So there was this upcoming long weekend coinciding with the birthday of my daughter and she decided to spend it somewhere less crowded and less polluted. We’ve been reading rave reviews about a place 5-6 hrs from Manila just about 45minutes from Baler. A place called Dinadiawan in Dipaculao, Aurora to be exact. It didn’t hurt that the reviews said that for less than P10k, you can have beachfront accomodation, seafood, and peace and quiet.
But what really had me worried about this trip was the weather, as a typhoon just passed by Casiguran (well, technically it was 800 kms. off the coast of Casiguran but it did bring rains). We decided to go for it.
Before setting out, we booked a non-ACU small hut / wooden house for P1k a night @Pacific Villa and Ms Evita (owner of the place) was very helpful with our text inquiries. She told us that we needed to do marketing of food for our 2-day stay, and we could rent cooking (LPG and small stove included)/ eating utensils for P500 for the whole duration of our stay.
HOW WE GOT THERE
First off, we tried to book a bus to Baler by being chance passengers via Genesis Bus Line in Cubao but those in – charge were not very helpful. They could’nt even tell us with certainty if we could get on a bus to Baler @11pm that August 23 Friday night! They didn’t even list our names down as chance passengers! Someone offered us a van ride all the way to Baler for P600 (which we thought was a good deal) but we thought it kinda sketchy as we were told that we’d wait for another group of 10 to arrive at around 10pm.
So we decided to inquire at ES Transit just beside Genesis if they had buses that go directly to Baler. We were advised by their very friendly personnel to take the 3-hr Cabanatuan route, then take either a van or another AC bus to Casiguran, which we were assured, was aplenty once we get to Cabanatuan.
Needless to say, we took this route. Fare to Cabanatuan was P220 each (the bus was nice and clean and had chargers for CPs and it was less than 3hrs because of less traffic) and true enough when we got there, ACU vans to Casiguran were waiting. Fare was P300 each and the trip was about 2-3 hrs tops. We left Manila via ES Transit at around 8:30 pm, boarded a van to Casiguran by 11:30 pm and arrived at Pacific Villa close to 4:00 am in the morning of August 24, 2019. It was a long and lonely trip from Cabanatuan to Casiguran simply because it was dark and raining a bit. But we got there pretty much safe and sound.
PACIFIC VILLA
We knocked at the caretaker’s house and caretaker Jojo welcomed us (we actually woke him up but he was kind enough to lead us to our accomodation and set it up). Jojo stated that he’ll be providing us with our cooking/eating utensils at about 8:00 am, and that if we wanted to, we could just ask him to take us to the marketplace via his tricycle and we could store what we bought at their refrigerators.
My daughter and I took to the beds (clean sheets and cold weather) and had about 3 hrs of much-needed shut-eye after a long trip.
Little did we know that Dinadiawan was going to show off its beautiful sunrise that morning.
DAY 1 SUNRISE
LUNCH
So like Jojo said, I asked him to take me to the marketplace and I was amazed how affordable seafood was. I bought hipon for about P120.00 only, liempo for P70.00, chicken for about P80 and ingredients for sinigang / adobo (for dinner).
DINNER
I prepped a can’t-go-wrong chicken pork adobo for a 6pm dinner
DUSK @DINADIAWAN, AURORA
DAY2 SUNRISE
We swam in Dinadiawan’s waters in the morning and she swept me around hahaha ‘man, her waters are rough at this time of the year but refreshing still, really.
DAY 3
Dinadiawan in Dipaculao, Aurora might not appeal to those who seek more glamorous vacation spots but Dinadiawan is a nature lover’s dream destination. As the pics show, it exudes a quiet and peaceful vibe, away from the stresses of living in the city and engaging in the proverbial everyday rat-race.
Fresh sea breeze, calm morning waters great for swimming, white sand at your feet, just listen to the waves crash the shore, and be amazed at how the light and colors change from the break of dawn to the rising of the sun.
It is simply a spectacular sight to behold. It’s like watching the Creator paint the sky, and you’ve got a front row seat to it.
I will come back to you one day.
You’ve left me wanting for so much more, and for that alone, I miss you already.
As usual, for DIYers, below is a summary of expenses for two (2) people. Till next time.
| AUGUST 23, 2019 FRIDAY | COST |
| Sashamae/Spikymae allowance (our dogs!!!) | 500.00 |
| Grab! San Juan to Cubao (Genesis Bus Terminal) | 150.00 |
| Dinner | 300.00 |
| Cubao to Cabanatuan (P220 each) | 440.00 |
| Cabanatuan to Dinadiawan (P300 each) | 600.00 |
| DAY1 AUGUST 24, 2019 SATURDAY | |
| Check in @ Pacific Villa | 2,000.00 |
| (2 DAYS for 2 PAX) | |
| Beach Bumming | |
| Lunch | 500.00 |
| Beach Bumming | |
| Dinner | 500.00 |
| DAY2 AUGUST 25, 2019 SUNDAY | |
| Breakfast | 100.00 |
| Lunch | 500.00 |
| Dinner | 350.00 |
| DAY3 AUGUST 26, 2019 MONDAY | |
| Checkout from Pacific Villa | |
| Dinadiawan to Baler (via Jojo’s tricy) | 600.00 |
| Harvest Peanut Butter / other souvenirs | 450.00 |
| Lunch @Chowking Baler | 500.00 |
| Baler to Cubao (Van) | 1,200.00 |
| Dinner | 500.00 |
| Grab! Cubao to San Juan | 300.00 |
| 9,490.00 |
Great post 😊
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