they have the newly-renovated cabana and bungalow houses, the famous triangle tribe huts, and family rooms. All their rooms are air-conditioned plus they serve sumptuous meals at their mini restaurant inside the village, you can either choose to eat it at the restaurant or request outdoor seating for special occasions with multiple guests. At night, they have a bonfire activity by the tribal tents, and you can go for an early morning dip at their pool while enjoying a sip of your favorite drink at their Tiki Bar just beside the pool area.

Your Brother's House Tribal Village also offers tribal villagers tour package where you can experience all the amenities of the whole village plus ATV rides rental around the exclusive trails near Mayon Volcano. For those who just want to take pictures and enjoy the place, but are not planning for an overnight stay, the village also allows them to visit at a minimal amount and specified time.

Your unforgettable stay at Your Brother's House Tribal Village is guaranteed, with the picturesque landscapes, delicious meals, adventure tour, and friendly staff that will attend to your every query and request. If you plan to visit the next time you're around Albay/Legazpi area, you can book your reservations at their official Facebook account or send them an email here.

#5 Mayon Rest House and Planetarium

If you are not a fan of mountain trekking and traveling long distances by foot, this place is the closest you can get by car to the famous perfect cone-shaped Mayon Volcano of the province of Albay.

Located at Tabaco City, Albay, the Mayon Skyline View Deck, and Rest House is only 3.7 km below the slope of Mayon Volcano! The weather is similar to Tagaytay when you reach the top, and overlooking are the municipalities from the first district of Albay and its surrounding mountains. This place is not new on the map but it has a special place in my heart because we took a trip here to celebrate a special occasion in my life.

There are food and drink stalls around the area, a chapel, and an abandoned planetarium. I remembered when I was in kindergarten, we had our class tour here and the planetarium was still open with lots of fun activities inside. Early morning is the recommended time to visit the place for a better chance to catch the glimpse of the Mayon volcano's peak and enjoy the cool weather.

#4 Casa Tente Boutique Hotel

This hidden gem is one of my rarest finds in 2022. This beachfront boutique hotel opened in 2021 at Barangay Banuang Daan, Matnog Sorsogon. A pleasantly-built façade will welcome you as your eyes gaze above the three-story building of hotel rooms. The room rates differ as to where your selected room is located, along the hallway, with a veranda, or with a balcony. As you walk inside the reception area, you'll be greeted by their friendly staff who will let you know of their hotel rules, as well as ask you about your meal preference so that they can prepare in advance. You can also bring your food if you don't want to order anything from the hotel restaurant.

You will be immediately drawn to the beautiful architectural designs of the hotel. Their pool area has cool, flowing water and is worthy of a spot on your Instagram feed. Their rooms also have a mini refrigerator, and hot/cold showers which I loved especially after our night swim, I was freezing so I took a hot relaxing shower before going to bed.

View outside the pool area. Magnificent structures and picturesque background.

The two rooms that we booked are on the first and second floor. On the first floor, we opted for a room with a balcony and just above us another room with a veranda. We enjoyed the relaxing view of the hotel while eating our meals by the poolside. There is a neighboring beach resort just next to Casa Tente where you can book an island-hopping tour. The hotel is okay with that and they will even refer you to them if you're looking for an extra adventure. The hotel itself is situated on the beachfront so you can still enjoy the beach waves for free.

Casa Tente is such a relaxing place, so if you're looking for a beautiful place to go unwind with your loved ones, I recommend booking a day or two at Casa Tente Boutique Hotel. The trip is worth it! You can message them for additional inquiries and reservations on their Facebook account or send them an email.

#3 Sorsogon Hot and Cold Springs

This was my most spontaneous trip of 2022. It was January, and we welcomed a new year two days ago when I was told we were going on a road trip to the province of Sorsogon. Our destination is the San Benon Hot Spring at Irosin Sorsogon, we left early in the morning, but when we got there, it was already full of tourists and locals going for a swim before the holiday break ended. We became afraid of the growing crowd of people at San Benon so we decided to look for another hot spring around the area. Unfortunately, all the other hot springs are full of people, so we had no other choice but to take a quick dip at the next hot spring resort we found to not waste the time of going there.

We just took our lunch along the road at the back of our car and proceeded to go to Orok Cold Spring Resort where we had the place to ourselves, because who wants to go swimming on a cold spring during the January weather? Us! We enjoyed the flowing water from the spring that also supplies the water system of Casiguran Sorsogon. The water is crystal clear, perfect for an underwater shot, and we can see the small fish swimming around us eating dead skin from our feet. Talk about free exfoliation!

#2 Subic Beach, Matnog Sorsogon

The municipality of Matnog Sorsogon is the southernmost part of Luzon island. It is dubbed the "gateway port". While it's true that this town is the jump-off point for ferries headed to Northern Samar and the rest of the Eastern Visayas, there is so much in Matnog that people are yet to discover.

One of the most popular beaches in Matnog Sorsogon is Subic Beach on the island of Calintaan. It became popular due to its pink sands produced by the combination of fine white sand and crushed red coral. We booked our travel tour package at Subic Beach Matnog through the Facebook page of Isla de Blas, a popular tourist destination at Matnog because of its location and structure closely similar to the Maldives.

We parked our car from the port of Matnog and paid for the tour package (environmental fees included) at the tourism office. There is a two-hour boat ride from Matnog to Isla de Blas place where we also book our overnight stay. Isla de Blas itself is a wonder to behold! An accommodation in the middle of Juag Lagoon, it has a restaurant, a common place to enjoy the view outside our rooms, and a small mountain at the back where we climbed to watch the sunset and sunrise.

