Comments on Ivan About Town: Capones Island and its lighthouse

hi mr.ivan! too lighten things up.. i was wonderin...

2008-10-22T23:40:00.000+08:00

hi mr.ivan! too lighten things up.. i was wondering when will be the best time to go and visit capones island, since it will be my first time to see that place, i want to see good sand layouts on the beach, because iv been read that the sand layouts changes every season. when do you think will be the best time to go there?

hope to gather new info from you.. and i hope that the municipality will be alarmed due to garbage and vandalisms in the island..

Then you should have placed the comment in the Ana...

2008-10-21T18:20:00.001+08:00

Then you should have placed the comment in the Anawangin post. You make the act of taking a pump boat to Anawangin seem like a shameful thing to do.

Have fun hiking. Not all tourists are "mountaineers" like you. So don't be self-righteous because they don't share the same interests as you do. And who said said only mountaineers are responsible tourists?

mr. ivan. my comment on capones ay naka post scrip...

2008-10-21T12:24:00.000+08:00

mr. ivan. my comment on capones ay naka post script po "PS", kaya pahabol lng un sa topic ng msg ko on anawangin which as iv said we plan to visit by pure trekking alone. I knoe capones is an island and it cannot be accessed without a pumpboat, you just have mixed my anawangin comment with that of capones.

@cabbie, Capones is an island. You can't visit it ...

2008-10-17T13:31:00.000+08:00

@cabbie, Capones is an island. You can't visit it without a pump boat. Do you plan to swim to the island?

We plan to visit the place soon but i have learned...

2008-10-17T12:52:00.000+08:00

We plan to visit the place soon but i have learned that it had fast become a commercial milking cow for the locals, what with the fees here and there ( and some maybe absurdly look at you like some walking ATM huh ), and because of that, we plan of foregoing with the guides and the pumpboat back to pindaquit. We will negotiate the course to and from on foot. Anyway, its what mountaineering is all about, its the "HARDSHIP" that counts. Paying for comfort takes away the essence of the sport and in "conquering" a place with just sheer effort, discipline, and perseverance. Forking money indiscriminately are reserved for plain tourists - the UNDISCIPLINED kind. True mountaineers are advocates of value of camaraderie, love for nature, discipline in the face of limited supply, and simple living. True mountaineers admonish luxury and extravagance. Finally true mountaineers are the EDUCATED ones who adhere to the "leave no trace" principles. P.S. Those trash that littered capones and the vandalism, they'r done by the "tourists - the uneducated ones" ( mostly are deceivingly in backpack and mountaineer attire )...bluntly put..PEACE

We there last summer 08, the Lingkod Kalikasan (Li...

2008-10-11T11:34:00.000+08:00

We there last summer 08, the Lingkod Kalikasan (Link) Outdoor Club lead a clean-up of the island, we were able to fill up 30 garbage bags and still were not done in our activity. When we reached the mainland, still the local government has no garbage disposal system or material recovery facility, which is mandated by law. I think the municipal government should take a more proactive effort to preserve the island.

zambales is a nice place to visit, if you have tim...

2008-10-03T16:33:00.000+08:00

zambales is a nice place to visit, if you have time, try to visit our town..palauig, zambales. there, you can visit the Magalawa Island located in this town, much better if you will come on harvest time of the sweetest mango on earth...zambales mangoes, especially in the town of palauig.

need companion?

Yes, I hope that works out. Your group can also jo...

2008-09-01T16:25:00.000+08:00

Yes, I hope that works out. Your group can also join the Greater Subic Convention and Visitors Bureau to help you out with your efforts.

Nora's Beach Resort is trying to create a Pundaqui...

2008-09-01T15:13:00.000+08:00

Nora's Beach Resort is trying to create a Pundaquit Resort Association in Zambales before the 2009 Summer begins... hopefully all the big, medium and small resort owners will join this association. Basic issue to be resolved in Pundaquit is to make our fisherfolks and locals aware that there is a need to preserve the beauty of the place because tourism is their means of livelihood. Hopefully we can address this problem soon.

Oh ok. I didn't know you got that from the locals....

2008-04-25T09:34:00.000+08:00

Oh ok. I didn't know you got that from the locals. I had the boatmen in mind when I said locals since they should know. But it's weird for them not to know.

As I said, it was locals who told me a typhoon kno...

2008-04-25T08:59:00.000+08:00

As I said, it was locals who told me a typhoon knocked it over, so maybe not always best to rely on locals : )

Yes, this was taken during my trip in April. If th...

2008-04-24T15:37:00.000+08:00

Yes, this was taken during my trip in April. If the lighthouse was destroyed by a typhoon, that would have been news. It's best to rely on the locals for information. They should know if the lighthouse is still there or not.

