From Bolinao Falls to Hundred Islands

On one of my recent posts, I shared about our visit to the Cape Bolinao Lighthouse. We stayed there less than an hour because we have to go to Bolinao Falls. The driver is not familiar of its location, that we got lost a number of times. There are actually three Bolinao Falls but we're only able to visit one of them. It's one of the places I wanted to visit years back after seeing it online. We had planned to visit when a friend who lives in Bolinao is inviting us to go there. However, my friend passed away from cancer four years ago that our plan never happened.

I was thinking whether we will be swimming in the falls however, time constraints allowed us to just take pictures. Initial plans to visit all of the tree waterfalls, ended up only with the first one.

Getting to the waterfalls doesn't require hiking because we just went down from the hill with stairs. It is hot at that time but the breeze feels good as well as the cold waters from the waterfall. I waded my feet because the water is therapeutic as well as the sound of the water. The water is so clear that jumping over is enticing. After 20 minutes, we left the waterfalls, and went on our way to Alaminos City, where we had our lunch first.

After our late lunch, we headed to Hundred Islands. I was surprised of the Baywalk where locals and tourists can avail of the fresh air especially during late afternoon. The elevation is fine, and the port to Hundred Islands is just nearby.

Finally, we sailed on our way to the Hundred Islands. From afar, the islands can already be seen. I was quite afraid at that time because the winds seem strong as well as the waves. I've been praying that we may get to one of the islands safe. We have no idea about their plans but we didn't go island hopping. Instead, we're toured around by the boat operator to several islands while sailing.

Since it is my second time to visit Hundred Islands, the first time was in 2011, I am expecting that we'll have our short stay at Quezon Island, where tourists often swim and tables are available for picnicking. However, we only got to visit Governor's Island. There's a deck at the top of the island where you can view all the islands.

I had difficult time climbing up the stairs because of my motion sickness. I even had a harder time going down because of my fear of heights. But I am not scared being at the top of the island as long as I'm far from the terrace barrier.

I admit I had some panic attack but I have to control it, and I don't want anyone to see it, even my then-girlfriend (now my wife). I just enjoyed the view above. Despite the breeze, the scorching heat of the sun led us to go down the island.

My wife (then-girlfriend), her sisters and brother has enjoyed swimming which the water isn't too deep. I decided to wade on the water but there are so much sea weeds getting on my feet. It's not really a great spot for swimming. There's a floating foot bridge to the other island. Walking in such isn't easy, and quite dangerous because it is slippery.

After 30 minutes, we left the island because of the strong waves. It made me more anxious because waves are stronger sailing back to the port. I felt at ease when we're getting closer.

We had fun on our trip but it could've been more fun if there's enough time. If you wanted to visit all of the Bolinao Falls (1, 2, and 3), you need to spend an entire day. If you wanted to do island hopping, and other activities in Hundred Islands, an entire day may be fine, but isn't enough. We actually visited three separate places that day, and we seemed rushing. Still, it is a memorable one because it's the second last trip we did before Covid19 became a pandemic.

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