My friends and I decided to go on a last minute trip a day trip before we welcome 2017 (Dec. 30, 2016 to be exact) to one of the famous beaches in the Philippines, The Hundred Islands National Park; it is a group of Islands in the Northern part (Alaminos, Pangasinan) of the Philippines. The islands, totaling around 124 at low tide and 123 at high tide, are scattered in Lingayen Gulf. However, only three of these islands have been developed for tourism: Governor Island, Quezon Island, and Children’s Island.
We did not book anything for this trip; we just decided to pack some clothes, buy some snacks and ride a public van from Dagupan City and head straight to Alaminos where the Islands are located.
If you are coming from Manila, you can ride a Victory Bus, a Five Star Bus or a Solid North Bus going to Dagupan City and from there you can ride a Victory Bus again going straight to Alaminos or ride a public van. The trip will be less than 2 hrs. by van and around 2 and a half hrs. by bus. There is a Pines Garage Terminal for the public vans in M. H. Del Pilar Street. Which is near the Solid North Station. From Victory or Five Star Bus Terminal, You can ride a Downtown jeep or a tricycle and tell the driver to drop you off at the Pines Garage Terminal going to Alaminos. If you are not that familiar with Dagupan City, then I recommend that you take the Victory Liner Bus or the Five Star Bus instead because you can easily transfer to the Victory Bus going to Alaminos. (The terminals of these bus companies are beside each other in Dagupan City).
Upon arriving at Alaminos, you can ride a tricycle and head straight to Lucap Wharf, the entrance to the Hundred Islands National Park. The fare is around 15 per head or you can rent the entire tricycle for 60 pesos. Tricycle will drop you off at the Tourism Office of Alaminos which is beside Lucap Wharf to pay for entrance, environmental, and insurance fees. This is the standard procedure in the Park; you can’t visit the islands without going to the Tourism office. From there we moved to the entrance of the Lucap Wharf to rent boats going to the park. The boat driver will also serve as a tour guide. You can choose to have a day or a night tour of the Park (See below for the information and the fees) By the way, all the fees are standardized by the Tourism Office, which means that all prices are the same for all boat operators.
(sorry it’s a bit crumpled, I carelessly tucked it in my bag) 
You have to bring your own snacks and drinks in the Islands because there is less to no vendors in there although there are vendors and restaurants and lodges around the Lucap Wharf. By The way, we had our lunch at Island Tropic Hotel, The food was heaven and cheap. forgot to take pictures from here though…
Sometimes, the best trips are unplanned. All you need is a dose of travel enthusiasm, and crazy buddies to make the trip worthwhile. 🙂
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Thanks for reading 🙂
Jane's Anecdotes 