Alluring Atulayan Island

When one thinks of Camarines Sur, the first thing that comes to mind is the CamSur Watersports Complex and islands of Caramoan. Little is known of another equally beautiful attraction in CamSur which is the island paradise of Atulayan.

Atulayan Island from afar, does it look like a snail or a dead duck?

Atulayan Island, located in Sagñay (pronounced as Sangay), Camarines Sur, geographically provides a cove and a safe haven to the harsh Pacific Ocean waves buffeting Sagñay. Atulayan island itself is one of the Barangays of Sagñay.

Sagnay Camarines Sur

The name Atulayan, according to this website (http://members.tripod.com/atulayan_experience/) was derived from the Bicolano word “Atol”, which means “snail”, due to the island’s snail like shape from afar.

Atulayan also had its own claim to fame in the 1960s when the French/Italian/German film Mutiny in the South Seas (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305450/) (aka Die letzten Drei der Albatros) was filmed on the island.

The movie Mutiny in the South Seas shot at Atulayan with Mt Isarog on the background (image from http://www.kino-50er.de/)

The Route to Sagñay

Compared to Caramoan, the town of Sagñay is relatively nearer to Naga and Pili, and takes only about an hour of travel using private vehicle. For those familiar with the route to Caramoan from Pili, the same route is taken when going to Sagñay.

The route passing along the town of Ocampo provides a scenic route bounded by the view of nearby Mt. Isarog on the north (on your left when going to Caramoan) and Mt Asog (or Mt Iriga) and its surrounding hills on the south.

Mt. Asog or Mt. Iriga visible from the town of Ocampo on your way to Atulayan

Once in Sagñay, the jump-off point to Atulayan island is the fishing barangay of Nato. From the port of Nato, one can already see the hill of Atulayan island protruding from the horizon.

Nato Beach with the hill of Atulayan island visible from the background

We initially thought that the pier is the boarding area for motor boats going to Atulayan. This however is not the case, as most of the motor boats are safely stationed in a wharf in an estuary just behind Nato beach.

Locals at the Nato wharf

Side Shopping for Seafood

We were lucky enough to chance upon a fisherman’s basin filled with freshly caught tuna from the Pacific Ocean. Probably the last batch of the day’s catch for the fisherman, they were willing to sell us one tuna for the price of P400 for a 6kg tuna. Pretty much a bargain if you think of how much more expensive the fish goes for in Manila (imagine the price of 300gms of tuna being sold at your favorite “grill” restaurant, which is just a rectangular slab no more than 3in x 4in).

Tuna straight from the sea not from the can

Nato wharf, hop-on point to Atulayan

There is no hourly ferry from Nato to Atulayan. According to the Nato locals, there is a ferry in the early morning. Other than that, you would have to wait the next day. So we rented a fishing boat from Nato to Atulayan for P1500. One would think the rate is too much for a 20 minute boat ride to Atulayan, it is, if you think about the distance, but according to the boatman, the rate is reasonably priced since gas alone for the boat would eat up much of the fare. Mind you, the boat is not an ordinary bamboo outrigger fit for just ferrying a few passengers, it is a ocean going boat, bigger and sturdier with whole planks of wood as outrigger and frame, with around 4-6 crew members to man the boat. The engine alone needs to be cranked up by 3-4 men pulling a thick rope to start the engine on the belly of the boat. Capsizing or being buffeted by strong waves is something that you need not worry, just think of the hundreds of kilos of fishes the boat is able to haul out from the Pacific Ocean, that alone is a testament to the strength of the boat.

Our ride to Atulayan

From the wharf, our fishing boat headed to Atulayan island with a short pleasant trip to the mouth of the river. This is where the brownish murky fresh water meets bluish green salt water. The wharf on Nato is naturally protected by a sandbar and several outcropping rock formation which breaks the momentum of the Pacific Ocean waves.

Sandbar at the estuary of Nato with Mt. Isarog on the background

This part of the trip is where nature tests the skills of the boatman in slowly and smoothly easing through a small passage where the boat could run aground on the sandbar on the left or smash head on with the rocks on the right. It is also at this part of the trip where you’d start to feel the strength of the Pacific wind and waves smashing head on with the boat.

