Anguib Beach

Luzon ends in a scatter of headlands and islands at Cagayan's northeastern corner, where the Pacific meets the Babuyan Channel, and Anguib is the beach that gets the day-trip traffic. Boats from San Vicente port run twenty minutes along the coast to a cove of cream-coloured sand and clear water backed by low green hills, with shade trees and a handful of open-sided huts and grills. It is usually combined with the neighbouring stops - the sandbar at Crocodile Island, the snorkelling shallows and, weather permitting, Palaui Island's Cape Engaño with its 1890s Spanish lighthouse on the bluff. The sea decides everything here: the channel is exposed and the northeast monsoon can shut boat traffic for days between November and February, so trips are arranged the same morning after the boatmen have looked at the water. When it is calm, this is one of the emptiest good beaches in northern Luzon.

What you actually see

• The cream cove - quiet sand and clear water off the channel.
• The boat run - the twenty-minute coastal hop from Santa Ana.
• Crocodile Island's sandbar - the usual paired stop.
• Palaui and Cape Engaño - the lighthouse island next door.

When to go

March to May for the calmest seas and clearest water; the amihan months bring wind and cancelled boats. Trips are decided morning by morning.

Honest expectations

There are no resorts on the beach - huts, grills and toilets at best, so bring what you need. Boat hire is per group and worth splitting. Rough water cancels plans without appeal.

Nearby

Palaui Island, the Cagayan coast around Santa Ana and the road south to Tuguegarao make up the region's circuit.