Anawangin 2015: Team BxA (NO SOCIAL MEDIA ZONE)

First cast BxA

Anawangin, Zambales

This was a very special trip because this is where the team and its ideas were born.

We, 6 college buddies from Far Eastern University reunited and just decided to have a quick getaway and we found ourselves in the beautiful Anawangin cove in Zambales.

barkada tips: It's very convenient to have a friend who lives in the place or nearby and know it by heart. Instant accommodation and tour! LOL

That friend will take care of almost everything, the coordination from the tour operator, the rates, inclusions even the haggling(tawaran), etc.

4 Freeloaders

Two of our friends live in Bataan so we decided to go there first, rest a bit, have lunch and prepare the needs of our trip.

There are plenty of buses servicing the Manila-Bataan route, we took Bataan transit, it will only take you 2 hours.

barkada tips: be mindful of the seasonality to avoid inconvenience, in our case it was February so we can just walk in and take a bus, during peak seasons it's advisable to reserve a seat.

Missing one

barkada tips: The one who brings the DSLR will have to sacrifice his/her spot in almost all of the photos, bring go-pro or selfie stick for complete group photos and videos (we are saving for go-pro and drone, lol)

You already might have an idea who brought the DSLR

From our Bataan HQ we took an almost 2 hour drive going to Pandaquit, San Antonio, Zambales with stop-overs to Clark so we can buy our favorite drinks from duty free.

Royal duty free

barkada tips: bring your own food and drinks, as well as utensils, paper plates, paper cups, and necessary kitchenware when going to Anawangin because you will only sleep in tents and the only source of heat and light is fire, you will do all the cooking, there are no restaurants in the cove.

Upon arriving at Pandaquit, we met with the tour operator and paid for 600 each with the inclusions of: (boat ride, Island hopping, 3 tents, ice, 2 gallons of mineral water, and firewood)

Wavy boat ride

It was a 30 minute boat ride from the town proper to the cove, the waves are quite big, it was like a ride in an amusement park and the one in the front is gonna get wet.

barkada tips: keep an eye to your barkadas with motion sickness and if possible put all your gadgets inside a ziplock.

Just one of the islands you can stop by

Beautiful rock formations perfect for photo ops

and another one

It was really majestic and a place perfect for relaxation and getting a tan

Upon arriving at the cove we started setting up and prepared for late lunch around 4:00 pm

barkada tips: get a kubo(nipa hut cottage) it will only cost you 200 pesos, for your foods and kitchenware and the best area to set up is in the front, near the shore because that's where the kubos is.

Late lunch as in super late

You and your barkada have the freedom to choose whatever activities you might wanna do, there's a volleyball net near the shore, or you can do frisbee or beach football or just swim in the beach, what we did was start drinking while taking dips in the water(yes you can drink near the shore).

The view was amazing, perfect for just chilling out and catching up with your friends, sharing stories.

barkada tips: by all means, practice courtesy to preserve the beauty of the area, there are trash cans around and the folks at the nearby sari sari store are happy to assist.

If you need more liquor they sell Emperador light.

Stunning sunset view

The highlight of the night was the bonfire 

barkada tips: Never bring out your smartphone! Unless you're gonna play music or taking a picture but never attempt to log in to any social media accounts during the night of bonfire because you're not going to need it,

talk and laugh with your friends, share stories funny, sad, scary, anything.

This is a no social media zone, this is a pure interaction zone and you will like it

and if you're sober and drinking, there are no network signals in the area so there's no chance you're gonna make that drunk call to your ex, just tell your friends about it, be open. It's the whole essence of trips like this.

Day 2 was all swimming and roaming around the beach

barkada tips: it's best to stay for only one night since you can have the full Anawangin experience in 2 days, or you'll get bored unless you just want to relax in the beach for a couple of days more, please do so.

The boat will pick you up depending on what time is your agreement and will bring you back to Pandaquit unless you wanted to make a few stops and dive into the deeper parts of the area.

This is the group's first trip together and one of the best, we are now planning to do more trips and share it to people and we want to hear your stories too!

Enjoy your Anawangin barkada experience!

- Team BxA, 2015