The sun was lowering down as we sped away from the beach, trailing voluminous dust clouds behind, leaving everything golden and heading back to the tumult of the city. Work was waiting and we have to catch the bus bound for Manila.

But that was two years ago on my first visit to Dasol, a very short daytrip due to work schedule. I was longingly looking out the window at the setting sun back then, knowing I had no choice but to turn my back to it. This time, I am ready for Tambobong’s sunset.

Well, sort of.

The afternoon was fast approaching but I was still not getting off Tambobong Beach’s placid waters. It was just too hard to stand up and leave the comfort of the low sun, the soft fine sand and the soothing cool/warm waters of the beach to get my cameras and tripod.

I looked again at the western horizon, I can see orange glows even as the sun was not yet on its sunset mode. I grudgingly got up for photography’s sake.
The first thing I noticed in Tambobong-Osmena Beach is the number of fishing boats docked along its shoreline.

The boats here are the outrigger types with ornamental fins on both ends of its body; the big ones have motors installed but the smaller crafts are paddle-powered. These colorful vessels are the source of livelihood for the people of the Dasol Bay and they also make for colorful photography subjects.
The sun was lowering on the western horizon and common sense would say that that is where you should point your camera, I was headed the wrong way though; the eastern end of the cove is where the interesting rock formations are.

I knew from the way the clouds were forming over the eastern sky that it would be blanketed with dramatic colors even if it was on the other end of the setting sun. At first I thought I was mistaken as the sun was suddenly trapped by thick cloud cover and the sky colors went dead.
My hopes went up again as the sun reappeared. Now much lower, it painted a strong magenta hue over the eastern sky. I cannot hope for a more dramatic backdrop for the jagged rocks of Tambobong Beach.
The tide was coming up as I waded farther and deeper along the craggy edges of the cliff-like formation of the beach. Using my tripod to gauge the depth, I stopped as my tripod can no longer go without dipping my camera into saltwater which would immediately make it into a very expensive paperweight.
The sun dipped, and the colors flared its last breath of color. I didn’t get as many frames as I would’ve wanted, my target location was already way beyond reach due to the incoming tide. But still, it was a good sunset shoot. One of the better ones I had in a long time, in fact.

    Tambobong Beach
    Brgy. Osmena & Brgy. Tambobong
    Dasol, Pangasinan
    GPS Coordinates: 15.931093,119.786167 | Click to view location on Google Maps

    Matabang Beach Resort
    Brgy. Osmena
    Dasol, Pangasinan
    E-mail: heyse.pineda@gmail.com
    Telephone: (02) 425-4980 | (0905) 245-5425 | (0928) 937-7701
    Website: http://matabang.multiply.com
    GPS Coordinates: 15.93107,119.788128 | Click to view location on Google Maps

    How to get to Tambobong Beach by Commuting:
    From Manila, board an Alaminos bound bus (Php300.00).  Alight at Alaminos and board a jeep going to Burgos
    (Php27.00) and ask the driver to drop you off at the Burgos Market.  From there, rent a tricycle (Php200 to 300.00)
    to Tambobong Beach or Matabang Beach Resort.

       2012 TAMBOBONG BEACH SERIES
       DASOL’S TAMBOBONG BEACH REVISITED | UNDERWATER AT DASOL’S TAMBOBONG BEACH 
       DASOL SUNSET AT TAMBOBONG BEACH

       2010 TAMBOBONG BEACH SERIES
       TAMBOBONG BEACH | COLLIBRA ISLAND | CABACUNGAN ISLAND | MATABANG BEACH RESORT
       AN AFTERNOON WALK AT TAMBOBONG