Parola Island, Camarines Norte
Guides and Itineraries,  Philippines

Island Hopping in Camarines Norte: Parola Island, Calalanay Island and Selfie Beach

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When you say Camarines Norte, Calaguas automatically comes to mind. This time, I explored another area of Camarines Norte. With Efrelinda Tours, I visited JSMS Farm and then island hopped in Parola Island and Calalanay Island (Jose Panganiban) and then relaxed for a whole day in Selfie Beach (Capalonga).

This is our island hopping trip in Camarines Norte!

A van fetched us in Manila and then we went straight for the island hopping activity in Camarines Norte. Our first stops were Parola Island and Calalayan Island, which are both found in Jose Panganiban.

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The port to these islands was very basic, and it reminded me of the port to Calaguas Island a few years back before its boom.

View from port in Jose Panganiban
View from port in Jose Panganiban.

Parola Island

From the port, it takes 30-40 minutes to reach Parola Island, depending on sea condition.

Parola Island is Camarines Norte’s Pink Beach. Like other pink beaches in the Philippines, the pink shade of the sand is noticeable only when the sand is wet and if you look up close. (See also: Tikling Island in Sorsogon and Camiaran Island in Balabac.)

Parola Island got its name from the parola (or lighthouse) that was built in the island. According to Ms Ruthie, a tourism officer, the island is closed during Wednesdays for cleaning. This is important since trash can get swept ashore from the ocean, especially during the monsoon season.

Parola Island, Camarines Norte
Arriving in Parola Island.
Parola Island, Camarines Norte
Parola Island, Camarines Norte

It remains pristine in that there are no commercial developments here — just a long stretch of pinkish sand and a grove of coconut trees to provide shade for beach-goers. We found a dilapidated cottage, but there was nothing else.

Islet in Parola Island, Camarines Norte
Islet across Parola Island.
Kat in Parola Island
Pink beach of Parola Island, Camarines Norte
The pink shade comes from crushed red corals mixed in the sand.

There was intermittent rain and dark clouds during our stay in Parola Island, so you can see there were dark clouds in my shots — but I hope you still see the beauty of the island. Anyway, we still enjoyed exploring and swimming in the beach. The waves here are a little strong, so non-swimmers should take care not to go far from the shore.

Calalayan Island

Calalayan is a privately owned island about an hour away from Parola Island. Guests need a permit before they can visit here — our travel agency luckily is allowed to go here.

The beach in Calalayan Island has caramel sand, green water.

Calalayan Island, Camarines Norte
Calalayan Island.
Calalayan Island, Camarines Norte

When we arrived, we were greeted by a group of dogs. They look so adorable, although one or two is noticeably thin. I asked our tour guide if there is someone who’s taking care of the dogs, he said there’s a newly built house in the island that must look after them. I hope that’s true and the next time we go back, we’ll see them again. Our tour guide gave some leftover food from our lunch to the beach dogs.

Dogs in Calalayan Island, Camarines Norte
Dogs greeted us on our arrival in Calalayan Island.
Dogs in Calalayan Island, Camarines Norte
Look at that face. :3

Anyway, back to Calalanay Island. I like swimming here better than Parola Island because the waves aren’t that strong. It actually looks calm, but don’t be deceived — the sand underneath is undulating, so one step forward and you might yourself nose-deep in the water. Just precaution for non-swimmers and scaredy cats like me.

Selfie Beach

We stayed overnight in Selfie Beach in Capalonga. We were actually supposed to visit Guijanlo Island the next morning, but the sea conditions didn’t permit it. It’s not surprising — anyone who’s been to Camarines Norte knows that the sea can be fickle especially on the rainy months. So we spent the whole day in Selfie Beach instead.

Selfie Beach Resort, Camarines Norte
Selfie Beach Resort.
Kat in Selfie Beach

I really like Selfie Beach because even though it’s your regular beach (no white sand or sparkling blue water), there’s a constant see breeze that reaches the cottages. The smell & sound of the sea is calming and refreshing. It’s easy to doze off in one of the many beach beds.

