what to do if somebody drowned

Note: In these kinds of situation, it helps knowing these things…

After taking him/her to shore. Remember the ABC (Airway, Breathing and Circulation).

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-cpr/FA00061.

Our friend was wearing dentures. It caused his mouth to bleed; initially it was thought that the blood came from his lungs. So knowing a person profile help. Or if you don’t know if he’s wearing one check, to avoid drawing a wrong conclusion.  It helps if you could find a medical professional. If you are many in your group assign somebody to look for one or assign yourself. Tip: it’s easier to shout MEDIC!!!   

 Mode of transport to nearest clinic or hospital. In our case it was almost an hour away. Do not make this your  top priority! A few minutes of first aid is better that any hospital. Make sure he is breathing even if unconscious (in this situation that my least expected result).  

Bring money. It might cause a delay in hiring your transport. Sad to say but not all people are willing to help if you don’t pay them. In our case I had a 100 php in my pocket at that time. Enough for a tricycle ride up to the hospital.

Reminders when going to Anawangin

Directions on how to got to anawangin <<click here>> 

When going there, prepare your ID and contact informations in case of emergency. Bring your health cards just in case. Save I.C.E (In Case of Emergency) in your mobile phones. There’s no signal in Anawangin island so you can only make contact when in Pundaquit.

They call the vast ground tent city because all you see are tents only. No accommodations. The sand is better in this area that is why fee’s are imposed there. The area is fenced up. There’s also an area where you can freely squat. The trees are as good too albeit the grounds are loam soil. Not sand.

The only amenities in anawangin is poso. Yung bakal na bino-bomba and cr. There’s no eatery there except for a mini store at the far corner of the beach that sells ice water, ice, chicheria, drinks like coke. Don’t depend on this store because they might not be there all the time. So you have to bring all your stuff when going there.

Please bring trash bags and clean up the place before leaving. As in please lang.

Say a thank you prayer when leaving

How to go to Anawangin Cove (boat only)

(This was our itinerary last year. No trek. Just a boat straight to anawangin cove)

We took the 9pm trip at Caloocan terminal victory liner bound to sta. Cruz or Iba zambales. Fare is around 220. Possible arrival 3 or 4am in san Antonio zambales. Trike to pundakit. fare ng local-15 ea. Kpag turista-20 ea..

Upon reaching pundaquit beach, arrange for a pump boat ride to anawangin cove. Deal the time of the trip to the island and the time going to capones. Exchange contact information. It is advisable to make the trip to the island in the morning because the waters too murky for travelling. Make sure that the boat you get provides life vest.

We had a short walk along the beach under the bright moonlight. 15 minute minor climb on the nearest hill on the corner/end of the beach. Setup tent and wait for the beautiful sunrise. 

As the dawn breaks, Some of the guys went to the market to have fresh tilapia for lunch. We did a short trek up the hill some more then later went down to the beach and took lots of pictures.

As soon as the market-boys arrived. Our boat came and we took the trip to anawangin island. It was a 30-minute travel. We set camp and prepared lunch.

If the accident didn’t happen, we’ll have a starry-starry night. The following day. We’d relax until lunchtime. Packup and take the boat going to capones. Take lots of pictures. Boat-travel back to pundaquit. Trike out of the barangay going to the terminal or in the highway and wait for buses bound for manila.

ooOOoo

By April we will finally have our balik anawangin. We will post here our itinerary soon. This time, we will be trekking the mountains from Pundaquit to Anawangin.

God bless

a banner in anawangin coming soon

with all the storms coming in the country, the perfect date when to put up this much awaited banner hasnt been finalized just yet. the signage is so huge i hope all swimmers would see this.

im just excited about this beach-return of the group. some of our officemate become regular hike buddies too and i hope they’d come with us to make peace with the ocean once again.

 we’d finally have one of those beach camps i never experienced . sleep under the stars and all. we’d be going to capones tower and of course take lots of pictures.

 Again, we would like to thank everybody for all the comments and visiting our site. the text messages too. it’s all awesome.

letter sent to the mayor of san antonio. warning post now seen at the beach

A week after the incident , a letter was sent to Mayor Romeo Lonzanida by one of our friends’ mother. an excerpt of it is

The group intens to go back for a campaign on the dangers of the place, though this has already started through the internet. i feel obliged to inform you about this, believing that being the municipal mayor, you should be the first one to be informed of the fatal incidents and ensure the safety of f uture tourists in the anawangin and pundakit area.

We haven’t gotten any feedback after the letter was sent. Manny, one of our trek comrades went back to anawangin beach just this Labor day, this time with a different group. No drowning incident was reported. However a new signage post is now seen along the shore. Aqua paint on wood board. i couldnt figure the words written on it though ( as the picture was just sent to us)..

It might say: PAALALA: WAG LUMANGOY SA MALAYO KASI MALALIM. DITO LANG SA MALAPIT.

There. that would sound sensible don’t you think? ^_^ i congratulate the person who brilliantly thought of this and i hope that the people will take the warning seriously. We’re not sure if this is an action done in response with the letter but whoever has thought of this, thank you pa rin po.

Take a look at this topshot (sent by Manny) of the beach for an update on the deep spots that they say constantly changes. 

Be sure to read our beach safety tips when going there.

———

I have been receiving text messages from concerned people. Some expressing their gratitude for putting up the site and others asking me stuff about accomodations and available boats going around pundaquit. haha. i had this long kitikitexting from a very concerned guy.

guy: it seems na magpiket kayo dun. ingat lang po. hindi nyo kilala sino binabangga nyo dun."

me: hello there. we will not be going there to make some noise. we will just put up a signage there and maybe make other campers aware of the dangerous waters in the area.

guy: buti naman kung ganun. sa totoo lang, mahiwaga tlaga yang si anawangin. umuaabuso na mga tao kaya kumukuha siya ng buhay. mabuti pang ipasara nlng yang anawangin para bmalik ang kanyang katahimikan

i forgot what i replied him with that statement. i started to feel guilty that putting up this website would even draw attention and spread the news about the beauty of anawangin than the danger of  its waters. im sure that more and more people will come to the place because of this ad. i even received a message from a group who got more excited because of the "kahiwagaan" of the place. i just drew the punches for them to keep safe and pray once they get there.

To everyone who has visited this site and extended their thank you’s, you’re all welcome po. we hope that this site will really inculcate in the minds of every beeach-goers to be watchful from then on. tc everyone.