Details:

• Budget: Php 1,800.00 per person
• 26 pax | 2 days and 1 night
• Coordinator: Kuya James (Good Vibe Tours)
• Drivers: Kuya Edwin and Kuya Noni (Good Vibe Tours)
• 2 Hi-Ace Vans

This is the next largest group trip we ever had and we had a coordinator come with us. This is a quick blog of our trip. Here’s our itinerary:

Day 01

7:45AM | Van pick-up from Makati

We had to stop by at SM North and meet up with the Good Vibe Tours coordinators. Got oriented with what we should expect on the trip and other stuff. Got back at the road right away and took SCTEX. By 11AM we arrived at Nueva Ecija.

1:30PM | Arrived at Aurora

We had a quick lunch and left before a rain started.

3:30PM | Arrival at Sabang Beach

Our first activity was surfing!. The skies were dark as early as the time we arrived, maybe because of the rainfall, but it didn’t rained when we surfed. As we got at the shore line we were entertained by the surfers and have us sign a waiver before anything else. It was Php150.00 per hour, the board included and an additional Php200.00 for the instructor. If you don’t have your own rashguard, they have them for rent at the place too. We were designated one instructor per person and were briefed individually. They taught us the basics, the parts of the boards and how to stand when the wave approaches.

It was all our first time to surf and Baler gave us the biggest and hardest waves! I was scared at first because I thought that you need to know how to swim when you go surfing, because I don’t know how to swim. But when we notice the others, you can tell that the water is just chest high and it’s the waves that make it look that the water is so deep.

At this moment, ALL of us are in the water so we basically we don’t have any photos of our “during” the surfing moment. lol :P So, here are our some of our post-surfing photos:

By 5:30PM, our surfing time was over and we all washed up for dinner. We were accommodated to use their comfort rooms to get all cleaned up. You can immediately see dine in spots by the shore, but if you know your way there, you get to see other restaurants near the hotels at the vicinity.

7:00PM | Dinner

We were pointed to a place where we would have dinner. We were dropped off to the transient we were staying for the rest of the trip. We got settled by 9:00PM, had few drinks then slept.

DAY 2

We woke up at 5:00AM the next day and prepared for our last day. We packed all our things up so we can have everything ready once we are done for the day.

The whole day is dedicated for the trip of some of the famous spots at Baler. Our first stop was at the Mother Falls. Our service dropped us off where we took tricycles that led us to where we would have our breakfast at.
After having breakfast, we started the hike. It was an interesting hike. It took as almost 45 minutes passing through big rocks and small streams and few mini falls.

9:30AM | Arrival at Mother Falls

I have missed being this close to an actual falls; the last one I’ve visited was way back when I was a little kid and now I am appreciating its beauty. The water was extremely cold! We played around and took lots of photos by the time we got there. It was so much fun! This was my most favorite part of trip. We made the most of our 30 minutes there. We hiked back at the drop off point and went back to the transient, took a shower, packed our things, checked out and got back on the road.

It was lunch time when we were on the road so our drivers took as at the Food Carts before we start with the tour. The food was really cheap there. The tour included Museo de Baler, House of Doña Aurora, the Hanging Bridge, Ermita Hill and the Diguisit (Beach) Rock Formation.

4:00PM | Thanks Baler!

Of course, at any trip, our last stop was at the Pasalubong Center. We had so little time left to spend here so we grabbed what we can and got back to the road again by 4:00PM.

We stopped by at Cabanatuan around 7PM to have dinner; this was our last stop before we travel straight back to Manila.

By 10:30PM, we arrived at Balintawak and got our separate rides home.

Few tips and reminders if you are planning to visit Baler:

• Make sure to a lot at least three days when you plan to visit Baler. Our two day trip was really squeezed with activities that we mind more with “the time left” rather than enjoy it.
• If you plan on just surfing at Baler, make sure to find a place to stay at near the beach, it’s much convenient.
• The trips that we took was within Aurora, far from Baler. So I suggest to go with the tour first, all in the same day and then surf at Sabang Beach (Baler) the next day.
• It’s ok not to bring food on the trip, there are lots of cheap but good food spots there.

As for my first surfing experience:

• With the waves that we encounter at Baler, I highly recommend the correct surfing outfit. Lol… yeah. But seriously, your normal shirt and shorts outfit is no match for the waves.
• Stretch FIRST before you go in! Or you will have cramps on your first 30mins with the waves.
• It’s much much better to surf when you are hungry! :P

Another quick blog. ^__^v Thanks for reading!

A usual reminder; if you are planning to visit the place, make sure to "Leave NO Trace". Enjoy your day!

More photos **here! **The photos used at this post are collectively gathered, grabbed and provided by me and the friends I had the trip with.