The view of Isla de Blas place. Photo credits to the rightful owners of the drone photos.

A closer look inside Isla de Blas. A serene place where you can appreciate the beauty of the beach.

We arrived around 12nn at Isla de Blas. After having our lunch and changing swimming attires, the boat came back and took us to Subic Dako. Subic Beach is divided into two segments, separated by just a short stretch of land. The locals call these appropriately Subic Dako (Subic Big Beach) and Subic Liit (Subic Small Beach). We took pictures and swam into the pristine waters of Subic. After enjoying the beach, our tour guide took us to the nearby cave for more sightseeing and picture-taking, but we never came near the adjacent caves because the beach waves suddenly became strong, the tour guides only explained to us what was inside those little caves because our small boat cannot penetrate further.

Subic Dako Beach with its crystal clear waters and powdery white sand.

Before returning, we dropped by the Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary for a quick tour of the different marine species they breed and care for. We went and fed the fish there, but you can also opt to snorkel at the sanctuary, just make sure that you don't put sunscreen or any lotion on your body before because it is harmful and potentially poisonous for the marine species living there.

Fish feeding at Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary, just a short distance from Isla de Blas place.

It was such a relaxing and unique experience staying at Isla de Blas and finally being able to visit the famous beach of Subic Matnog. We appreciated the hospitality of everyone including the family that lives and manages the Isla de Blas. The husband and wife are great cooks and only served us the most appetizing meals during our stay. Also if you want to request something to cook, you have to tell them upon arriving at the accommodation because they have to go to the town proper of Matnog in the early morning by boat to market the additional ingredients needed. Everything was well taken care of by the people associated with Isla de Blas, lucky for us we were the only guest on the weekend of our trip, so we had the whole place to ourselves.

#1 Calaguas Islands, Camarines Norte

Making it to my number one spot, and my most unforgettable trip of 2022, is at the famous Calaguas Islands in the province of Camarines Norte. Calaguas is a group of secluded islands noted for its beauty and serenity--a well-preserved treasure, peaceful, unspoiled, and far from commercialization. The most famous beach at Calaguas is the Mahabang Buhangin beach, which is made up of a long stretch of powdery white sand.

Our trip to Calaguas was during my birth month, so it's an advance birthday celebration and vacation too. I booked our adventure tour package through Best Calaguas Tour who arranged everything for us before our actual tour dates. We arrived at Centennial Wharf at Daet Camarines Norte, where we met with the other guests for the tour. We parked our car there, put our belongings inside a big plastic bag to avoid getting wet in case the waves get too strong, and took a two-hour boat ride before finally seeing the jaw-dropping, work of art, Calaguas Island.

The view as we get closer to Calaguas group of islands.

You can see here the long stretch of sand making the Mahabang Buhangin beach.

We arrived at the Mahabang Buhangin beach around lunchtime, we have already an assigned cottage that served as our accommodation for the rest of the trip. However, the tour guides provided us with tents that we set up in front of our cottage, it's up to you if you'd like to bring bedding, for us we brought a hammock and a beach chair.

Tents set up just in front of our cottage.

There is no phone service and electricity on the island unless you paid extra for room accommodation, you get to have a limited supply of electricity from the island's generator set inside your room. There is a common restroom on the right side of the cottages with a manual water pump. We unplugged ourselves from the busy city life, and just enjoyed admiring the beauty that surrounds us.

I am not exaggerating when I said that our travel agency took care of everything. They cooked and served us mouth-watering meals from the time we arrived up to our departure. After eating our lunch on the first day, we changed clothes and got ready for island hopping and snorkeling activities.

Our first stop was the little mountain island called by the locals Little Batanes. To get the most out of the picturesque seascape, we had to climb to reach the viewpoint of the whole island. It was a little bit exhausting but the view from above was breathtaking!

The view of Little Batanes as we go up the trail.

A quick group picture after we reached the peak view point.

After taking plenty of pictures and exploring Little Batanes, we went back to the beach and enjoyed swimming, and snorkeling, and took more photos along the magnificent white sand of Mahabang Buhangin beach. The next day, there was a short mountain trek that was part of our tour itinerary but we did not join the group because we were told that it was not the same impressive mountain they trek on the previous tours.

Instead, we just explored the entirety of the island by going to a nearby beach with spectacular rock formations around. There were sharp rocks formed by the strong waves on the beach making it unable to go for a swim so we just took pictures and videos before heading back to our cottage and getting ready to leave the island.

We only stayed for two days and one night on the island, but the travel agency has an option for a three-day and two-night stay. Calaguas Island is the concealed white beach of Bicol, it is definitely one of the must-visit tourist destinations in your lifetime. The thrill of adventure and the longing after we got back home stays with me and I hope that the unspoiled beauty of Calaguas will be the same for the years to come. If you plan of going to Calaguas, I recommend Best Calaguas Tour travel agency for a memorable experience.

I have been on a lot of travels last 2022, and I plan to continue doing it this 2023. I want to make the most out of my youth because money will always come back, but the time of youth and spirit of adventure will not. I don't travel alone, most of the times I travel with my closest friends and my brothers because it's more fun when you're in a group. You get to meet other travelers and share stories of adventure, plus the hospitality of the locals in every destination is unmatched, truly and proudly Filipino.