Paradise through my lenses: Caramoan, Camarines Sur

I just want to share my 2016 Caramoan Island adventure during the celebration of my 18th Birthday. My parents asked me plans about my birthday and I suggested we travel in Caramoan with my relatives. We're staying in Manila but some of my relatives are in Bicol, so I decided to celebrate my birthday with them. I'm not used on celebrating my own extravagant birthdays or receive a lot of gifts. Making memories is special to me.

I really prefer indoors more than outdoor activities but I want to try island hopping this time. Caramoan island is a secluded and undiscovered gem in the Province of Camarines Sur.

We traveled for almost 4 hours to get to Caramoan from our Barangay. We decided to leave at exactly 3AM and we're so lucky to witness the so-called "red rising sun" on the top of the foggy mountains. When we arrived at the island, I can smell the fresh air and hear the sound of the waves off shore. I saw some tourist, available cottages, rooms for rent and motorboats waiting for some passengers. We rented a boat and a small room where we left our belongings and spent our day moving from one island to the next, took pictures and swim wearing available life vests. (I really don't know how to swim) There's a lot of big limestone cliffs and rocks through our way going to our first island called Matukad Island (in bicol, it means "to ascend" or aakyat.)

We had our expert tour guide who helped us to climb the steep and rocky cliff. Behind the big and stiff rocks, there's a famous story about an enchanted milkfish in the island. To discover the mystery, you should climb on the top of the rocks and see the enchanted lagoon where the famous milkfish is hiding. Nobody knew where it came from. They told us that long ago, there are two milkfishes living in the enchanted lagoon but the other one was caught by a fisherman and soon after eating it, he eventually died with his family. From then on, nobody dares to catch the remaining milkfish. After our Island hopping experience, we ate together with the other tourist in the available big floating "balsa" that can be found in the middle of the sea. We had our own packed lunch and snacks. We also visited the shooting location of a hit reality tv show called "Survivor Philippines." I had the best time in our last island where we captured our photo remembrance, a family photo jump shot where I didn't get to jump unfortunately. After our Caramoan Island hopping adventure, we had some rest and decided to visit the nearest Grotto before we head back home. We had a side trip for a flight of 524 steps to the grotto that leads to the 26-foot image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.