The Long and Winding Road – Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary

I want to dedicate a page in my blog to Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary because of the hardworking owners. I was really surprised and amused on how they maintain their area knowing that they are just a family of (I dunno how many kids) but the couple is very determined.

Photo courtesy of Ynah

I came across Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary a few months before I announced the tour to my friends. (Researcher ang peg!) I was fascinated by the clear waters and the big fishes where guests can freely swim and feed them. I know there’s a place like this in Looc, Romblon but Matnog is more accessible via land.

It began to rain really hard upon our arrival in Juag Lagoon. I was losing hope because we were on a very tight itinerary and the weather was not very cooperative. We were already wet from swimming so we just went out of the boat and went inside the sanctuary. I felt the cold rain water smashing through my very dark skin. I felt cold. We all went under the roof of a small make-shift and waited for the rain to stop. But it did not. The owner of Juag Lagoon approached Jenny asking if she was with milet. They called my name and I introduced myself. A few seconds later the owner guided us to a small raft and off we went to the cages.

Photo courtesy of Ynah

The BIG FISH encounter (plus the sharp teeth)

Photo courtesy of Paul

I was not scared of fishes. (Am I?) Well that’s what I knew until I met a big fish grinning at me as I was being led by the owner towards the center. The big fish was showing me his sharp teeth. Scary!

Some of my friends laughed at me when I immediately went at the back and hesitated to follow the owner’s lead. BUT when my friends’ turn to swim with the big fish came, they confirmed my fear. (Sinabi nang nakakatacute e. :P)

Before leaving the place I asked the owner about the sea cucumber I saw in one of the blogs. I thought it was gone already. But then kuya Alex told the team to wait while he searched for it. He came back holding this slimy creature.

Photo courtesy of Paul

And for our final picture… This is what we were raving about! J

Photo Courtesy of Paul

Trivia:

Juag Lagoon has a 13 year-old milk fish.

The owners do NOT sell the fishes.

The owners do NOT eat the fishes. I think they were treated as pets.

The Long and Winding Road – Matnog, the unexpected paradise

Matnog, Sorsogon (Photo courtesy of Ynah.^_^)

Seriously I was just curious about Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary in Matnog. I was not thinking about anything else. I shrug off the possibility of visiting Subic beach because I did not know that place well and I have not read a blog detailing an island hoping tour around the area. (Or siguro masyado lang akong nag-iisip nung nagresearch ako.)

At the back it says "You are now leaving the island of Luzon" Isang roro na lang Samar na! :)

Upon arriving at Matnog, we were greeted by kuya Alex's daughter. She assisted us in registering 

at Matnog tourism office located beside the municipal office. (Btw, Kuya Alex is the owner of Juag Lagoon Marine Sanctuary.)

After registering she accompanied us to the parking area near their house where we settled for some time and washed up. Please note that Juag lagoon is a marine sanctuary and sun blocks are not allowed.

Tikling Island

Our first stop was at Tikling Island. We were like kids excited for some candies and lollipops when we arrived. They were asking, “Can we swim here?” The usual answer was “Of course!”

Our boats (Photo from Ynah)

Doing our "ngee pose" Jay tsk tsk (Photo from Paul)

Starting the island hopping... (Photo from Ynah)

Gusto ko na rin ng camera ni Ynah! Thanks for this picture Ynah!

We enjoyed the island for 30 minutes or so. We were just there for half  a day so we compressed the IT. Given another day in Sorsogon, I would love to spend the night at Tikling island and watch the sky go from blue to brilliant orange to gray until the diamonds are up in the sky. :)

Subic Beach

The usual itinerary said our second stop would have been Juag Lagoon. However the area was packed with tourists when we arrived there. So instead of wasting our time waiting for the area to clear up, we opted to visit the famous Subic beach. J

In between our banca ride there were lots of times when we just looked down. We were screaming “Hala, ang linaw ng tubig. Ang lalim nakakatakot.”

Photo from Paul

Photo from Paul

We were looking at Subic beach when our boatman asked if we would like to go to Subic liit or Subic daku. I asked what the difference between the two was and he pointed that Subic liit is the deserted one and Subic daku is the big one. We saw that there were a number of boats docked at Subic daku so we opted to stay at Subic liit. J

Hi Ynah. Featured! :) (Photo from Ynah)

I am not a good swimmer but I can float. That alone made me brave enough to jump and swim! I so love Subic beach! J

And by the way, while we were swimming Paul took this photo of the lovely place using his Nexus phone.

Subic liit beach. Photo by Paul.

 The Caves

There are caves near Subic beach where the tourists can go inside. But take note that this adventure is "at your own risk." Swimming with strong current and waves inside the cave is dangerous.

Being adventurous that we are, we decided to give it a go.

Looks calm but don't be deceived.

 We went inside the big one and were surprised by what we saw. I'll leave this experience to the adventurous.

This area is great for snokeling activity.

After an adventure of a lifetime.:)

The Long and Winding Road – Face to Face with a Whale Shark

The whale shark encounter is actually a gamble. Whale sharks are wild animals (meaning they are not kept in cages for the tourists to see) so it’s really the work of faith and luck to witness the grandeur of one of the largest mammals on earth.

And because it was a gamble, the team would really want to maximize their bets. It’s no joke paying 700Php++  per person out of nothing so we ‘kinda’ played safe.

The government of Donsol continuously protects the whale sharks by imposing rules regarding the whale shark encounter. One of the rules is securing that there will only be 30 boats on the waters at the same time. So this leads them to having 2 batches every day. We placed our bets by registering for the second batch. The logic behind was if there will be a sighting for the first batch then the second batch will have a higher probability of seeing it also.

Before boarding the boat, the tourists need to undergo a 15-minute orientation/presentation of the rules and regulations. This also gives us an idea of what to expect and what to do during the encounter.

We started to sail at 11AM. We were divided into 2 groups because the policy says that a maximum of 6 persons [per boat] can interact with the whale shark at any given time. We were excited (me afraid) to meet the gentle giant. We sailed for almost 2 hours but the gentle giant was still out of sight. We were beginning to get frustrated because we cannot afford to stay for another day in Donsol. We need to move to Matnog the next day (and that is a strict IT. :P) So our companions started praying. Oops! Pati ako nakisali.

Well prayers do really help! After a few more minutes the spotter from another banca saw the whale shark and alerted our BOI. Our bangkero (being the expert that he is) positioned our boat on the most likely path of the fish. Our BOI instructed us to sit on the edge and jump. When he said “Look down!” we all submerged ourselves and the moment of glory came rushing though our veins.

The first thing we saw was its enormous mouth. It was directly underneath us. I was delirious at the same time excited [more of afraid.] We stayed there for a couple of minutes and watch the creature swim past us. I thought we will be slapped by its tail because it seemed so close. I was actually frantic when I saw the tail.

We don’t have pictures of the Butanding encounter. But the image and the grandeur of the whale shark will always be in our minds - forever.

Group Picture after the encounter. Happy kids! :)