When I first saw the Anawangin Cove one evening while my friends and I were online, surfing for a perfect hideaway on the coming long weekend, I stared in awe and disbelief at my monitor. Pine trees along the seashore in the Philippines? That couldn’t be! Those are supposed to be coconut trees!

With my curiosity piqued, we agreed to spend our vacation at the Anawangin Cove to see for ourselves how beautiful the secluded hideaway is. The place also boasts of two small uninhabited islands that would give the world-famous Boracay Island a run for its money. The cove with its own pristine, white sand beaches has a plus factor going to its advantage: it’s only a three-hour ride from Manila.

And so, come weekend, we packed our bags and drove 150 km northwest of Manila to the little town of Pundaquit, Zambales. The fact that a typhoon had just recently visited the country and that another one was coming, didn’t daunt us to go ahead with our rendezvous with nature.

As we got nearer, I could not help but noticed how idyllic the province of Zambales is. It was like a scenery from one of Fernando Amorsolo’s canvas – nipa huts beside mango trees, carabaos grazing, rice fields bounty with harvest. Up in the sky, the clouds were caressing the mountains.

So engrossed was I with nature’s beauty that I failed to see a big snake, about six feet long, crossing the street. I swerved the car but I still ran over its writhing body. From the side mirror, I saw the snake raised its head, whether in pain or in anger, I did not know. One thing I was sure, it wanted to strike back, to inflict pain to its tormentor. I just hope it didn’t die.

We arrived at Megan’s Sea Resort around 11 o’clock in the morning and surprisingly, the sun was out; hiding once in a while behind the gray clouds. There were several groups of surfers, foreigners and Filipinos alike, surfing the big waves to the open sea with much gusto. Little, did we know that Pundaquit was such a haven for surfers!
We occupied two air-conditioned rooms, each with two queen size beds, a toilet and bath and a terrace fronting the sea. We rented the rooms for two days and two nights. It was off peak season and we were able to get the entire package for a low price of US$100.00. The price could double during summer, though.