My Calayan article & photo as banner image & front page story of the Philippine Daily Inquirer Sunday.

I admit, places I’ve visited in Calayan: Cibang and Caniwara Coves and Nagudungan were the most pristine I’ve seen and been to. Its just so beautiful, a piece of paradise. But will it stay the same for years to come?

When in Calayan town proper, there’s really no problem with where to stay. There is an organized homestay program with eleven homeowners but this post will only focus on two that I know and stayed at.

The best time to go there is during April when the monsoons switch. It is possible to go there at other times of the year but the unpredictability of the weather makes it difficult and there is always the possibility that one can get stranded.

At the edge of Caniwara Cove is another spectacular place, Nagudungan Hill with its rolling terrain and gnarled pine trees with some, especially located near the edge to the sea are permanently inclined due to the strong winds.

Caniwara Cove has a sandy beach but a flat rocky shore shallowly and evenly submerged to a few meters to the sea marks this beautiful and enchanting cove.

It was the best beach place I’ve been to. Better than Boracay, not in terms of sand but the pure delight I had in plunging and bathing into its crystal clear waters that we just had to ourselves. Even better than Flower Island.

There are two things that strongly comes to mind when Calayan town is mentioned: the row of Bitaog trees in one of its streets and the pieces of corals, shells and small pebbles sloping at an incline that makes for its beach.

It was just three kilometers from our destination and the coast of Claveria was already in sight but the waves were already huge and traveling for the past few hours was enough to put our nerves to the test.

So this is how it feels to be slowly roasted. I said to myself as the heat of the sun was slowly beating down on my exposed skin, biting, scorching, as our rented pumpboat almost arrived, after nine hours at sea.

It’s so out of the way, with travel very much dependent on the status of the Babuyan Channel where for most part of the year, can be very trecherous. Couple this with uncertain travel days and you’ve got a place that is so off the beaten path.