"Potipot Island, Zambales (part 2)" Personal Page by mangkiko

I couldn't get a decent sunrise picture from the island as the sun is visible at a very late time due to the surrounding mountains and hills. It gets a bit cold in the early AM but quickly becomes hot. Its summer after all.

Some of our friends from nearby Masinloc joined us so a few had to sleep outside the tent using only the tent bags and some used clothes. Good thing there were no mosquitos and not much humidity. The grass was dry and totally without dew when we woke up.

The cement structure you see behind our tent is the toilet. There is a hand pump beside it and some big blue water containers. Water from the handpump is a bit salty but otherwise good for showering etc... Its not advisable to drink.

Another good thing about staying the night is that you have the island to yourself in the morning.

Water was so calm that you can just lie back and float peacefully all morning.

Local belief is that covering your body with sand while in Potipot Island can make your skin whiter. While, of course, we don't believe in such sayings in this modern day and age, (besides, this IS a beach for crying out loud...) there is a place at the back of the island where the sand is unusually very cool. So we decided to burry ourselves and just enjoy a few minutes in the cool sand.

The back of the island had a couple of huge dead trees. One of which amazingly sprouted new leaves so I guess its possible to get washed up shore but live again. Its a bit rocky back here and in some areas, the sand ACTUALLY solidified (strange). You got to see it to believe.

One last swim before heading back to Candelaria, then to Manila. A good cold halo halo hits the spot after staying under the sun for a few hours. We ate lunch and left the island at 1pm and took our shower in Isla Vista. Then headed towards Manila at 3am. We arrived in Quezon city at 7pm. Another great road trip! Our first time in Zambales is truly memorable.