A Sweet Sojourn to San Jose, Occidental Mindoro

A friend and I went to San Jose in Occidental Mindoro for a quick R&R. One could say that San Jose is a sleepy town, although it is the business and government center of the province. It doesn't have big malls or night clubs or bars, but my friend and I couldn't care less. We're not there for the night life anyway. We were there to soak up the sun and build sand castles and have fun farting underwater (hehe).

We flew via Cebu Pacific. We availed of their Php  99 Peso Fare Promo and paid roughly Php 2,000 (roundtrip) for both tickets. The flight took at least 40 minutes, the flight attendants were barely halfway the aisle selling tsitsirya and sodas when the captain announced that the plane is already preparing for landing.

Currently, Cebu Pacific is the only airline flying to San Jose regularly

We stayed in Sikatuna, a hotel by the beach. Sikatuna charges Php 1,200 per room per night for a twin-bed-room. A lot of people go there in the morning because, I think, of the free wifi in the restaurant. Plus, the food there is really good. It's San Jose's version of Starbucks where people with laptops hang out. 

We arrived on a gloomy Saturday morning and we saw big waves rushing to the shore in front of the hotel

Sikatuna's free breakfast combo

We explored the plaza on the first day. We learned that the town celebrated its feast day the week before and many tiangges and food and agri-stalls still line up the main highway.

We had lunch at Acacia Plaza, named after the 2 gigantic acacia trees in the center of the place. The are a lot of food stalls one can choose from. The stalls offer mostly lutong bahay stuff. We ordered nilagang buto-buto.

After lunch we proceeded to Gulod Farm and Resort, a newish resort and salt farm in Magsaysay, the town next to San Jose. The jeepney ride took 40 minutes past rolling hills and endless grasslands. The ride made me extremely sleepy and when the driver called out that we've reached Gulod, I  got startled and accidentally punched the girl sitting beside me!

We went back to the hotel at 5 pm and feasted on Beef and Seafood Salpicao and Tanduay Ice and Pale Pilsen before retiring to bed.

We woke up early the next morning to go to White Island, a small island which is 10 minutes away from Sikatuna. We were supposed to ride a passenger boat, which would've cost us 1 thousand, but backed out the last minute and instead talked to a local fisherman from the fishing village nearby. We rented his small bangka for 800 pesos!

We found the island almost deserted when we got there. The lone caretaker and his dog greeted us when we got off the bangka. The dog seemed too excited to see us, we figured he hardly ever sees or plays with anyone or any other dog ever since he was brought to the island. The island is not developed, save for a few bamboo cottages, there are no amenities or tourist facilities. The fisherman told us the island is government-owned.

We took the cottage near the beach. The fisherman promised to fetch us at 4 pm and left. The caretaker also left with his bangka. We thought he was probably gonna catch fish for lunch or something but he never came back until late in the afternoon. We had the island all to ourselves!

We spent the entire day swimming, running with the dog around the island, skipping stones, eating, and building sand castles, and of course taking pictures and jump shots! The fisherman fetched us on time and even offered to tour us along the beach resorts of San Jose, of course we had to say yes. We went back to the hotel exhausted and itchy from all the sunburn we got, but it didn't really matter. We were too happy to our hearts' content.

We want back to Manila the next morning and promised to go back to San Jose!

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Budget Breakdown

Airfare - 2,000
Local Transpo/Bangka - 1,000
Hotel - 2,400
Food/Pasalubong - 1,000