Batanes of the East, Dingalan Aurora

Dingalan, Aurora is located in the northeast part of Luzon facing the Pacific Ocean. It is often dubbed as the Batanes of the East because of their similarities. Batanes and Dingalan they said, have the same mountain landscapes and ocean scenery. When we hear of Aurora on top of our mind is Baler, famously known as the surfing capital of the Philippines. Little did people know that a beautiful place like Dingalan exists in Aurora. They call it the Batanes of the East. It is such an interesting thing to be compared to Batanes

Where is it Located?

The Batanes of the East is located in Dingalan, Aurora.

According to our local tour guide, Dingalan originated from a tale. Ding refers to a native person of the place and Ngalan means River which gives birth to Dingalan or simply Ding of the River.

In fact, in this travel, I don’t have any plans of having it posted online because all I want is to enjoy without thinking what can I possibly tell to people who haven’t been in this place. Until our tour guide made me realize I should be better sharing these great experiences we had in their lovely province which I agreed with because sharing my experience is one of my habits.

Let me start with how this event started. I and my co-worker planned to be a joiner in one event. Until we’ve found this one organization who offers a lot of destinations to choose from. We were enticed with those pictures taken from Batanes of the east in dingalan aurora. We only have one week to prepare and I feel like having more friends to join but I’m losing hope that they might not join knowing its too near to the planned date. I never failed to ask some of them to join, my group consists of 5 people.

Tour Highlights

• Batanes of the East
• I Love Dingalan
• Mountain View
• Lighthouse
• White Beach
• Dingalan Feeder Port
• Tanawan Falls
• Tanawan Viewdeck
• Suwa island depends on current
• Lamao cave depends on current
• Tidal Pool depends on current
• Pasalubong Shop
• Foodtrip Stopovers

Tour Inclusions

We took advantage the day tour for 999 and its inclusions are:

• Private Service Van
• Driver’s fee, meal & accommodation
• Toll Fee and Fuel
• Parking Fee
• Environmental Fee
• Entrance Fees
• Local Guide Fee
• Pasalubong stopovers
• Boat

You may be wondering why I didn’t mention the agency we took the package from. I just don’t like how they treat people, I mean the organizer was not that friendly to assist us. I’m not the only one that noticed it but all of us. Please check on the last part for the contact person at Dingalan.

Computation of our total expenses:

Day tour fee	P999 Pax
Boodle Fight	P150 PAx
Boat	P100 Pax
Total	P1,250 Pax

Itinerary

Here’s our itinerary which is applicable for a day tour. Please be informed that this is just a guide for the tour participants and may change due to weather conditions, traveling pace, traffic etc.

• 1:00 AM Assembly – EDSA crossing
• 1:30 AM – Takeoff
  • travel from EDSA to Dingalan port ranges from 4 to 5 hours depends on how fast the vehicle is.
• 6:00 AM Breakfast
  • we arrived at their bayan not exactly 6:00 AM because we used to have a couple of stopovers and besides our driver is kinda sleepy which makes us afraid of how he drives the Van.
• 6:45 AM Arrival at Feeder Port
  • There are lots of canteen at their bayan.
• 7:00 AM start of the tour
  • Lumao Cave
  • White beach
  • Mountain view deck
  • Lite House
  • Tanawan Falls
  • Matawe rock formation

How to get to Batanes of the East, Dingalan Aurora

To go to Dingalan, take a bus from Manila going to Cabanatuan. Genesis Transport and Five Star Bus offer daily trips. Travel time takes about three hours and the fare is around Php185. From Cabanatuan, buses and vans offer trips to Dingalan which takes around two hours. The fare costs Php90 to Php100. From the drop-off point in Dingalan, take a tricycle all the way to the Dingalan Feeder Port.

Places to visit in Dingalan

Lumao Cave

Going here would depend on the current. During our visit to this cave, the waves were so high. Bangkeros told us we can not get in because the boat might get broken due to big waves. Instead, we headed to a different cave which is the second picture.

Mountain View Deck

This is what Dingalan is known for. It is just a 20 to 30 minutes trek from white beach. It was raining the night before we went there. Kaya nung nag trek kami it took longer than usual. But after all the hardship going up, it is so amazing once we’ve reached the top.

The lighthouse

For some reason, most of the joiners were so tired and just wanted to go back to the white beach and have our lunch done. Supposedly, right after mountain view deck, the next destination is the lighthouse which is an hour trek from view deck. We were told by kuya na it is prohibited to get inside the lighthouse kasi a couple of years ago there was a group of travelers who went there and they accidentally broke the radar.

White Beach

Locals called this place as their white beach but in reality that is just a name that not really reflect the place itself. Please don’t get disappointed because the sand isn’t white. I’m not sure if the story behind it is true, I was told by kuyang tour guide that it was white before but when landslide came across the shore, the sand got dark. In fact, we never had a chance to swim in there because we got tired from the last place we’ve gone to, instead, we had a boodle fight.

We’ve paid 150 pesos in addition to the tour package. This consist of:

• Rice
• 2 big fish
• Shrimp
• Pork
• Tahong
• Talong

Tanawan Falls

You would have to trek for 20 to 30 minutes or ride in a tricycle for (30 pesos/pax) to get in here. The entrance fee is already included in our tour package. They were so exaggerated in discussing how difficult it is going to this place when you trek, but to me, it wasn’t. Tho the road is a combination of soil and rocks but it’s easy to endure.

Matawe Rock Formations

Going here is really tough. Don’t forget to use your footwear as the rocks are rough and some of it has shells that may hurt you especially those rocks on the water has sea urchins. We never had a chance to swim in death pool because we were afraid tide might get high which could strand us along the way. Seeing the big waves slapping on the rocks is not relaxing to me, I feel like I can’t even have my feet on the water.

Contact Person

Michael Gorezz (Tour Guide)
+639353613480
IG:@MichaelGorezz

If you’re planning to go on overnight, they offer a different style of kubo in the white beach but I’m not sure about their rates. Kindly contact kuya Michael to get the most updated rates.