Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Cagbalete Island, Mauban Quezon








Date: May 30-31, 2009

Cagbalete Island is a 1,640.4874-hectare property located east of Quezon Province (in Luzon, north of the Philippines). Part of Mauban, Quezon, it rests along the waters of Lamon Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Although all areas of the island are privately-owned, the southwestern part of it is populated by a number of Visayan fisherfolks who have settled in the idle lands. Known as "Sabang", this fishing village can be estimated to be populated by over a thousand people. These people have learned to live through by earning money from fishing, farming (there are ricefields in certain areas), woodcutting, getting lumber and copra, and drying/ processing seaweeds..
Cagbalete or "Cabalete" in some maps, is truly a rare jewel. It is home to a number of species of land animals and sea creatures. Kingfishers, parrots, eagles, and other uncommon birds can usually be seen flying over the area of the island. It is also the habitat of the coconut crab or “kuray” (the Cagbalete favorite), starfishes, “alimasag”, “umang”, etc., and a long time ago, the “pawikan” (giant sea turtle). For divers and snorkeling-fanatics, underwater exploration is a treat with the diverse and colorful marine life that can be discovered beneath the rocks and corals.
The changing of tides is very evident in Cagbalete. During low tide, the waters can move as far back as 1 kilometer, leaving the shore dry and exposing all the rocks and corals that may be underneath. The low tide-high tide cycle occurs twice in a day, so if there is low tide during lunch time, high tide will come late in the afternoon, and the next low tide will occur at midnight, depending on the season.

No comments:

Post a Comment