Hundred Islands : Pangasinan’s premier tourist destination

In 2015, my cousins from Vancouver, British Columbia arrived in the Philippines. Part of their itinerary then was to visit Pangasinan esp Sto. Domingo Cove, Barangay Lucap in the City of Alaminos where Hundred Islands is just stone’s throw away. My cousins, accompanied by their kids, invited us to see and enjoy the fun-filled and incredible place.

Surprisingly, Barangay Lucap is a very distinctive barangay where the deep-seated salt-making tradition is highly preserved.
Pangasinan borders two different magnificent bodies of water, Lingayen gulf in the northwest and the West Philippine Sea to the west.

*FYI, the province name was derived from the phrase “pang-asinan” or place of salt-making, land of salt.*

Pangasinan borders two different magnificent bodies of water, Lingayen gulf in the northwest and the West Philippine Sea to the west.
Lingayen Gulf is approximately 56 km-stretch extending up to the province of La Union. The historic gulf greatly played an important role in the liberation of the Philippines against the Japanese imperial forces during the later years of World War II.

The Philippines is currently and officially comprised of 7,107 islands but the archipelago may have additional 400 previously unknown islands— the majority of them found on the island of Mindanao. The mapping agency that manages this task is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources National Mapping and Resource Information (NAMRIA). The new bunch of islands was discovered through a new technology called Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar.

Other islands or islets in the archipelago are ephemeral or “Luli” (lulubog, lilitaw) depending on the tides.

Hundred Islands National Park (HINP), the Philippines’ first and foremost national park, is a premier tourist destination in the province. It has a total of 123 mixes of islands and islets in the normal tide and 124 in low tide.

Virgin Island shoreline adjoining Governor’s Island

Unknown to others, HINP has also a version of “Christ the Redeemer” in its Pilgrimage island. The park also offers both water and land adventures such as zip line, wall climbing, cliff diving, kayaking, jet-skiing, parasailing, banana boat riding, helmet diving, etc.

There are several and famous islands in the HINP, one of them is the Governor’s Island. The said island is the most developed island which rises at 250 ft ASL—the highest peak in the group of islands in the foremost park.

There is also Virgin Island where you can experience the longest flight experience aboard the zipline. It has a length of 546 meters and up to 230 meters high above sea level compared with the 120-meter long zip line in Quezon Island. The zip line connects two islands, the Governor’s island—the launching pad— and the Virgin Island.

Also, in HINP, you can find the famous Paraw. It is a traditional water vehicle equipped with double outriggers. The said boat is also a traditional sailboat of the Visayan.
Now, “Paraw Sailing” is being revived to attract tourism. Thus, in 2017, Alaminos City introduced Hundred Islands Paraw Festival. The festival coincides with the feast of the City’s Patron, St Joseph, the Cityhood Anniversary and Alaminos City Paraw Festival.