Adventure Accounting

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 ...

I woke up with painful legs. Nevertheless, the Biri Island adventure continues. We opted to use a boat this time to get close to the rocks. For a minimal fee, they will take you near the rocks. They will pull the boat – no machine involved, no paddling. Pull kuya! Kamown!

Day 2 began at 4:30 am. It drizzled during the night so it was quite chilly. Fortunately, the weather cooperated. We rode the habal-habal again and this time, it was a bumpy ride to the sunrise site – the Mangrove plantation. Illuminated by the motorcycle’s light and our headlamps, we passed by mossy terrain and branches.

Tucked away in Northen Samar is a paradise. I heard about Biri Island from a fellow traveller in my Palaui Trip last April 2010. I googled about the place – the pictures are jaw-dropping. This is in the Philippines??? I promptly added it in my travel bucket list. The pictures made me restless for weeks. One year later, I landed in this secret paradise. Funny how FB can bring travel enthusiasts together to help one another cross out those places in your bucket list. Biri Island is a municipality is Northern Samar. Information is quite scarce. This is the most detailed blog post I’ve seen and we basically patterned out itinerary here. We landed in Catarman airport just before 8am. A bunch of trike drivers swarmed us. A friend of mine accompanied us to the jeepney terminal. The “standard fee” was Php 100 for the trike’s trip from airport to the jeepney terminal.