Hi Ivan. I'm asking about a grassroots org,NGO tha...

2008-04-24T14:22:00.000+08:00

Hi Ivan. I'm asking about a grassroots org,NGO that is addressing the littering problem *throughout the Philippines*, not limited to Zambales.

Anyway, is your photo of the lighthouse from this year? I certainly didn't see it although admittedly I didn't go around the entire island.

@bloomplanet, the lighthouse is still there. On Ta...

2008-04-23T11:50:00.000+08:00

@bloomplanet, the lighthouse is still there. On Tawangan, I don't think there is a Tawangan Cove in Zambales. She might be referring to Anawangin but I'm not sure about the surfing part.

I'll try to ask about organizations in the Zambales area working on this. I really hope there are.

Also I should add that the garbage problem is cert...

2008-04-23T09:44:00.000+08:00

Also I should add that the garbage problem is certainly not limited to Capones Island (where it actually wasn't that bad by Philippines standards when I was there). The shameless dumping of garbage in public places is a disgrace and IMO is the single biggest drawback about travelling in the Philippines. And we can't just blame it on poverty (although poverty has a lot to do with it). I also see plastic wrappers flying out the windows of Ford Expeditions and BMWs. It's very much a cultural thing that needs to be addressed at the top. If the gov't put one-tenth as much effort into addressing the nation's collective littering problem as they do into its "war on drugs" this problem could be solved. But there's evidently just not enough political mileage involved in addressing the country's pollution problems.

Is there a grassroots org out there that has made any inroads on this? I would be happy to join and/or help start and contribute to such an organization, and I can list effective organizations in the LP book too.

Hi Ivan, I've been checking out your blog. I'm on ...

2008-04-23T09:37:00.000+08:00

Hi Ivan, I've been checking out your blog. I'm on the team updating the Lonely Planet Philippines book and was hoping to use you for a little advice. I was in Pundaquit a couple weeks ago and went out to Capones Is. We didn't go all the way around the island because the seas were a bit rough. Anyway, I failed to see a lighthouse on the island and was told that a typhoon blew it over last year or the year before. But your photo indicates that it's still there! Maybe I was misinformed?

Also, the owner of Megan's resort was telling me about a good surf spot on a secluded beach called "Tawangan Cove" south of Pundaquit. But she didn't mention Aniwangain. Could it be they are one and the same?

Having done some snorkelling around Capones I can confirm that the coral is pretty much ruined by cyanide fishing and there are few fish.

I first went to Capones around 15 years ago. Back...

2008-04-15T15:43:00.000+08:00

I first went to Capones around 15 years ago. Back then everything was so raw. There were only fisher folk in the area. The only resort then was "Capones" owned by a British national and his Filipina wife. The 3 islands (3 Stooges is what they were called then) were so clean and there were hardly any people.

Its sad that tourism can sometimes ruin the natural beauty of a place.

helo sir, me and my friends are planning to go the...

2008-04-11T06:35:00.000+08:00

helo sir, me and my friends are planning to go there in either capones or potipot island. can i ask for some advice for the fee, location, things to look forward too, how to get there?
thanks in advance...

I didn't know that vandalism and littering were ra...

2008-04-10T15:16:00.000+08:00

I didn't know that vandalism and littering were rampant there. My friends who've gone to Capones Island often say it's quite pretty. I do hope that the local government can do something about that.

I don't want my trip there to be marred by all sorts of garbage.

Peace

Yes, the Apo Island is a perfect example of this.....

2008-04-10T00:53:00.000+08:00

Yes, the Apo Island is a perfect example of this...

Sir, I think it's just a lack of proper education....

2008-04-10T00:44:00.000+08:00

Sir, I think it's just a lack of proper education. There are poor communities which know how to take advantage of their natural environment simply because they were made aware of the need to protect it and ways to harness it.

It's a viscious cycle...Poverty is the root cause ...

2008-04-10T00:36:00.000+08:00

It's a viscious cycle...
Poverty is the root cause of all these depradations...
But you're absolutely correct. We should do something about it now.

That's so sad to hear sir. We should make noise be...

2008-04-10T00:34:00.000+08:00

That's so sad to hear sir. We should make noise before it's too late.

I love Pundaquit, Anawangin and Capones...We use t...

2008-04-10T00:33:00.000+08:00

I love Pundaquit, Anawangin and Capones...
We use to dive around Capones Island because it has great corals and visibility...
I heard recently though that most of these corals have been blasted...
The local government in charge of the island is deaf to all these illegal activities taking place in the area...
They have completely destroyed the place and ruined its potentials to become a top dive spot...

I agree, there should be heavy fines for those cau...

2008-04-09T22:10:00.000+08:00

I agree, there should be heavy fines for those caught leaving garbage or vandalizing the place.