The Cape Bolinao Lighthouse

I have been to different places in the Philippines, particularly in Luzon, but there are a lot of places I haven't visited yet here in our own province. Pangasinan has a lot of places worth visiting, and some of the travel destinations is the town of Bolinao.

I have been to Bolinao for the first time on 2005 as a summer tour to Patar Beach. With white sand beaches and clear waters, Patar Beach is one of the beautiful beaches in Luzon, if not in the entire Philippines. Back then, the road to the beach is rocky thus going to the beach isn't easy. With developments, the road to the beach is already concrete and more accessible. More resorts were also developed since then. After Patar Beach, we went to the Enchanted Cave. The water inside the cave is very clear, but we only came to visit without plans of swimming.

The second time we went to Bolinao was in 2016, when my sisters from overseas went home, and had a staycation to Sundowners. Of course, we also had our river cruise at the Balingasay River.

The third visit to Bolinao was in 2020, two months before pandemic. I'm glad that my then-girlfriend (now my wife) invited me to join them. We had an itinerary ready to visit, and our first stop is the Cape Bolinao Lighthouse.

It was around 6am when we left on our way to Bolinao. It is quite a long travel since Bolinao is the westernmost town, while we live in the central part of the province. As we reached the town of Sual, we stopped over the view deck at the zigzag area.

The view of the Lingayen Gulf. The sunrise can also be seen. After around 10 minutes at the viewdeck, we went on our trip to Bolinao. Around more than two hours of travel, we finally reached Cape Bolinao Lighthouse. It is at the tip of the Bolinao town, being almost surrounded by water.

The Cape Bolinao Lighthouse is of course at the top of the hill. It is one of the prominent landmarks of Bolinao, and played a big part on the town's culture. It served as a guide for many seafarers back then, and it is not anymore operational. In fact, it is still there despite facing two world wars, and sure played a part for the soldiers then.

It was built around 1905, which means it is on its 116th year. The tower stands around 101 meters. Several years ago, it was closed until its reopening for tourists. However, the main structure is not open for anyone to climb to its top. It could've been a great time to view the Bolinao and neighboring towns above.

The lighthouse may be closed, but there's still a viewdeck available for the tourists, and have a view over the sea.

We took some time to have some fresh air coming from the sea. The lighthouse is quite far from other tourist spots in the town, and one day may not be enough.

Just close to the lighthouse is the ruins of the building below. It used to be the administrative building of the lighthouse which was already abandoned. Due to strong typhoons, the roofs are removed, and was never reconstructed.

Of course, there are souvenirs on sale just below the hill of the lighthouse. They're pretty expensive, and since I don't have spare money at that time, I didn't buy anything. We stayed there around 30 minutes, and we left afterwards because we have to find Bolinao Falls. It's almost noontime yet we still have some places to visit.

Cape Bolinao Lighthouse served as a symbol of resilience. It has withstood the tests of time, earthquakes, typhoons, and even wars. Of course, it had undergone some rehabilitation but for now, it's a delight for the tourists since it is closed for operation. The lighthouse is currently under ownership of Philippine Coast Guard.

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