For accommodations and everything else, there’s the Selfie Beach Resort. Again, this is a newly developed establishment that opened just months ago. There’s a lot of cottages for guests camping overnight or on day trips. If there’s one thing that I would like to be improved — it’s the use of videoke. I hope they limit it. When we stayed there, the singing went past midnight; the day after, there were videokes left and right. Videokes are fun for families, not so much for travelers who want to sleep and chill.

How to get here

Camarines Norte is just 6 hours away from Manila. If you’re going to commute, you can ride a bus in Pasay or Cubao to Camarines Norte.

I recommend bringing your own vehicle or booking an organized tour because the stops in this itinerary are far from each other.

Other places to see in Camarines Norte

Aside from the Selfie Beach Resort, here are other attractions you can check out in Capalonga:

  • Guijanlo Island (which has a long sand bar)
  • Palong Beach, Lom-oc Beach, Sabang Beach
  • Banca-Banca Falls, Itok Falls, Banokbok Falls
  • Alayao River, Camagsaan River, Mataque River
  • Sabong-Sabong Reef and Dive Site
  • Mount Samat
Signage of Capalonga, Camarines Norte

We also dropped by JSMS Farm, an up-and-coming agri-tourism destination.

JSMS Farm is an organic farm that promotes sustainable development and offers eco-tours. We were shown how to make sugarcanes and tasted a special drink of sugarcane with passionfruit (a very viable product and something we all liked), toured around the plantation and fields, saw livestock including wild pigs and carabaos and finally fed fishes in the pond. Our guide also explained how the farm practices small-scale mining and turns their profit from gold to budget for the farm’s development.

Fish pond in JSMS Farm, Camarines Norte
Fish pond.
Wild pigs in JSMS Farm, Camarines Norte
Wild pig and her children.

JSMS isn’t a full-blown tourist attraction yet, but it’s a promising eco-destination in the future once all the developments are finished. We were told it’s just one of the few farms that will be open to tourism in the coming years.

Disclaimer: Thanks Efrelinda Travel and Tours for inviting me to this weekend trip! As always, all opinions are mine.

Have you explored these places in Camarines Norte? Let us know in the comments section below!

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11 Comments

  • Calie

    Hi, what’s the contact details of Efrelinda Travels and Tours(email address and mobile number preferably)? Thanks.

    • Katherine Cortes

      Hi. You can contact Ms Anna at 09973344693. I temporarily removed the link because their page is under maintenance. 🙂

  • Anne Belo

    Nacurious ako dun sa pink sand because I’ve been seeing a lot of posts na overly-edited na mukhang pink talaga, so hindi pala talaga. Up-close lang pero distinct parin.

    Parang interesting din yung Selfie Beach Resort. Para syang 3-star resort and I’m also curious what’s inside and yung itsura ng rooms. Hehe.

  • Diamond in the Rough Blog

    I’ve been to Caramoan before and the travel time is really dragging to only enjoy the islands for a short time. I was a joiner in a group tour. Since then, I knew there are lots of nice beaches to explore in Bicol. Thanks for this discovery. The name selfie-beach looks intriguing, haha! I’m a sucker for uncommercialized beaches like this.

  • Karla

    I’ve been to Caramoan Islands before. But this one looks like another gem. Another reason to go back! Buti na lang di todo edited yung pictures mo. Love the honesty. Yung iba kasi ginagawang pink talaga kahit medyo lang hehe.

  • Nicole San Miguel

    I want to visit Capalonga! Lalo na yung Selfie beach resort, parang napaka peaceful ng place. Thank you for sharing this post!

  • blair villanueva

    I used to live in Bicol and Camarines Norte is one of the beautiful destination. But I admit I didn’t bother exploring it because of many challenges – typhoon and not conducive road and location.

    • Katherine Cortes

      That is true. Also the sea conditions can be fickle so boat travel can be cancelled anytime. As per the road conditions, we drove by some rough roads but hopefully they’ll be better in the future. 🙂

  • Karla Niña Mallannao

    This post made me miss Camarines Norte. Hahaha. The sand in Parola Island looks pink pala talaga. Amazing! So excited for JSMS Farm to be fully operational. I missed their fish pond and their sugarcane drink. ☺️

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