Caramoan

Caramoan Peninsula National Park is located in the town of Caramoan, a sleepy and remote town of Camarines Sur. The peninsula barely received any attention outside of Camarines Sur until it was used as a setting for an edition of Survivor France, a franchise of that wildly popular reality TV show Survivor based in the United States. Since then, Survivor Israel, Bulgaria and Serbia followed suit and used the same location for their own Survivor franchises. The media then turned their sights on this erstwhile forgotten corner of Bicol and coupled with an aggressive tourism marketing campaign by the provincial government of Camarines Sur – Caramoan Peninsula is now high on many Filipino travelers’ lists of must go destinations.

Caramoan Peninsula National Park
Photo by YTK23

In 1867, Franciscan Missionary Fray Francisco dela Cruz y Oropesa penetrated the dense forests of Caramoan Peninsula and probably liked what he saw there as he founded a Christian settlement in a place called Balwarte. This settlement was turned over to the Sagrada Mitra in 1696 for administration and a chapel was built out of nipa, bamboos and wood. The settlement grew into a bigger community which is now called as Caramoan which was apparently derived from a sea turtle abounding in the area at the time and which the local inhabitants called “Carahan.”

The chapel underwent several repairs and renovations and after almost 200 years, a permanent building was finally constructed made out of adobe, local stones and clay. The church was basically constructed out of slave labor under the direction of well-known artisans and masons. The current building withstood the ravages of time, as well as natural calamities such as typhoons and earthquakes as well as the challenges of the last World War.

Caramoan Church

Fast forward to present day Caramoan reveals a town still trying to adjust to the sudden deluge of tourists and travelers to the area trying to get to the much-vaunted islands off the coast. There are two main island groups off the Peninsula. The south islands (nearer to the province of Catanduanes) are composed, amongst others, of the most popular Matukad Island (with the islet lake on top with a rumored huge fish living in its waters), Lajos/Lahus Island, Hunungan Island, Gota Island (different from Gota Beach which is across it), and of course further away is Tinago (a cove with three small white sand beaches) and whose topography is strongly reminiscent of Coron Island in Palawan. The triangular shaped cream-colored sandy beach of Sabitang Laya Island (and the coral beach of Tagas Island) meanwhile, is just about a third of the way to another set islands in the north which include Cotivas, Lahuy, Pitogo, and Minalahos Islands amongst others. However, some of these islands are closed off to the public whenever there is ongoing filming of any of the Survivor franchises. We were lucky to have met some of the eliminated contestants of the Survivor Serbia edition and even had the chance to share a few bites of a Serbian dish made by one of the contestants.

Rock Formations at Sabitang Laya Island
Photo by Dave Ryan

Sea kayaking, island hopping, rock-climbing, trekking, spelunking, snorkeling and camping are some of the most popular activities in the peninsula. However, challenges remain for the traveler and the local community as well. When we went there, Caramoan town had the feel of a shell-shocked town and whilst they were extremely helpful and friendly, you can definitely sense a reluctant vibe with the sudden rush of tourists to this peninsula. And we can fully understand why, mass tourism is an ugly and destructive form of tourism with travel agencies trying to cash in with this sudden interest in the area by sending heaps of tourists to Caramoan.

Having said that, tourism infrastructure in Caramoan is minimal to almost nonexistent. The roads are mostly dirt and gravel with some areas paved. Houses were hastily turned into inns and there seems to be no close coordination with the provincial government and the local government of Caramoan in anticipating the massive influx of tourists in the peninsula. From our sources in Bicol, the people of Caramoan were not too happy with this tourism phenomenon, considering it as a threat to their culture and laid back lifestyle as well as the local environment. Already we were seeing the reality of these threats – we saw vandalism on the surface of what would have been beautiful rock formations on Matukad Island, and we saw broken glass and pieces of garbage at Hunungan and Sabitang Laya. While what we found was largely manageable, we noticed that there were no sentries guarding or maintaining the national park. This problem should be addressed as soon as possible while it is still small and manageable.

You can also go spelunking at the national park in Omang Cave, Manipis Cave and Culapnitan Cave.

At Tinago
Photo by Dave Ryan

One of the quirky looking formations in Caramoan
Photo by Dave Ryan

Why Not Go

Skip Caramoan Peninsula when there is another Survivor filming as some of the islands will be closed off to the public. We heard from locals that the Survivor has a four year franchise set to end around next year at the earliest with Survivor USA apparently filming there..

Why Go

Caramoan Peninsula does give island hopping a new meaning and coming there gives a feeling of being away from it all. This beautiful National Park offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and its many islands seem to duplicate the equally gorgeous Calamianes in Northern Palawan (although we do think that Coron is still more beautiful).

Best Time to Visit

Head out to Caramoan Peninsula during weekdays. Never ever go there during long weekends or holidays as in some popular islands – there are a lot of people trying to do that annoying and kitschy travel photography fad called the group jump shot.