Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Conquering Cape San Agustin, Governor Generoso

Thank God for US Holidays!!! During the Thanksgiving Holiday and Black Friday in the US, I was able to get a two days leave and had a very well deserved long weekend rest. On Saturday, November 26, I, together with my boyfriend and his cousin went on a 5 hour-motorcycle ride to the laid back town of Governor Generoso in Davao Oriental.



The travel to Cape San Agustin was long and tiring but do not fret as the road that led to the parolas and to the beautiful open sea beneath it was cemented. We experienced no bumps along the way. I must say, their highway road was better than that of my city (because as of this writing our city has  lots of road works and repairs). Anyway, we had a few stops along the way to savor the nice coastal view of the said town.




The coastal road was perfect for biking enthusiasts as they had great view of the ocean and mountains. It was also a perfect stopover for that great sunset viewing. We weren't able to stop during sunset, though, because we wanted to get out of the coastal road before night time strike. (Not because we were afraid of "aswangs" or anything of the sort, but because there wasn't any lamp posts along the road. So we didn't want to drive in the pitch dark highway.)


By nine in the morning, we arrived at the end of the highway and we were greeted by a staff from Traveler's Inn. It was one of the two establishments that offered room accommodations for travelers staying for day tour or overnight. They also sell freshly caught fish with no cooking charge.

The Traveler's Inn's room rates are P200 (first 5 hours) for day tour and P500 for overnight. We stayed for over 5 hours but they no longer charged us for the extra hours since they knew we were not staying over night. Don't expect too much from their rooms, though, as it were just fan rooms and walls were only made of amacan and they only had common bathroom. Also, the two establishments beside the parola (lighthouse) were not fancy. I guessed the owners had only thought of putting up an accommodation business there for the convenience of the travelers and for profit as well.


The beach was located just a few steps down from the main road. You couldn't see the shoreline from the road because in order to access the beach, you needed to trek down a not so steep slope from the side road. Just be very careful not tripping on tree roots. The trek was just a short one so no need to worry.

It was low tide when we arrived which explained the view on our left and on our right were the littered coconut husks and sea grasses


Just a reminder, the beach was a public beach which meant there were NO resorts by the shore. The long stretch of beach shoreline was lined only with coconut trees. Also, there was no maintenance so you could see sea grasses washed ashore and some coconut husks littered along the shore. I would prefer to call the beach of Cape San Agustin a virgin beach. So don't expect for anything fancy. Just pure form of mother nature. Sadly though, there were some trash by the trees away from the sea which were probably left by irresponsible tourists or beach goers. But rest assured that the water was clean and clear.






By afternoon the tide was already high and pretty strong


If you noticed, the waves in Cape San Agustin were pretty strong. That's because Governor Generoso lies at the tip of the south-eastern part of Mindanao. It's facing both the Davao Gulf and the Pacific Ocean.

Hubby and I were only able to get to the second tier because we were too scared to get to the top




Expenses:

Gasoline - P100 (total gas was more or less P300 - back and forth)
*my boyfriend paid for the gas going to Gov Gen while I only paid for the gas going back to Davao

Food
- Breakfast at Lavigan Bus Terminal - P45 (viand - P25, rice - P10, softdrinks - P10)
- Lunch at Traveler's Inn at Cape San Agustin - P180 (Total: P450 for the 1 1/2 kilo of fish plus rice costing P90 shared by 3 pax)
    **fish sold at P300/kilo inclusive of cooking
    **rice sold at P15 per cup
- Halo-Halo - P40
- Mineral Water - P40 for 1 liter bottle
   **they also sell 500 ml bottled water for P20
   **they also sell Beer at P100

Room at Traveler's Inn (day tour) - P67 (P200 - shared by 3 pax)

Cape San Agustin Parola entrance fee - P50








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