I have only read about Pagudpud on books and seen it on the Internet before. In fact, I once imagined getting married in it even though I actually haven't visited the place yet. So, when we planned for this Ilocandia tour, of course, missing out on Saud Beach in Pagudpud is a criminal offense to my long overdue dream.


Since Vigan is a really small place, we were able to finish touring it in a day. By the afternoon, we were all set to go to Pagudpud. We took a bus from Vigan going to Laoag which was almost 2 hours. It was not an easy trip. Some roads were bumpy but I took delight in it and appreciate the very "probinsya" feel of the road while the bus window was open and was blowing my hair until it was unmanageable. Anyway, when we reached Laoag, we rode another bus that'll take us to the municipality of Pagudpud.

 Travel Tip: If you have enough money for the trip, it would be wise and more time-saving if you'll ride a plane to Laoag if you're coming from Manila. And from there, it'll be just an hour and a half trip to Pagudpud.

 We weren't able to tour Laoag which is a usual stop for a usual tour of Ilocos because we didn't have time but we promised we'd come back to see the sand dunes and Paoay Church.

 Anyway, on the bus to Pagudpud, we asked the konduktor to drop us off at the municipal hall because that's where we'll be riding a tricycle to reach the resorts of Saud Beach. The guys sitting across us heard us and asked us if we already have room reservations and I said none but we already know where we're going. He said he owns one of the resorts there, John Ronald Resort, and said he'd give us discount if we choose his resort. Of course we did! Yes, we're suckers of accommodation discounts! :) 

 And so, instead of staying at Palm Grove for 2,500 a night, we stayed at John's resort for the rate of 1,500 per night. It was the perfect timing that we arrived before the sun sets so we had enough sunlight to take pictures and swim for a while and then watch the sunset from the horizon.

Saud Beach is one of the two popular beaches in Pagudpud; Blue Lagoon being the other one. A lot of people and bloggers say that Blue Lagoon is better because the resorts there are more comfortable (and more pricey of course!) and that the shore line is more breathtaking. If you choose to go to Blue Lagoon, it'll be another hour ride from Pagudpud's municipal hall as opposed to just the ten-min. tricycle ride if you choose to go to Saud.

As with Saud, I cannot complain even though I haven't been to Blue Lagoon yet so I have no point of comparison. Saud's sand was fine and white and very photogenic.



Facing the sea, we had a flawless view of the sun setting from the far distance.


 That night, we had dinner by the beach at Terra Rika's which was very nice because it was right beside Evangeline Resort and the latter had a stage and a bossa nova singer is serenading the guests. This was such a perfect evening. The sea breeze, the famous Vigan longganisa, and the music...

And sige na nga, it's because of the person I was with... This was our first out of town trip, just the two of us.

The next morning, we woke up early to swim. We explored the other parts of the shore. Facing the sea, we walked to the leftmost part to the point that you can almost see the Bangui windmills. There, we found the part of the beach that has lots of rocks and algae and it just looks too pretty not to take photos.










In the afternoon, we had lunch and ordered this local dish called the INSARABASAB. So I hope I got that right. It's a tongue-twister, noh?


I know an overnight stay in paradise is  not enough, but what are we gonna do about it? We didn't have enough time and we were not able to go to all the places we really wanted to see in Ilocos. We saw the windmills of Bangui from afar while riding the bus but we're not able to see it up close, and we also didn't get to see Patapat Viaduct and Kabigan Falls which are two other attractions in Pagudpud.

All in all, combined with the Vigan trip, it was the epitome of a trip that happened and passed by too soon. Two days was not enough to explore all of what Ilocos has to offer but I am glad to have seen what we've seen in this trip. 

 On our next Ilocandia tour, we're hoping to round out all of the places we didn't see.