The Visayas Islands in the southern part of the Philippines, where Cebu is located, are famous for marine activities, but you can also take a beach trip from Baguio in the northern part of the country. In this article, we will introduce how to get to Alaminos (Alaminos), where the Hundred Islands are made up of as many as 100 small islands.
What are Alaminos and the Hundred Islands?
Alaminos is a city located in the central western part of Luzon, an island in the northern part of the Philippines. There is a direct bus service from Baguio, and it takes 4~5 hours to get there. The climate is typical of the Philippines, with a minimum temperature of 24°C and a maximum temperature of 34°C in December, which is slightly less than 10°C higher than in Baguio.
The entrance to the Hundred Islands is about a 20-minute tricycle ride from the center of Alaminos, and you can see many small islands on Google Maps. The best part of this beach is to charter a boat and explore the numerous islands.
Bus from Baguio to Alaminos
The most common way to get to Alaminos from Baguio is through the “Victory Liner” bus company, which has its own bus terminal, with an office and terminal about a 10-minute walk east from SM City Baguio.
This facility seems to have been recently renovated and is quite clean inside. Also, there are quite a few buses operating there, so it is open from morning till late at night. Although it may not be very welcoming, I saw a few people lying down in the terminal to pass the time.
There are quite a few bus services. You can check the status of departures and arrivals on the electronic information boards.
However, these information boards only list the names of Manila and surrounding cities, not Alaminos. Moreover, the website is not very detailed. So the best way to get the latest information is to check with the counter in advance or check the Facebook page of this bus company.
The image above shows the new schedule information for spring 2023, but as of December 2023, the buses are still operating according to this schedule. According to the information in the lower center, there are four trips a day from Baguio to Alaminos.
Buses from Alaminos to Baguio
I could not get information on buses from Alaminos to Baguio no matter how much I checked in advance. I barely had enough information to know that I should be able to come back if I left there around 5:00 p.m., so I decided to decide everything haphazardly on the day of the trip.
As it turned out, the information was about right. There were two ways to return to Baguio from Alaminos.
(1) Direct bus from Alaminos to Baguio and back.
As with the trip to Alaminos, coming back by direct bus is the easiest and most comfortable way. According to the information I obtained at the bus terminal in Alaminos, there are eight buses a day, and the last bus leaves at 3:30 pm. If we take this one, we will be able to come back to Baguio around 8:00 pm.
It’s great, isn’t it? It looks so handwritten. This is why it is so hard to find information on the internet. As I will explain later, it should be the easiest and most relaxing way to return home to be able to buy in this compared to other options. Working backwards, you should try to get back from the island around 2:00 pm, which is just about the right time.
(2) How to transfer from Alaminos to Dagupan and on to Baguio.
If you feel that 3:30 pm is not enough time, don’t worry. You can extend your stay even further by taking this route via Dagupan. With this route, you can come back on the same day even if you play for the whole 5:00 pm time. It takes about 2 hours from Alaminos to Dagupan.
Buses from Alaminos to Dagupan leave every 30 minutes, so you can find a bus without having to adjust your schedule. We were told that this last bus leaves around 7:00 p.m., but since the only source of information we have is verbal, we recommend that you check with the bus company yourself before using the bus.
And the bus schedule from Dagupan to Baguio is as above. This makes it look like the last bus is at 7:00 pm, so if it is too late you will not be able to make the transfer, but as of December 2023, the bus was increased with the following times.
According to this, the last bus would be at 10:00 pm. This would allow you to arrive in Baguio after 24:00 pm. However, this schedule is not very reliable, and when we were there (Saturday), the 8:00 pm bus was not running. So it would be safer to gather information by asking the staff at Alaminos.
How to ride and pay for Victoria Liner buses
The most important thing is how to get on the bus. So, you go to the bus terminal on the day of your visit and board the bus directly without any formalities. To be honest, it took a lot of courage to follow this procedure. If there are no seats available on the day, it is not a good idea to travel on that day.
We took the first bus on Saturday (4:00 am), which was the middle day of a three-day weekend, and it was about 60% full. If it were like this every time, there would be no problem, but what happens when many people happen to be traveling on the same day and at the same time…?
Now, once you are safely on board, the bus departs roughly on time. And as soon as it departs, the tour conductor will start making the rounds inside the bus. When you tell them your destination there, you will receive a piece of paper like this.
They will make an impromptu ticket by punching a hole with a crackle on the spot. The most notable item is the “PESOS” section in the lower left corner. The price to the destination is written here, and since the holes are punched at 300 and 10, the price is 310 pesos.
When everyone has received their tickets, the tour guide will come around again to collect the fee, and you should pay it. By the way, I heard that there is a student discount, but the discount could not be applied with a language school ID.
The tour time, an amazing 22 hours! Hundred Islands Day Trip Model
AM 3:15 ：Take a cab to Victory Liner Terminal
AM 4:00 ： Baguio→Alaminos (310 pesos)
AM 8:30 ：Arrive at Alaminos
AM 9:00 ：Tricycle to the entrance of Hundred Islands (100 pesos)
AM 9:00~PM 4:00: Enjoy Hundred Islands
PM 5:00 ： Return to the entrance and take a tricycle to Victory Liner Terminal
PM 5:30 ：Alaminos to Dagupan (120 pesos)
7:30 PM ： Arrive at Dagupan, have dinner at SM City Dagupan
10:00 PM : Dagupan→Baguio (154 pesos)
12:30 PM: Arrive in Baguio
Summary
In this issue, we reported on bus transportation to Alaminos, where Hundred Islands is located. Although we were very nervous about the trip, not being able to easily confirm the bus schedule or reserve seats, we managed to return safely on a day trip.
Since there were four of us traveling together this time, we took the bus and were surprised at how inexpensive it was. I wonder how much it would cost to take a bus for 2 hours in Japan. There is also a way to go by van, but in the case of a chartered van, it cost 7,000 pesos for a maximum of 12 people. It has the advantage that there is no waiting time, so we can use our time effectively.
Next time, I will introduce the activities in Hundred Islands, then!