Tugawe Cove
My Caramoan adventure was made extra special by the lovely team behind Tugawe Cove Resort. Upon arrival at Virac, we were picked up by a chauffeur who took us to Codon Port. We then boarded a small bangka and got taken directly to the private island of Tugawe. Our first step on the sandy shores already gave us the best impression for the trip, as our personal butler escorted us to have a seat while he took care of checking us in and taking our bags directly to our room. They even gave us yummy Banana Turon and a mint cooler while waiting! The island was beautiful and serene- quite fitting for a honeymoon vacation. Lea and I then proceeded to our room at the top of the hill- which meant a million and one hikes up the magnificent nature filled stair case. For the lazy few (or injured few), they also have a cute little trolly that can take you up if you don’t want to walk.
Luckily for us, our room was near the restaurant at the very top which meant two things- less hiking when hungry, and less hiking when we need to use the internet! Signal was bad in Caramoan (the only good network available was Smart!), but the hotel had complimentary WiFi at the resto. And that same resto had the best seafood omelette EVER and unlimited Coffee! Thank you Food Gods!
There isn’t much to do in the island aside from relax, so the resort has a mini game room where you can play pool, chess, sungka, fuze ball and read a bunch of books. If you aren’t the type who enjoys these sort of things, you can opt to relax by the infinity pool overlooking the most gorgeous view of the Caramoan islands instead!
When we arrived though, Caramoan was under intense drought, which caused the water in their pool to dry up. The didn’t have rain for a whole month, so fresh water was really scarce. Until one fateful day when Lea and I decided to go Island Hopping, which was all sorts of fun (we even climbed up what seemed like an endless length of rocky mountains to get to a hidden lake! #Adventure!), until it rained and poured on us on the way back. I was scared out of my wits! The boat became really slippery and rocky and I accidentally slid and stepped on a bag of small fish (that was given to us by some fishermen) and totally freaked out and cried at the site of fishy blood (Im a monster )
Good thing our perfect personal butler was so efficient, he handed out life vests and towels to protect us from the strong rain. On the way back, we even passed by Gota Resort where the crew of Survivor stays. During the time we were there, 3 European Survivor teams were filming. As luck would have it, we passed by a crew setting up a Survivor challenge which involved 2 boats, a wooden platform and 2 wooden cages suspended on top of the cliff! The boat men were so eager to share their knowledge about the show in the island too, which made it extra interesting. Apparently, as a reward for coming in first at challenges, the winning Survivor team gets to stay at our resort and get pampered for a day!
Tugawe Cove Resort
Brgy. Colongcogong, Caramoan Peninsula,
Camarines Sur 4429,
Philippines
Phone Numbers: 639189657885, 639175016711
Email:[email protected]
photos by myself and Lea Ann
