Experiencing Camarines Sur: Trip to Siruma

This is another TBT from our previous travel. This is our Naga Experience last June 27-June 30, 2012 with a side trip to Siruma, a coastal island and a lesser known place in Camarines Sur but still with so many things to offer.

This is the second part of our 3-days-2-nights Exploring Camarines Sur.

Originally, we planned on either going to Caramoan or Legaspi City. But we were a bit short on time and J wanted to experience Siruma also. What/where is Siruma?

Back story of how I found out about Siruma (again, I would be posting full details about this next time):
Last March 2012, I (together with another friend of mine) was lucky enough to score a good-paying job at a provincial hospital located at Siruma, Camarines Sur. Grabbing the chance, we went for the interview at CWC in Naga (since it offered free accommodation and we really wanted to try the wakeboarding) and accepted the job. So, that’s how I found myself weeks after in a secluded, far-off coastal place, 5-6 hours away from Naga (depending on the road condition) in a place known as Siruma.

Siruma is that little spot on the upper area

Anyway, Siruma is a fourth class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, which has a population of approximately 17,050 people (2010 census). It has 22 barangays. You can go here either via land or via sea.

How to go to Siruma via Land Travel:

• Ride a bus going to Naga City.
• Alight at the CBD Bus Terminal in Naga
• Hire a tricycle to take you to Queborac Terminal (the terminal where the jeepneys going to Siruma/Tinambac are located). This is just 8php/person, if you’re just one, pay 16php.
• Locate the jeepneys going to Siruma. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: there is only one travel time to Siruma from Queborac and that is at around 9-10 am. This is again, dependent on the weather and road conditions.
• Prepare for a bumpy, adventurous ride!

How to go to Siruma via Sea Travel:

• Ride a bus going to Naga City.
• Alight at the CBD Bus Terminal in Naga
• Hire a tricycle to take you to Queborac Terminal (the terminal where the jeepneys going to Siruma/Tinambac are located). This is just 8php/person, if you’re just one, pay 16php.
• Locate the jeepneys going to Tinambac. Tell the driver to drop you off at the pier station in Tinambac.
• Hire a boat at TInambac Port. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: there are no regular boats going to/coming from Siruma so if you are going to take this route, most likely you will be hiring a private boat which costs around 500-1000php. This is again dependent on the weather conditions. If it’s rainy, do not take this route since the boats are very small (almost like a fishing boat) and the travel time takes around 2 hours.

We opted to go via land travel since I’m already used to traveling via this route. Travelling to Siruma is an adventure itself. Half of the roads going there do not have any pavement. And since you’re just riding in a jeepney, expect it to be very very bumpy. Sometimes, if it’s raining, the pathway would be soft and muddy and the jeepneys would sometimes be stuck. So, travel time is really dependent on the weather conditions haha. Luckily for us, at that time it rained a bit but not enough to cause really deep muds on the roads so our travel time was just approximately 5 hours. We left Naga at around 11:00 am and arrived at Siruma at around 5:00-5:30 pm.

One of The Jeepney Going to Siruma

The Road Going to Siruma

Unfortunately, when we arrived there, there were no electricity haha. We stayed at the provincial hospital since one of our friends is on duty there. We did get to explore one of the many beaches found in Siruma, the Magayon (in English, beautiful) Beach. We did not swim though but just walked around and take pictures.

The Hospital Where We Stayed In

Magayon Beach

Simple yet beautiful beach

Rock Formation

After that, we went back to the hospital and called it a day (the electricity went back at around 4am haha).

Next up, the day after in Siruma, Camarines Sur.

Read more:
Experiencing Camarines Sur: Arrival at Naga and Wakeboarding at CWC
Experiencing Camarines Sur: Exploring Siruma and Return Trip to Manila