Hi mga sis, just wanna share our experience in Tambobong Beach, Dasol, Pangasinan last May 21/22, 2015
Inferior resort ever. All blogs were true - - TRUE LIES. Having to travel 7 hours is such a waste of precious time when you could've been to other places worth your perspiration, watch and wallet. The struggle begins when we entered the vicinity from Burgos town proper, I’ve read that it was just a 100-meter rough road, guess that has to change to kilometers. The road was not rough but rather rough, rough and rough. Nevertheless, I can accept that because understanding the government's project in renovating its roads, is towards better tourism, so that is perfectly an Okay.
Arriving at high-noon and under the piercing sun in R Paradise Resort, we were expecting to be greeted by our contact owner (keeping her by the name of ate V), but no one was there to meet us. Our kind tricycle driver - Kuya Rene went inside and was saying "tao po" (anybody home?) repeatedly, knocking for 8 minutes. A minute under a hot scorching heat with all your backpacks on and red-tired eyes, is like a minute in perdition. No one was there. Finally, like an angel in the desert, a smiling boy came out and got our names, asked us to wait for few more sweating minutes then showed us our room. The room was so small w/ an over-sized queen bed, very out of proportion. I liked the CR though, constructed with stones/ corals - cool and rustic. The only downfall is when you leave the room then get back for quite some time, you'd smell the stones/ corals like sour-molded clothes in your closet. They closely resemble dogs not bathed for 3 months. Overall, the resort’s orientation was so confusing, you really can’t tell where and which. All I can say is they’ve constrained the place in a typical provincial setting.
The beach was very near, step out the resort, then the main road, then walah! - The shoreline. Turn to the right - few sculptures of barren hills, turn to the left - Nipa shades w/ people drinking Emperador mumbled in Videoke sounds. Water was unclear, filled with weeds both floating and underneath - I understand it is the month of May but I have been to beaches in the same season, they don't look like this. So many grasses planted on the sand, and if you're not wearing aqua shoes - I trust, you would not want to gait your feet in. Okay, then don't step, float and snorkel - where are the fishes? There's one silver fish and the rest? No fishes on this beach. I hate to give up and get disappointed at preliminary stage because I'm pretty sure there are a lot fishes on distant islands. I waited overnight, excited for our Island hop next day, ready to greet those aquarium fishes.
Night came, it was dark but by 9 pm everything became even way darker, why? Brown out. I could barely breathe in our “Anahaw” lowered -ceiling room, AC was out and so was the fan. Opened the doors, dogs howling. What to do now? After an hour and a half of heat and horror-imagination turmoil, power came back. Good sigh! Slept and morning came for my highly- expected Island hop. Yehey! Gears on, let's go!
Island hopping day- Kuya Edgar, our boat man was one of the restoring souls in this trip - friendly and knowledgeable, he educated us and made us comfortable. First destination - Ship wreck, I was expecting a ship but No, it was like a 30- meter in length boat looking like wooden crates stuck vertically in the sand 300 meters from shoreline. Neutral feeling, not in awe and not disappointed. I was expecting more anyway.
Second destination, Snake Island, upon docking it was a "Wower!" But try to test the waters and you'd get yourself in a whirlpool full of stones. So we scouted the island instead, and discovered that it was not well-taken care of. There were too many garbage - bottles of empty gin, cigarette butts on the hill. How we wished people gave more respect for its beauty and these islands of no sins were much more preserved. Too bad we had to cut the short trip because our new found friend got a fist-sized cut in his belly due to the tumbling roars of the sea. He was good swimmer eaten by the high-violent waves ploughed by a rock under the water, gosh! He was bleeding. So as not to spoil the fun, he still managed to come along and finish the trip. The rest of the island hop was fine, I really enjoyed that enchanting splash in that small cave of Crocodile island. I guess this was the only highlight in this journey. Before heading back to shore, Kuya Edgar wanted us to swim at the sides of Crocodile Island and so we did. 33 feet under and taking a peep at what lies beneath, which saddened me of all. The corals were dead, only saw 2 fishes scavenging the flat-gray, pulverized surface. It was disturbing and Kuya Edgar said himself, Tambobong beach was abused by local fishermen using dynamite and nitrogen fishing. He said that years ago, everything was free here - free to do what you want, free to enjoy the beach, free to harvest marine life... free to rape Mother Nature? Sad by what I've seen, we revved the engine back to our initial displacement. So there, we tried to revitalize ourselves by giving it another swim just along the shore. Tiring but still no fishes to excite ourselves, we decided to walk away and rest. We saw a pretty silent Nipa shade to sit by for few minutes and watch the waves instead. What injury can we cause by sitting? A stout man approached us and asked us to leave because it was his area and if we stay there, he will ask us to pay. Like slapped-humble snails, we had to go. Unexpected rude man on a tourist spot?
Kuya Rene, our tricycle driver and Kuya Edgar, our boatman including the exploited under-aged care takers of R Paradise resort - Arvin and Marty generalized our idea that "Panggasinenses" are good and hard-working people. I have no questions with their sincere and kind hearts. I know. All common people were pleasant except for Mr. Stout who asked us to leave his extravagant Nipa shed. And the only thing w/ the caretakers, seems like they were trained not to answer any question about prices. All they say is - we don't know, ask Ate V later. What? If you're a traveller, you have the right to know how much is this and that because you have to settle that in your budget. Funny how this resort works, no menu, no good food, no choice of booze. Everything is up in the air, nothing concrete. You can just take/ order whatever is there without knowing the price. Upon checking out, surprisingly our bill was like 30% higher. We ordered “pusit” (squid) for dinner, 6 tiny pieces, tasted like rubber for a bill of 260 pesos? Should we have known the price and taste before ordering then we could have settled for a satisfying 21 peso-century tuna. I am not rich but I am working hard to at least give myself a break for my money’s worth and this is not it. It's crazy out here. 1 small fried flying fish for like 75 pesos. What a 200% profit on top? Be careful for what you request and eat in this resort because you’ll never know the fee for your consumption. Is it clean? Is it expensive? If you’re stubborn enough and still wanted to push your way through, I suggest bring your own food. It was never ever listed on any blog site that you must bring, because I realized it is a marketing strategy to a hungry unprepared stomach. You need to eat what is available no matter how much it is.
Ate V, the contact owner, never came to meet us? We are not VIPs to anybody but just budget travelers seeking out justice. She should have educated her care takers about prices, menu, food, beach and all to improve the resorts’ well-being. Come to our place and we will show you the courtesy and understanding of a real Filipino hospitality. You are not perfect, and so we are. Mabuhay!
