Anawangin Island: Summer Escapade!

The town of San Antonio is becoming very popular because of the beautiful beaches, majestic mountains and untouched island coves. No marks of this town being a hunting ground for indigenous hunters. San Antonio was a hunting region where indigenous hunters from different towns would hunt and gather.

View on the way to Anawangin Island

Anawangin, one of a must see islands in the Philippines, is a crescent-shape cove with long stretch of white sand, complimented by mountain rocks making it a picture perfect.

I find it really fascinating because of the pine trees flourishing in this cove, making it unique from other beaches in the country. Most of the beaches in the Philippines have coconut trees along the shore, but this one, pine trees are lined up along the shore.

Also untouched, this has become a favorite camping ground for mountaineers and adventurous souls. A lot of people came here even though it's isolated. Even though there are no electricity, network signal and stores here, a lot of people come here to relax and escape from hassle and bustle of the city. Unwind even if it's only on a weekend, undisturbed.

There are no roads leading to this island. It can only be reached thru a boat ride for 30 to 45 minutes, depends on the waves and the speed of the boat. I heard from my mountaineer friends that this could also be reached by a 6-hour trek.

Since this island is isolated, make sure to bring personal necessities. One-day visit is possible but if you plan on staying overnight, make sure to bring a tent since there's no hotel here.

Bring cooked food that will last until the next day without putting in the refrigerator. However, if you really want to experience being with nature, you can just have your sleeping bag and cook your own food. Bring your own cooking utensil and cook. That's what our mountaineer friends did when we first went there.

But who wants to waste time cooking if you can just swim and swim and swim, right?! The water here really looks inviting! There's only one source of fresh water for washing off the salt water and sand. When you come here, leave your worries at home and bring your smile & lots of patience.

Swimming, island hopping, hiking, snorkeling and other water sports are the things to do here. You must bring your own equipment though since no rental store in the island. And of course the best things to do when you visit Anawangin - rest, relax and worry about nothing.

The last time we went there in 2008, there' this post about it being a private property. I have not returned there since then so I don't know how it looks now.