Friday, December 2, 2011

Quickie Trip to Bais City

On our last day in Dumaguete, we went to Bais City to check out the White Sand Bar. Since our flight is not until 4:45 PM, we negotiated with a multi-cab driver, Christian, to take us to Bais and back and drop us off at the airport later in the afternoon. As agreed upon the night before, it was still dark when our driver picked us up at the hotel for the more than 1 hour trip to Bais.


Some portions of the road going to Bais are being concreted hence we encountered some traffic along the way. 

When we finally reached the wharf, our driver talked to some of the locals on who to contact about hiring a boat. We were brought to Mang Jun, the owner/operator of some boats, and we were told that the regular rate is P3,500 for dolphin watching and visit to theWhite Sand Bar. We told him that we have little time to go on dolphin watching as we still have to return to the hotel before noontime to take our shower, pack our bags and check out, otherwise we will be charged an additional 1/2 day. He was still charging us P2,500 but I told him that I have to talk to my wife who was keen to see the place and compare it to the Sand Bar in Camiguin. 


We finally agreed on P2,000 and off we went to take the boat which is good for 10 persons.Since, there was more than enough room for our family of three, we invited our multi-cab driver if he wanted to join us to the sandbar, to which he readily agreed.


 The sky was overcast and I feared that the waters might be rough. The 15 minute ride to the place went on smoothly. We finally reached the sandbar which was still mostly submerged under shallow waters.






Little by little, the water receded exposing more of the sand bar. Except for some fishermen preparing their baits which they will use for fishing, we were the only ones on the island.




Creatures on the sandbar mimic the color of the sand apparently to avoid predators.






The water was so shallow that it would be hard to swim at low tide. The other option would be to try swimming on the blue colored sea which, the fishermen who were on the sandbar, claimed is a sudden drop. I opted on the former.




After a few hours, we had to leave the island to reach the hotel before 11 AM. On our way back, we passed by an old locomotive which was used by the Central Azucarera de Bais in the early 20th century to gather the harvested sugar cane. We stopped for a while to take some photos.




We hurriedly left and continued our way to the hotel. Upon arrival at Bethel, we told Christian to pick us up at around 2 PM since we still have to shower, change clothes, check out and have lunch, and for him to have at least one trip to Bacong to earn a little income.


We waited at the lobby of the hotel where there is free wifi to which we alternately use our netbook. When I went out of the hotel for some fresh air, I already saw the multi-cab waiting for us. I told my family to bring their things and get in the vehicle as we still have to drop by Sans Rival to pick up boxes of silvanas which we pre-ordered the day before.

We also dropped by the Provincial Capitol for one last photo op before finally getting to the airport.


Alas, our four-day vacation is over as quickly as it had started. Till the next time, we continue with daydreaming of our next travel adventure :)

Note: Should you need the services of Christian and his multi-cab while in Dumaguete, you may contact him at 0935-848-7005
Dumaguete/Siquijor/Bais Trip - Day 4  

2 comments:

T said...

Interesting place! And a nicely written post!

Unknown said...

thank you tata. it's a shame that we didn't have time to go dolphin watching in bais :(