Saturday, May 25, 2013

A day trip to Burot Beach

Our trip today started from an impromptu planning to visit the beach by my neighbor friends in Cavite. Less than 12 hours before the scheduled departure, it has been decided to have an overnight camping trip in Burot Beach and everyone hastingly prepared for the logistics the for our trip with last minute shopping at the mall.
 
As we came from Cavite, we traversed the route passing through Governor's Drive to roads leading to Tagaytay City (vs. the usual via SLEX or Aguinaldo Highway route). We left past 5AM and in less than an hour and with a convoy of four vehicles, we stopped over in Tagaytay for fuel before continuing our journey for another to Calatagan, Batangas. We have with us a family who have been visiting this place a number of times since earlier this year so they already know the way.
 
In Calatagan Town Proper, we stopped by the small market behind the Municipal Hall to buy some picnic items and seafood before finally heading over to Burot Beach, passing by a couple cemeteries (Calatagan Municipal Cemetery and Eternal Garden Cemetery) before finally reaching the gate. We stopped at the gate where the security guard recorded our arrival then proceeded to pass by the dirt road of around a kilometer before finally reaching another gate.

At the second gate, another security guard stopped us to collect entrance fees. For day trips, each person is charged PHP60 while for overnight campers, PHP130. The rest of the group planned for overnight camping trip while we opted for a day trip so we paid accordingly.

It was around 8AM when we arrived and there were not a lot of visitors at that time. Trust me, the people on the pictures are not that much compared to later that day, specially right before lunch time when more groups started to arrive. The place was pretty serene and the water was very calm when we arrived.
 
Our group settled on a shade under the tree by the beach and rented a couple of big tables and chairs (PHP200 per set) where we started to prepare the food and have breakfast soon after.
 
And just after having breakfast, the kids (and kids at heart) in our group started to go swimming while others are busy preparing food for mid-morning snacks and lunch later that day. It is common for a lot of visitors to prepare food in the vicinity (while others bring in cooked food). We have a portable stove and grill at hand so everything was a breeze. Other guys in the group started the drinking session early on.
 
grilling fish and eggplants
 
other huts and tables for rent
 
There is a small store selling food and items but is a bit expensive. I see a lot of visitors buying from this store though as there are no other options and it's quite far to go out just to buy some necessities.

By lunch time, more people are in and some groups have started setting up their respective tents. The crowd has grown to perhaps a triple or more times from when we came in but a lot are either busy preparing for lunch or eating at this time.
 
At this point, my son Ethan has taken a break from swimming and started playing with the sand under the scorching heat of the sun.

our group's area with tents already settled and fixed up


For others visiting Burot Beach, the issue with the place is the lack of facilities. Although I expected it to be like it as it is an undeveloped place. The lack of ample comfort rooms, as well as their sanitation has been a problem that day and a lot of visitors are lining up on the few comfort rooms provided. They aren't comfortable at all but good thing is that there is enough water supply.


There are also jellyfishes on the beach. Although it is expected, it may be a turnoff for a few others. Honestly, they aren't that big deal and I don't think there has been serious incidents that day. In fact, the kids happily got one and have put it on a pail for their liking before freeing it back to the sea.
 
There were also a lot of starfishes and I hate it when a people take the out from the water for a long time. Other groups even had piled up quite a few and effectively killing them. I still believe one must respect the nature and should clean up their own rubbish and take nothing from the natural resources.

By mid-afternoon, the crowd number has started to shrink as a lot of daytrippers started to pack up and leave.
 
me, Roshie and Ethan

Ethan stayed for around a couple of hours sitting on the tree trunk which he found amusing and refused to come down for quite some time.

By late afternoon however, the water has come down so gradually (low tide) that one has to walk a couple or so hundred meters to reach waist-level water.
 
I left with my family around 6PM while leaving others behind who are in for camping. I forgot to note that the road leading to the beach is quite scary and seems to be landfilled. Actually it is enough for one medium size vehicle and that when there's another one approaching your way (like a tricycle or worse, another car), it would be hard to get into the side of the road as there are areas where both sides are surrounded by water.

What I don't like about driving to the place is the quality of the road. There were sharp stones all throughout and I felt like it may be capable of puncturing the tires.

At last, I arrived at the gate, about to leave the premises. The guard was very friendly and heartwarmingly bade goodbye after thanking us for coming. By the way, I didn't mention that the guard has an SM logo on his shirt. A few searches over the internet says that the place is owned by the SM group and may be up for development like Pico de Loro in the future. Glad to be able to visit the place before that happens!

Overall, I still find the place nice, despite lacking facilities (specially CR). The sand is soft and is golden white (not as white as Boracay) and the water were very calm. Very family-friendly! Perhaps I would come back when the government does something to the roads leading to the vicinity and that the SM group does something as well on its road inside its property.