Island Hopping In Burias : The Sombrero Island

It was another long ride going back from Tinalisayan to Sombrero Island which served as our camp site. It was truly a tiring yet rewarding island hopping adventure. We managed to visit four islands in a day and I think we had enough for our first day. I didn’t take much photos in Sombrero Island as it starting to get dark and we had to prepare for our camp too. We availed one of the Sombrero Island cottages and we set up tents nearby. It is very interesting to note that some of the tents have outlets where you can charge your phone or you can also charge the phone in one of the stores in Sombrero. They will charge you of Php30 for phones and Php50 for Powerbanks but did you know that I managed to get this for free?
The first shot I got for Sombrero after we briefly arrived here from Snake Island. Anyway, let’s go back to that “Charging thing“. I don’t know if it’s weird for you but every time I travel, i bring an extension cord with me. I’m not just fond of waiting for my turn so I bring my own cord so I can charge all my gadget at once. When we get to Sombrero Island, finding an outlet was challenge. Many other travelers are seemingly competing with the slots so I just came up with a bright idea of bringing up my cord and allowing the owner to use it for awhile (that means they can use it the whole day and earn extra in return haha). I was about to pay the fee but they refused to take it because I lend them my cord for a day haha.
We really had a blast that day and you know the best part of being in an island at night? Stargazing! Unfortunately my gear is not capable of capturing those stars haha but lying on the sand and seeing the wonderful sky at night is just really an incomparable experience!Well i think I had enough sleep and managed to woke up just in time to catch the sunrise!
Since I missed the sunset, i took all the time to capture the sunrise while our breakfast is still being prepared.

The shore of Sombrero Island has a mixture of rough corals and powdery white sand. There were areas too that is build with huge rocks!
Snake Island or Islang Dapa is named such way because of its structure and because it is inhabited by sea snakes while Animasola means Lonely Soul and Tinalisayan came from the root word “Talisay” which means Beautiful. Sombrero Island, on the other hand, got its name because of one notable rock formation! Sombrero is a Tagalog word which translates to “Hat” and the island was named that way because of the rock formation that resembles a silhouette of a hat!
The hat-like rock formation that can be found nearby the island

Unlike the rest of the islands we visited on our first day, Sombrero Island is more like the center of tourism in Burias. It has many open and close type cottages to accommodate the tourists, it has a couple of stores and eatery, clean bathrooms and most of all, abundant power supply but much like what we have experienced in Calaguas, they get the power supply from generators and solar panels.
And the breakfast is served! Since the tour we availed is an all-in package, we didn’t have to worry much about our food but I was surprised how overwhelming the food they served. I think we had 3 types of meal last night and now the breakfast was like a feast!
 Adobong Pusit anyone?
It is also interesting to note that aside from the environmental fee of Php20 in Sombrero Island, a group of people approached us for another fee (additional Php25). I don’t know the details about it but I think it is somehow related to tourism. They gave us this voucher promoting the town of San Pascual. It’s very informative though and I learned that San Pascual has many other places to offer especially if you visited the town proper!

Based on our originally planed itinerary, we are supposed to visit the Alibijaban Island in Quezon but we had a change of plans and our bangkero was up to give us a treat! He promised us to take us to two more islands in Burias and one of them is rarely visited. So before packing up our things, I decided to explore more and take some photos of Sombrero Island!
The pristine water of Sombrero is absolutely one of its greatest assets!

 With their tourism starting to blossom and travelers are starting to unveil this hidden gem of Burias, i just hope that this place will not get spoiled much like what happened to the pristine beach of Boracay. I really wish that the place will stay this way and no greedy commercial businesses will take advantage of the place’s growing popularity.





That’s me trying to create a vlog haha you can see a portion of it on my video below!By the way, you can spot a bunch of littler hermit crabs near the rocky shore of Sombrero Island!
We are now about to leave the island. If your drop off point will be in Quezon and you’re planning to buy souvenirs from Burias, be sure to buy it here because you cannot find any place to buy these stuffs unless you will put the San Pascual town proper on your itinerary!

While our boat is about to leave, i spotted some heartbreaking sights from the island. I spotted many trashes around the shore. See, this is the problem when a place is becoming extremely popular. There are irresponsible travelers who will leave their trash and ruin the beauty of this paradise!

Things You Should Know About Sombrero Island
►Sombrero Island is the center of tourism in Burias
►Sombrero island was named such because of the rock formation that resembles a “sombrero” (hat)
►Cottage rates will range from 500-3000 depending on the size and capacity
►Comfort rooms are available for Php10-20 per usage (the following usage can be availed with no charge unless you need a water). A pail of water can go up to Php50 especially by night.
►Charging fees: Php30 for phone and Php50 for powerbank (unlimited time)
►Eatery and stores are available but expect that prices are quite pricey! An ice for example is worth Php25
►There’s a strong signal in Burias!

How to Get to Burias Island
►This tour was actually hosted by a travel agency so we didn’t need to do anything as the driver will do the rest of the job going to Burias but if you are planning to go here via public transportation, here are the details you should know.
►If you are going to take the Port of San Andres , Quezon, the Superlines buses have direct trips to San Andres (via Unisan) (check the schedules of their trips here). Once you get to the town proper of San Andres, you need to ride a tricycle and ask the driver to take you to the San Andres Port. From there, you can charter a boat for your island hopping tour. As far as I know, the boat can be rented for 7,000 and above (depends on the number of islands you want to visit and also the number of days you want to stay). The amount is good for at least 10 pax

Where To Stay in Burias
►We stayed for a night in Sombrero Island island. The place is ideal enough to accommodate many tourists. There are decent open and closed type cottages in the island and as well as resto and stores. They also have clean comfort rooms and electricity in the island. Cellphone have signals too!
►If you are looking for Hotels in Masbate, you can check the suggested list here

It didn’t take us long to reach the next island. Verga Island offers a different characteristics and I can actually call it as an island of life because of the overwhelming life creatures we spotted here. The island is also known as cliff diving spot! I thought it could be my first cliff diving experience but my fear conquered me! I’ll share you my experience about Verga Island in my next #IslandHoppingInBurias entry!

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Feel free to watch this video summary below and don’t forget to subscribe!

Just in case you missed my previous entries, feel free to check them here

►Island Hopping In Burias ~ Prologue
►The Islang Dapa / Snake Island
►A Glimpse of Iniwaran Island / Templo Island
►Animasola Island
►Tinalisayan Island and Sand Bar
►Sombrero Island
►Verga Island
►Castillo Island