Dasol Salt Farms

Pangasinan takes its name from panag-asinan, the place where salt is made, and Dasol on the province's western coast is where the trade is still carried on in the traditional way. Sea water is led into shallow clay-lined pans laid out in grids along the shore, moved from pan to pan as it concentrates over days of sun and wind, and finally raked into white ridges and shovelled into baskets by workers who walk the beds barefoot. In the dry months from February the whole coastal strip turns into a chequerboard of glinting water and salt heaps, and the light on it at dawn and late afternoon is the reason photographers come. It is manual, seasonal and poorly paid work, and the industry has been squeezed for years by imported salt and by regulations on iodisation - context worth knowing before treating the beds purely as scenery. Ask before walking among them.

What to look for

• The evaporation grid - clay-lined pans along the shore.
• The raking - workers gathering salt into ridges.
• The salt heaps - white piles waiting to be carried off.
• The coastal light - reflections across the beds at dawn and dusk.

When to go

February to May, the harvest season - outside it the beds are idle or flooded. Early morning and late afternoon for light and to catch the work in progress.

Practical notes

These are private working farms, not an attraction - ask before entering the beds or photographing workers. There are no facilities, shade or signage. The sun on the pans is punishing.

Nearby

The Hundred Islands at Alaminos and Bolinao's coast are up the province; Dasol's own beaches are along the same shore.