A not so obvious sandbar on left side of the narrow passage

Outcropping rocks on the right side of the narrow passage

On the island

Atulayan island has 4 beach areas: one in the NW direction facing the port of Nato, the largest of the four where most of the people of Atulayan resides and is the first beach you would see once the boat gets past the estuary; the other two is facing SW direction towards Mt Asog; the last one is facing East towards the Pacific Ocean.

Atulayan Map with the route from Nato

The largest beach of Atulayan on the left where most people reside

The boatman brought us to a secluded beach area adjacent to the largest beach of Atulayan. This is one of the two beaches facing SW direction towards Mt Asog. Compared to the largest beach where waves are a bit rough, the waves on this 200 meter beach area was relatively calm, probably because it is on an area that is not much buffeted by Pacific winds.

The beach adjacent to the largest beach with cabanas for rent

Atulayan island’s beach is mostly made up of white sand on the top layer, and broken corrals and shells on the lower layer. The top layer of white sand easily gets washed out when the waves come in on the area where you stand. After 2-3 waves, your feet could easily feel the coarse corrals and shells.

On both sides of the beach are large rocks and corral stones jutting out of the sand. On the background is a lush foliage, tree area and the hill of Atulayan.

Rocky south end of the beach

Rocky north end of the beach

The beach area where we stayed is intended for tourists as there are several small uninhabited huts-cabanas, probably for rent. According to the boatman, the beach area is privately owned by the Fuentebella, a political clan of CamSur.

Cabanas for rent

The waters off the beach is very much pristine and even devoid of floating seaweeds. The whole Atulayan island is identified as a marine protected sanctuary and a tourism zone, so fishing on the waters of Atulayan is strictly prohibited.

Pristine waters of Atulayan

Sunset at Atulayan

Munching on Atulayan

There is no local store on the beach area where we docked. Fortunately for us, we were able to secure a big seafood munch while on Nato. We asked the local or keeper of the area if they could grill the tuna for us. They obliged to our request and prepared the tuna for our munching.

Preparing the Tuna for grilling

The tuna, even without any kind of flavoring, was very much tasty on its own. It had a sweet and salty taste just right for our taste buds. For drinks, we had a freshly opened coconut to flush the tuna straight to our tummy.

Tuna fresh from the sea and out of the grill

Buko juice: The authentic paradise island juice

All of their services were just for a very affordable P130. I’m not sure if that already includes any form of entrance fee or fee for using the hut, but that was all they asked from us. We only ate ¼ of the tuna, so we left the rest of it to the very accommodating keeper and boatman as a token of our appreciation for their hospitality.

Security on the Island

Since we were the only tourist on the beach, we were not much concerned with our valuables lying by the beach. But the locals and the boatman secured our valuables for us and told us that there were incidents before of tourists losing valuables on the beach and since the beach is secluded, they the locals and boatman become the first suspects. Being a secluded beach, I asked the keeper if the suspects were from the neighboring beach of Atulayan. According to them, the suspects are not from Atulayan since they know everyone on the island. The suspects usually come from mainland Bicol by small boat, drops off on either ends of the beach, moves like a beach comber walking from end to end of the beach and casually swipes the bags and valuables lying by the beach.

200 meter beach just for your own use... or so you thought

How to get there

From Manila, one can either go by bus to Naga (8-10hr ride) or catch one of the few morning flights to Naga-Pili airport via Airphil Express or CebuPacific (1hr flight). From Naga city or from the airport, there are public transportation going to or passing by Sagñay, but I would rather recommend that you rent a van or taxi to spare you the trouble of transferring from one transport to another and also so that you could ask the driver to wait for you when you get back from Atulayan.

We got a taxi from SM Naga and arranged a contract price with a taxi driver named Edmond H. Atentar (the one wearing red shirt in the pictures). We paid P1500 for half a day’s service since it was already past lunch when we decided to go to Atulayan. According to Edmond he also has contacts with tour guides for Caramoan and other parts of CamSur. If you’d like to get his services, I have posted his number below.

Edmond H. Atentar
Naga City
Mobile: 0916-669-3484

If you’re adventurous enough and still wanted to go to Atulayan using public transportation, you can just follow the directions on this site http://www.ph-commute.com/2009/11/commuting-within-camarines-sur.html

Enjoy!

More of the pictures from Atulayan on Flickr!

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