This is one of the rare trips where we had the luxury of a car and a friend who actually lived in Bicol. This friend's father drove us from Baao to Pasacao Port. We left at around 4 in the morning because we were aiming on getting on the 7AM trip (as stated in this blog post) but when we got there, we found out that the earliest ferry ride was rented out by some corporate employees for a team building so we had no choice but to wait for the next ferry. We boarded the ferry around 8:30 and departed at 9AM.

Registration area

Waiting area

Once it was boarding time, una-unahan na sa seats

You can't miss it. It's the first thing you see when you get off the boat

We were hoping to rent a room at one of the islands but unfortunately, everything was booked. If we had our own tents, we could've still stayed  the night at one of the islands. We didn't have any though and there weren't any for rent either. We rented out a room at one of the budget inns at San Pascual Port (which was kindly provided by us by the staff at the Tourism Office) at 250php per pax/night.

These are the faces of people who didn't prepare enough.

We also opted to visit the last island the next day instead of visiting all three islands that same afternoon. That was an additional 500php because the boat will have to go on two round trips instead of one.

We rented the 1-5 pax capacity boat for three islands. So it was a total of 3000php plus additonal 500

After dropping our things at the inn and having lunch, we began our excursion.

I think the trip was a good 45 minutes before the first island

Sombrero Island

When the boat docked by the shore, the white sand and the clear water astounded us all. It was the time to shed the shirts and take some photos!

No time to waste! Get those GoPros and SLRs ready!

The water is absolutely crystal clear

The sand around these parts were more of the small corally kind. It exfoliated the hell out of my feet

we later found out that other areas of the beach had the find kind of sand and we would've discovered it sooner if we weren't so excited to get our photos taken right away haha

You're not brought to the island that is actually shaped as a sombrero

Not complaining though. I mean the this area is way prettier

This island is where the hotel is at. You can also camp if you have your own tents.

The guy in the group instantly went missing from our photo ops. Minutes later, we received a text message from him that there was a beautiful view at the other end of the island.

On our way to more photo ops

The view didn't disappoint (or I would've kicked the guy in the group for wasting my time)

ahh there are my friends, swimming and taking pictures

When we asked our boat guide where to go to to pay the 20php entrance fee, they told us that someone will approach us for it. But no one came and we totally forgot about it when we left for the next island.

Tinalisayan Island

It was a 20-minute boat ride to the next island on the list, Tinalisayan Island.

You can camp at this island too with your own tent

The oldest member guy in the group decides to nap for a bit. Got tired of all his exploring, I think

We didn't swim much because for some reason, the water had this really fishy smell

I asked a friend about the fishy smell but he said it wasn't the case when they visited

The sand bar (not the one above) was the highlight for this island and although we were able to experience it, the sand bar didn't fully appear for us that day. We had to enjoy the narrow plot of sand the ocean decided to share with us that afternoon.

Good thing we were the only ones there

I got to snorkel a bit at the area by the sand bar

Time to make like a hipster and do the L-O-V-E thingy

After enjoying the sand bar, we headed back to San Pascual port and went straight to our quarters to rest for the night.

Animasola Island

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast at the port and headed out in the water on our boat as early as 5:30AM.

we got to witness the beautiful sunrise from the boat! It's such a challenge to take a shot from a moving boat

Crawling up that rock in a bikini was not easy

but so definitely worth it!

The unbroken horizon

This here's our hardworking photographer who got pissed at us for not being able to take decent photo of her. We tried sooo hard

The beautiful rock formations make for a good backdrop

Preeetty

We accidentally stumbled upon the Mermaid's lair, thanks to the guy of the group!

We were supposed to get back before 9am but we enjoyed so much we returned to our boat a lot later. We paid the entrance fee, had a quick snack (there's a small store there), and headed back to the port.

Goodbye Masbate! We had fun!

We got to ride the ferry back home at around 12. We arrived at Pasacao Port two and half hours later and took a quick break before walking to the terminal. We even ran a bit because the jeep to Naga (which was empty) just left the terminal and our friend who happens to be a local didn't want to ride the next jeep in line lest we'd be waiting for hours for passengers. Good thing the jeep stopped and waited for us while we ran for dear life with our massive backpacks chaffing on our sunburnt shoulders. We took a break at SM Naga, had early dinner and Pili Ice-cream at 1st Colonial Grill (which is delish!!) before riding a bus to our friend's home to get the car. We drove home that night and almost drove to a ditch due to our driver's exhaustion. Huwag niyo kami tularan please. That concludes our trip to Burias Island, Masbate!

Reminders

• I don't think the schedule of the ferry rides are definite. We kept asking the people in charge about the times of the ferry rides arrival/departure and it felt like it depends on whether the boat gets a lot of passengers right away. 
• Each island has an entrance fee. Our boat guide informed us that a person will simply approach us for payment of the fee but it didn't happen at Sombrero and Tinalisayan Island for some reason.
• Bring your own tent just in case all the rooms are booked. 
• Please clean your own mess before you leave. When we visited Sombrero Island, the beach was teeming with bottles and garbage. Come on, guys. Have a little respect for mother nature.

Photo credits: Wenz Fraginal, Tina Salo, Pao Quilala