Pangasinan's Hidden Vistas

[Allan Barredo]

Most folks associate the province of Pangasinan to the Hundred Islands in Alaminos and the beaches in Bolinao. There is actually another side of Pangasinan, literally. The less visited west coast (with the towns of Dasol, Burgos, Agno) is still untouched by large scale tourism but have so much to offer.

There are scenic cliffs and rocks for the "sunset+rocks" specialists, caves to explore, and great snorkeling sites (and a even shipwreck).

This is 7 days of Pangasinan's sand, sea, and sun.

[Allan Barredo]

Tambobong Beach

Our "base camp" is Tambobong Beach. The beach stretched across two barangays: Tambobong and Osmeña. We know some fisherfolks there and they let us camp in front of their houses

Warm Afternoon



Uniform Boats



Barangay Tambobong

[arnoldcruz]

That's true. Years ago. I went to Burgos twice at the Carmel of the Immaculate Heart of Mary where my cousin is a "mongha" and I was amazed at how great the sceneries were.

.. but I didn't bring a camera

Next time, I will surely bring one! Thanks for sharing.

[Allan Barredo]

Tambobong Sunsets

The beach faces the north west so you have a good view of the sunsets

The Sun and His Daemon

with some lens flare that I'm too lazy to correct

Just the Two of Us



Light and Darkness Tug of War

[Allan Barredo]

Colibra Island (a.k.a Snake Island)

Just in front of Tambobong beach you can see a small island with white sand beaches. Its a short 17 minute boat ride from the beach. Its also called Snake Island because of the huge population of sea snakes there (before). The local fisherfolks "harvested" the snakes for money. Now you are lucky if you can still spot one.


Colibra Panorama

Shade is a spare commodity in this island

One Tree Hill



Exploring Colibra



Surf's Up



Fav Four

[Allan Barredo]

Balaki Island

This small island is about 1 hour boat ride from Tambobong Beach. We "discovered" this one after being turned away from Hermana Mayor. The owners are coming in during the weekend so they cannot let us camp there. (Our guides know the caretakers)

There is a resort at the west end of the island but we prefer to rough it out (read: cheapskates )

Interisland Taxi





Lots of these thorny branches there


Folks all the way from Tambobong come to Balaki's area to spearfish. Just an hour of fishing yielded a hearty lunch for our group




Dinner: Moray Eel

[Jeruel B. Ibañez]

Wow! Superb colorful images!

[Allan Barredo]

Originally Posted by Jeruel B. Ibañez

Wow! Superb colorful images!

Thanks bro.

Last one for the day, more photos and places tomorrow.

Symphony of Colors

[Allan Barredo]

The journey continues...

Sitio Balinmanok
Osmeña, Dasol, Pangasinan

A short 10-minute boat ride southeast from Tambobong beach is another rustic community called Sitio Balinmanok.


Easy Like..



Balinmanok Beach



Driftwood in Mono

[Allan Barredo]

Balinmanok Wreck

The best thing about Balinmanok is the shipwreck site just 50 meters from shore. I did some research but was not able to get the name of the ship so I'll just call it the Balinmanok wreck.

Balinmanok Wreck


There is a very interesting story with that wreck site. It was a Chinese vessel carrying an assortment of cargo, including a huge load of shabu (crystal meth) - about 600kilos, coming in from the South China sea. There was a storm and the ship accidentally dropped its anchor near the island of Hermana Mayor (about 1 hour from Tambobong). The hull of the ship got damaged and she began taking in water.





The crew offloaded the "precious cargo" but they were apprehended near the town of Infanta. The authorities were able to seize about 250 kilos of shabu, the rest of the cargo vanished without a trace.

The ship was towed to where it is right now - in front of a beach in Sitio Balinmanok. The wreck site is now a nice snorkeling area.

Nemo's Playground


The good thing about the wreck is the amount of fish you get spearfishing there

Nature's Bounty