The first islet we visited during our island hopping adventure in Dasol, Pangasinan was the one that can clearly be seen from Tambobong Beach, the petite Colibra Island. The island’s name is pretty confusing. Some call it Culebra, sometimes Snake Island (the area is frequented by sea snakes before). 

It’s a twenty-minute or so ride via fishing boats from the mainland.  Island tours are priced at Php800.00 per boat; seems a bit expensive, but it can load up to seven passengers and can be at your disposal for the whole day if you wish, so I guess the price is justified.  Be sure to bring food and water along as you won’t get any from the islands you’ll be visiting.

From afar, one can clearly see a ring of white sand surrounding the island, making it look like the perfect place to lounge in by the beach. Upon closer inspection though, what looks like fine sand is really a mixture of sandy and stony shore. There are places where the sand is fine, but you better bring your own parasol if you plan to stay there long; there are hardly any trees growing near the shoreline.  The sun can get hot pretty fast without a shade.
Dasol’s Colibra island can be fully explored in less than thirty minutes, it being just around a hundred and fifty meters across. It looks a bit like a small hill in the middle of the sea with its top part chopped off.
Its twelve-foot elevated middle part looks like some sort of plateau with dried up plants (probably due to the intense El Niño weather the country is experiencing) and the surrounding lower parts is a mix of craggy rocks and fine sand coves.

I saw a few bonfire remnants along the top part of the island, indicating adventurous travelers camping upon the isle.
The northern part of the island, the one facing Tambobong Beach, is where the sand is. But after exploring a bit of Colibra, we found a really good spot at its western end. This was where we spent a good hour or so swimming and snorkeling. The beach slopes gradually but gets pretty deep on some parts.  Really nice place for a swim; its water, warm and crystal clear. My only beef though was that there were but a few fishes we saw when we snorkeled.

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I recently returned to Dasol, Pangasinan, revisiting Tambobong Beach during the rainy month of August and I’m glad to discover that the island hopping rates remain at Php800.00 per boat. The sun was shining when we went for the island hopping adventure, but the waves were really strong. It was so strong in fact, that our boat was almost unable to dock at Colibra Island.

I also noticed that the shoreline seems wider than my previous visit and that there are fewer trees now in the island (due to the recent typhoon, our boatman says).


Colibra Island
Address: Dasol Bay, Dasol, Pangasinan
Entrance Fee: Free
Island Hopping Tour Rate: Php800.00

GPS Coordinates Map: 15°52'52.4"N 119°46'41.6"E