Nilandingan Cove

If you're looking for an island that is still not commercialized, Nilandingan Cove at Cagbalete Island is the place to be. This is, without a doubt, the best choice for accommodation for a Cagbalete Island getaway!

Located 6 km from Mauban town proper and northeast towards the Pacific Ocean, Cagbalete Island measures around 1,640 hectares of mangroves, trees, long coastline of white beach, and tranquility. It is one of the best places to be for people who seek serenity and or adventure.

We booked two nights at Nilandingan Cove. Here's the breakdown of the accommodation:

Branded tent (4 pax): Php 1,000/night

Cottage (4-6 pax): Php 3,000/night 

STAFF/SERVICE

The staff, and I mean every single one of them, ooze with quality service and warm hospitality! They have really fast service, and a friendly staff. They were really helpful, especially whenever we were trying to start a fire to cook our meals, one of the Kuyas, Kuya Jun, would always come to the rescue to help us. The girl manning the resort's hotline was really nice and very helpful as well. She answered all of our questions and even gave us suggestions, and the contact details for boat transfers.

ACCOMMODATION

We stayed here for 2 nights with one night at a tent and one night at a cottage. The tents were branded and were really comfortable to sleep in! They already provided the pillows and the mattresses. I couldn't imagine a more amazing first time camping experience than the one night I had at this place. You can also choose the spot in the resort where you want them to set up your tent.

Tent for 4 pax

For our next night, we had a really comfortable stay at the cottage as well. One of the differences between the two accommodations is that with tents, you use the common bathroom, which was really well tended to, and with loads of water. While with the cottage, you have your private bathroom located at the back of the cottage that only you and your company can use. Another difference is that there's no electricity available for guests staying at the tents, but is available from 6pm to 530am for guests staying at the cottages. You can, however, plug your devices at the main house for 150 pesos per full charge of a gadget.

Sala/Dining area

Bedroom

The cottage we stayed in can accommodate 6 pax, having a huge wooden double deck and a hidden bunk bed on top of the doorway. It also has its own sala/dining area with a sink on one side, and one small electric fan inside the bedroom. The room smells really nice the first time we entered it. The pillows and mattresses were soft and comfortable to sleep in. But the windows don't have screens to protect you from mosquitoes at night as opposed to the screened tents without electric fan. Still, I had sound sleep for both accommodations.

Cottage with Private Bathroom

AMENITIES

Path to the Beach

During our first day, we didn't avail a food package because we wanted to really achieve 'camping feels,' so we cooked our lunch, dinner and breakfast the next day at their kitchen available for use by guests, using only the sinaunang lutuan (by uling/charcoal). They also allow guests to borrow kitchen utensils and tableware. All you have to do is go to the main house and ask for whatever you need. Just make sure that you return them washed clean after use. There are many spots at the resort where you could eat your meals, so don't fret because those staying at the cottages have their own tables and chairs for their own use.

Kitchen

They have lots of cabanas where you could lounge or eat your meals. The staff makes sure that the tables are clean for use by the guests by routinely cleaning the tables and the resort area. They also have a resort store where you could buy toiletries, snacks, and rent sports equipment like volleyball ball, frisbee, etc.

Covered Picnic Tables

FOOD PACKAGE

For our second to third days, we availed a food package (set B) with 2 dishes (meat/seafood and veggies), which was good for 3-5 pax for only 850 pesos/pax. The food was simply cooked but really delicious. They would send you a copy of the proposed menu, and you would have to choose your entrees and then send it back to them. Here's our menu for 2 days:

Lunch: grilled fish, ginataang sitaw at kalabasa, rice, juice

Lunch

PM snack: kamote que

PM Snack

Dinner: Bicol express,  tortang talong, rice, juice

Breakfast: Longganizzang Lucban, fried rice, scrambled eggs, coffee

Breakfast

 AM snack: pancit habhab 

ACTIVITIES

Beach hammock and bench

The place is very private, and peaceful. You could do a lot of things by yourself by the beach sitting on the sand or lounging by the beach benches/hammocks under the shade of the trees. You could meditate, reflect, read a good book, eat, watch the soft crash of the small waves by the shore, or just chat the hours away with somebody. 

Sunrise

There are also loads of sizzling activities you could do aside from having 'me time' or swimming. You could visit the Magic tree, the mangroves, or swim at nature's own version of a Jacuzzi during low tide. You could also ask one of the island kids to be your tour guide to see the Nakahigang Balete Tree, Lambanugan, or the fiddler crabs! Just don't forget to give the kids tips afterwards. You could also do island hopping, sagwan de banca, play volleyball or frisbee, or fish by the mangroves for a (rental) fee. One of the most amazing things we did at Nilandingan Cove was to watch the sun and the moon rise twice from the far horizon right in front of the resort! For more information on such activities, check out: Things to do in Nilandingan Cove.

Nature's Jacuzzi

VALUE

For only 3,000 pesos (including the boat transfers to and from Nilandingan cove, accommodations, food package, groceries for food), I had a sizzling summer escapade at Cagbalete Island! This place is a must for those wanting a quiet time either alone, with friends, family, or workmates. Since it is secluded from the other resorts, you can rest assured that you are 100% safe and that you won't have to experience having your things stolen because almost everyone there knows everybody. Even the owners were really friendly, they chatted with us a lot of times during our stay. They are genuinely really nice people, if I might say.

LOCATION

The only downside is that it is the resort located farthest from Sabang port. So if you're traveling via the passenger boat from Mauban port, you have to trek through the island for around 45min - 1hr depending on your pace. This, I highly discourage for you to do if you have loads of things with you (especially for solid campers who will bring their own tent, equipment, etc) especially since the path is rough and swampy and really shady. I believe that it is still more practical to avail a private boat for transfers to and from the resort to save time, and effort. Although the resort doesn't have their own boats for rent for transfers, they did gave us a number of one of their trusted boatmen, Kuya Maximo. He was really nice and polite. He also offered us island hopping, which we availed for only 1,200 pesos. Here's his contact number: 09087172962.

Here's the breakdown of all my expenses for this trip:

1) JAC Liner air-conditioned bus fare (MNL <-> Lucena Grand Terminal): 209.50 pesos/pax x 2 = 419 pesos/pax

2) NCR Rienton Bus Liner ordinary bus fare (LGT <-> Mauban): 54 pesos/pax x 2 = 108 pesos/pax

3) Round trip boat transfers: 2500 pesos for 4 pax = 625 pesos/pax
4) Accommodation: 4,000 pesos for 4 pax = 1,000 pesos/pax
5) Food package: 2550 for 4 pax = 637.5 pesos/pax
6) Groceries: 627 pesos/4 = 156.75 pesos/pax
7) Tourism Office: 50 pesos/pax

TOTAL = 2,996.25 pesos/pax

To be sure, bring around 3500 pesos for your budget, and you're good to go! All in all, it was a great sizzling summer escape!! And I'd really love to go back if given a chance!

For more information on this resort, visit their website at Nilandingan Cove or like them on Facebook.