What a wonderful day my dear Hivers! After the year 2024 starts we can already feel that this year will be amazing! But before the class starts and I will be back as a student again, let's use our remaining days to treat ourselves on a short vacation! In this blog, I'm going to show you the hidden beach in my mother's hometown! This includes a little hiking and wandering into the depths in the middle of the forest and mountains.
My family decided to visit my mother's hometown on the day of the New Year holiday, it was a long trip and it took us about 20-30 minutes to get there. And when we arrived we were welcomed by my cousins and other family members, they were very happy to see us celebrating this holiday with them together.
Kids and children surrounded us when we entered my aunt's house because we were giving clothes and hand-me-downs, it was a long time ago since we last visited here and I guessed they missed us. I am glad that they appreciated with what they received as our late Christmas gifts. At noon we finally prepared ourselves for our little hike to the hidden beach.
The journey was challenging, we had to cross difficult roads and pathways, it was narrow and steep so we had to be careful because we might fall or trip. Due to the hot temperature, some of us wore hats and scarves to protect ourselves from the cruel heat of the sun.
Tall trees and grasses are all you could ever see, you might be wondering now if is there ever a beach deep in the mountains. That was what I was thinking too, but behind it all lies a beautiful sea full of life and wonder. It was overwhelming by how clean It was and there weren’t too many people just like a public beach or a popular one. This beach was hidden beneath all those thick tall trees and mountains.
I didn’t even realize that there was something as beautiful as this! No garbage, no pollution, and no other trash that you can see, just some seaweed flowing towards the seashore.
My mother said that this is where her father would take them when she was young together with her siblings and their mother. It was the same just like in the past, nothing had changed. It was my first time visiting here and I would visit it again!
The name of the beach is Punta located in Maslog, Tabogon, Cebu. The residents near this area would visit this place to spend some time with their family because it’s the closest beach that you can easily walk.
As you can see, there isn’t that much sand but there’s a lot of rocks all over the seashore. There are big rocks with different colors and formations. When we arrived, my family prepared for lunch while the kids excitedly jumped into the water.
My uncle and cousins decided to catch some sea urchins for us to eat, after some time my uncle returned with a bucket full of sea urchins. I was surprised by how many it is, the sea is full of different kinds of exotic creatures and it's far more greater than we expected.
My uncle said that it was hard to catch since he didn’t bring some tools and equipment with him. My other relatives caught some eels too! Eels are very hard to catch since it’s so slippery and it’s too small. After we had our lunch me and my cousins took a quick stroll around the beach before swimming with the others.
Big rocks were everywhere, these rocks are amazing because you can’t easily find them in a corner, waves were splashing and hitting the rocks on the seashore and it was very windy, clouds were forming around the sky looking very fluffy and calming. The children were happily swimming nonstop ever since we got here but they were enjoying it despite the heat.
A nearby fisherman was passing by with his freshly caught fish, my mother called out to him and looked at his bucket full of ‘Banak” or “Flathead grey mullet” in English, we bought it for ₱200 per kilo or $3.60. Now we’ll have food to eat for dinner.
We arrived at exactly noon and we left at around 3:00 pm. But before we went straight back home, we stopped at the beautiful spot that is also not popular and a hidden place.
Now many people know this place and only the residents who live near here use this spot whenever they feel like taking a break, bath, washing their clothes, or enjoying the cold spring water.
This undeveloped hidden cold spring is free for everybody who wanted to swim and take a dip into the cold water.
This magnificent spot is called the “Gamayng Giwanon” or a small spring. It is an overflowing water that extend into the sea. It taste a little salty because it flows into the sea. The water here is so clean and fresh, on a hot sunny day taking a dip here is the perfect solution for the hot temperature.
The Giwanon is surrounded by trees, nipa, huge rocks, and grasses, it’s hidden deep inside the mountains close to the forest. But because of the New Year’s holiday, many people and their relatives visited the place.
When my feet touched the cold water, shivers suddenly shook my body and the clearness of the water reflected the sun's rays like a mirror. We didn’t last long because more people were starting to show up and it was getting too crowded so we left and went straight back home.
My short vacation ends here everyone! I hope that everybody had a wonderful holiday this year! Thank you for spending your time reading my blog! Keep safe and I love you all!