Adventure Accounting

Clarification: Apo Reef is in Mindoro. Apo Island is in Dumaguete. They are different places. I woke up at around 4:30 am. I had a relatively fitful sleep. First thing to do was to wash my face and brush my teeth. Oh right, there’s no freshwater supply yet – they import the freshwater from the mainland. I used my drinking water again. No worries, I was becoming an expert in budgeting the use of limited freshwater. Apo Reef is a three-hour ride away from Pandan Island. I plugged in my earphones and got some shuteye. Which was a disadvantage because I missed the sunrise.

Pandan Island is located in the west coast of Occidental Mindoro. It is a less popular paradise among tourists. While waiting at the beach lounge, we played with their friendly pet:

I practically had no idea about Mindoro except that it houses Puerto Galera. I know that Puerto Galera is in the northern part of Oriental Mindoro. I had no idea about the other paradise islands of Occidental Mindoro - Pandan Island and Apo Reef. I noticed that the Manila-San Jose flights are on sale most of the time. Knowing that Travelfactor has a trip in this region, I booked flights going to San Jose, Mindoro. San Jose airport: This was my 6th trip with Travelfactor but it was the first time that I booked a plane ticket alone for a trip. I prayed hard that the trip would push through so that the tickets won’t go to waste. They actually have another UBBE trip the following trip and I also have tickets for that. I booked via Cebupacific’s piso fare for Php 97.20 for an RT ticket. The seatsale back then was uber cheap. But I need an extra day-off if I use those tix so I just booked another set of roundtrip plane tickets via Airphils which cost me Php 1,334. Not that cheap, but good en...

Biri Island is still relatively “undiscovered”. There are not so many choices where to stay – which makes research easier because there’s not a lot to compare. We stayed for three nights in Villa Amor Resort. The place is just 5-10 minutes away from the Biri port via a habal-habal ride. Standard rates posted in Biri Port:

This is simply one of the best and one of the cheapest trip I ever had! Budget/Costs in our Biri Island Trip: Particulars Cost/Pax (Php) Trike from Airport to Terminal (Php 100/4) 25.00 Jeep from Catarman to Lavezares Port php 60/pax/way 120.00 Footlong for breakfast 23.00 Boat Php 600/way. Roundtrip = Php 1,200/4 300.00 Guide 300/day * 3 days 900.00 Pasalubong 400.00 Airfare Airphils (normal price) December 2010 867.00 Cebupac 50% Off 895.44 Terminal Fee - NAIA 200.00 Terminal Fee – Catarman 25.00 Food: Php 5000 + 750 cooking charge = 5,750/4 (3 lunch, 3 dinners, 2 bfasts) 1,437.50 Accommodation in Villa Amor Php 500/night *3 nights = Php 1500/2 pax 750.00 Mineral Water ...