Southern Luzon - The Rough Guide to the Philippines - page 227

polished furniture. There's a garden with a couple of f shaded
areas for breakfast, and wi-fi at reception. P1350
MG Hotel Punta Nursery T 056 333 5614, E MG_hotel
[e-mail]. One of the city's best hotels offers

spacious a/c rooms with very decent-sized beds (for Filipino
standards). Pricier rooms also have a fridge, with the most
expensive options set around the small pool area. T here's
wi-fi at the restaurant. Rates include breakfast. P1200

EATING
Bialetti Café 33A Quezon St T 056 333 2847. This small
welcoming café, decorated with trinkets, offers a selection
of sweet and savoury crêpes (P75), hot chocolate (P80),
smoothies (P110) and iced coffees (P100). It's a pleasant
spot to sit back with a book, and there's wi-fi too. Mon-Sat
8am-10pm.
Binalot at Bulaco Brgy Ibingay T 056 582 9891.
This friendly little native-style restaurant with wicker
lamps, wooden tables and bamboo walls is famous
for its bulalo special (P160) - bone marrow broth with
cabbage and onion leaves. There are plenty more local
dishes on offer, including seafood and fresh fish. Daily
10am-10pm.

Minlan 1 Osmena St T 056 333 6886. Simple restaurant,
with low wooden benches, serving the usual Filipino
staples - noodles (P120), pork (P140) and chicken (P140).
Walls are brightened up with gold and red wallpaper and
a splash of red paint, with a few framed miniature bowls
and teapots to look at. Daily 9.30am-9pm.
Tio Jose Steak Grills Ibingay St T 056 582 0193. This
popular restaurant is a stab at a US-style bar, with sizzlers,
steaks and grills (P180) on the menu as well as “Aussie
starters” that include calamares fritos (P180), onion rings
(P95) and buttered chicken (P155). It gets pretty lively in
the evenings, when Filipinos belt out karaoke. There's wi-fi,
too. Daily 11am-11pm.

DIRECTORY
Banks There are plenty of banks along Quezon St,
including DBP and Land Bank.
Internet access Loyola on Ibanez St (daily 8.30am-

9.30pm; P13/hr; T 0907 111 1054).
Police The police station is in the City Hall ( T 056 582
0875). 4

Bituon Beach
he sand at Bituon Beach (aka Bagacay Beach), 14km south of Masbate City and 2km
down a dirt road from the barangay of Bagacay , is not as blindingly white as some, but
that's a minor quibble. Some 2km long, the beach, with palm trees at the edge and
beautifully clear shallow water, is nonetheless a pretty crescent bay.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE BITUON BEACH

By jeepney From Masbate City it's a short jeepney ride to
Bagacay (hourly; 20min; P20); they stop on the main road
from where you can either walk to Bituon Beach (20min) or

take a tricycle down the track (P40; 5min). A tricycle all the
way from Masbate City should cost P300.

ACCOMMODATION
Cocoview Lagoon About 5km north of Bituon. This
pleasant resort is set on a beautiful verdant stretch of land;
there's a freshwater pool that over the weekends attracts

scores of masbateños from all over the municipalities to
cool off. At th e time of f research, accommodation was under
construction. P1500

Batongan Cave
20km inland from Mandaon • Local guide P500; ask around where the jeepney drops you off, or organize in advance at the Masbate City
tourist o ce (see opposite) • Jeepneys (hourly; 45min; P80) and buses (hourly; 1hr) run from Masbate City towards Mandaon; ask the
driver to let you off at the caves - note there are boats to Mandaon from Roxas, in Panay (2 weekly; 4hr 30min; P450) and Cajidiocan on
Sibuyan (1 weekly; 4hr; P450)
The town of MANDAON is 64km west of Masbate City on the opposite coast. The trip
by jeepney takes you along a scenic road that passes through pastureland, paddy fields
and a number of isolated settlements inhabited by subsistence farmers. There's not
much in Mandaon itself, but it's a good base for exploring two of the island's most
noted natural wonders: Kalanay Cave on the northwest coast 40km from Mandaon,
and, 20km nearer town, Batongan Cave . Both make excellent day-trips, but Batongan