Isla Verde Island - Batangas, Philippines

Verde Island is situated along the bodies of Verde Island Passage between the islands of Luzon and Mindoro, Philippines

Verde Island lies south of Brgy. Ilijan, Batangas City and is separated from Luzon by the North Pass. It takes 45 minutes by a boat or 25 minutes by a ferry boat from Batangas City Port to reach the island.[3]

One of the famous destination within the island is Mahabang Buhangin, a kilometer-long stretch of white sand beach. - Wikipedia

Ang daming sinabi ni wikipedia. Now ako naman ang magkukwento.
This is my second time to visit the island pero since medyo selfish ako last time, I decide not to write anything about my experience. Medyo struggle sakin yung mag recall ng mga bagay bagay kasi makakalimutin ako but I will do my best para hakukayin yung trip namin dati.
Last time we stayed at Mahabang Buhangin c/o Ate Jean but this time we decided to choose another place and we discovered The Beach Camp Isla Verde. Thanks to Glenn Mariano of The Pisces Project for the recommendation.

Ate Jean's contact information: (0929) 293 0732 / (0926) 688 3466.

Note: If you do not want to spend on accommodation you can pitch tent in front of Ate Jean but if you wanted to stay on a cottage or pitch tent with minimal fee then The beach Camp is your place.

If i were to choose between the two, mas bet ko yung The Beach Camp. Walang hassle sa tubig kasi kila Ate Jean per drum eh kaya tipid tipid.

For reference, here are the photos from our last year's trip.

Mej gloomy nun unsng punta namin

How to get to Tabangao Port:
1. Ride a bus bound for Batangas Grand Terminal (BGT).
Travel time is 2-3 hours depending on traffic.
 2. From BGT you have 2 options going to Tabangao Port:

*Rent a Tricycle all the way to the Port (roughly 30 to 45 minutes still depends on traffic)
If you're traveling on a large group then you can rent the whole jeep going directly to Port.
 
*Ride jeepney bound for Batangas City then transfer to jeepney bound for Tabangao Port. (roughly 45 to 1 hour depends on traffic)

Upon arrival to the Port, if you will be staying at Mahabang Buhangin (Ate Jean's Place) you must ride the St. Paul boat while take the Super Mario if you will be staying at The beach Camp.

March 11, 2017 - Saturday

We left Manila around 4:00 AM and meet the rest of the group in Tabangao Port (since we're on a private car).

The earlier the better since we will be riding the public boat.

7:43 AM Arrived at Tabangao Port. Nag stop pa kasi kami sa Bauan para ipick up yung mga pinamalengke. It was so nice of my friend's mom to go to the market and buy food for us since we only have limited time.

If it's high tide you have to pay PHP 5.00 for the small boat to make tawid all the way to the passenger boat (so conyo of me ba? Lol)

9:30 AM off to Isla Verde. To my surprise nagbaba yung boat ng mga pasahero sa Mahabang buhangin so I guess if you plan to go to Mahabang buhangin eh pwede mo ring sakyan yung Super Mario na boat. Tandaan: Huwag mahiyang mag tanong "may ritemed ba nito?" Charot!

We met couple of seazoners on the boat and nakakatuwa kasi iisa lang kami ng pupuntahan.

11:00 AM Yay! Isla na! Finally ❤❤ 

The sun was shining perfectly, medyo kinabahan nga ako kasi last time we were here eh malamig yung tubig and I was literally chilling (mej ang arte ko ngayon haha)

Sa wakas na meet ko na si Nanay Gloria. She's very nice and sweet.

Sayang wala kaming picture together but I told her that we'll be back. 

Back gate (PC Chok)

Front gate (PC Chok)

Our home for the weekend (PC Chok)

Our Bed for the weekend

So we rested for few minutes and hindi na namin pinalampas yung magandang panahon kaya nag dive na kami. The water was perfectly warm kaya medyo naka aura underwater.

 The underwater life is so diverse. Magniningning ang mga mata ng divers dito kasi napakaganda talaga.

After a tiring but fulfilling dive we wrap our day witnessing the sunset. It was sooo beautiful.
A beautiful sunset means perfect aura! 
You can even take good photos of it without post processing.

This is the not edited shot of the sunset. Isn't it aaahmazing??

PC Chok

PC Chok

PC Chok

PC Chok

PC Chok

PC Chok

PC Chok

7:00 PM Dinner

Socials na nauwi sa takutan

Lights out. (Literally, kasi yung kuryente may schedule lang)

March 12, 2017 - Sunday

6:00 AM Breakfast

Boat Dive for 2 hours (We had no clear plans on where to go and the ocean is not in good condition that day) pero fun pa rin.

11:00 AM Prepared to go home.

Masaya! Masayang masaya! Game na game lahat and nakakainspire yung mga bagong kakilala at nakikita mo how badly they wanted to improve their skindiving skills.

Here's the estimated budget I made before our trip.

Kindly disregard the names nalang ;)

Sharing you our catch for the whole trip. These do not belong to the sea.
Please be mindful of our own trash and let's help in healing mother ocean.

Basta ako gusto ko pa ma experience ng mga apo ko ang isang malinis at safe na dagat.
I hope ganun rin kayo. :)  

Watch our trip here