Anawangin and Nagsasa Coves

Anawangin and Nagsasa are two coves on the Zambales coast that no road reaches, so everyone arrives by outrigger from the fishing beach at Pundaquit. Both look wrong for the tropics: instead of coconut palms the beach is backed by dense stands of agoho, a needle-leaved tree that reads as pine, and the sand is grey rather than white, seeded with ash and lahar material carried down after the 1991 eruption of Pinatubo inland. Nagsasa is the larger and quieter of the two, with a stream behind the treeline and hills rising directly off the sand. People come to camp, and the coves are at their best after the day boats leave.

The landscape

• The agoho stands - dense needle-leaved trees growing right down to the back of the beach.
• The grey sand - ash and lahar material from the 1991 eruption mixed through the shoreline.
• Nagsasa cove - the larger, emptier cove with a stream and hills straight off the beach.
• Capones Island lighthouse - the ruined beacon on the offshore island, a usual stop on the boat run.

When to go

November to May is the dry season and the only reliable time for boats; in the southwest monsoon from June to September the swell frequently shuts the crossing down. Overnight is the point - the day boats clear out in the afternoon and the coves empty. Weekends and the April to May school holidays fill the campsites.

Before you go

There is no fresh water, no power beyond a generator and no shop, so everything comes in on the boat with you, including drinking water. Sandflies bite hard at dusk and the bites last. Toilets are rudimentary and weekend litter is a real problem. Boatmen will cancel or refuse to collect you if the sea turns, which happens.

Nearby

Pundaquit and the San Antonio coast, with Capones and Camara islands offshore.