Miranda: Gota

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gota Village [Watery & Outdoor Wednesday]

@ mirandablue

Gota is a small cove in the Caramoan peninsula with two white sandy beaches separated by a small limestone hill. The provincial government of Camarines Sur developed an ecovillage here and turned it into a resort. This hidden paradise is now an ecotourism destination after international franchises of Survivor were shot here. The 8th season of Koh-Lanta (French edition of Survivor) was shot entirely here. This was also the set of the Serbian version for two consecutive years, three seasons of Survivor-Israel and the Bulgarian version filmed their 4th season here last year. The natural diversity and exotic adventure in this place are exciting and enthralling. You can really get lost in the wilderness of Gota.

Gota Village was closed to the public when we visited Caramoan in April. The top photo is a small uninhabited limestone island across Gota while the photo below is Gota's west side beach. I took the last photo while cruising in an outrigger boat.

@ mirandablue

Posted for Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Caramoan: Island-hopping [OWM]

@ mirandablue

Spent the Holy Week holiday in Caramoan, a remote town in Camarines Sur. I posted some photos in Facebook and 95% of my friends don't know where Caramoan is. Very little is known about this place until recently when Survivor France shot the entire 8th season in some of the deserted islands of the peninsula.

From the port in Sabang, it takes about 2 hours by outrigger boat and approximately 70 kilometers of mountains and rugged coastline to reach Guijalo port in Caramoan. This is the most isolated place I've ever been to, but I'm glad I went. These photos were taken on the first leg of our island-hopping on Black Saturday. The top photo is Gota Village Resort, said to be owned by the provincial governor of Camarines Sur. Gota Village Resort is closed to the public so we docked at the island across Gota, called Malindog.

Our first island was a 30-meter stretch of fine white sand---a rock by the shore, limestone cliffs and foliage grace our slice of paradise. I have no idea how many islands are there in the Caramoan peninsula but our boatman said there are 10 must-see islets---except that a few of them are closed to the public. These islets are unexploited and pristine. I hope they would remain that way.