Discount deal for Borawan-Dampalitan Island Adventure from Cash Cash Pinoy

Our coworker saw a deal from CashCashPinoy  for an adventure in Borawan –Dampalitan Island Adventure and the price is just 599.00 pesos and 5 vouchers required. It sounds affordable, right? So we rushed to book, 7 of us purchased. We looked for the right dates to book because we are all working and we can’t go on tour together. August was our target month because there was two holidays but the agency told us that July to August they don’t accept tours for weather condition is not good during those months. Last October 27 and 28 we had the chance to book because of the Barangay Election.

We got early and contacted the agency for she gave the instruction that we should text or call when we reach Vista Playa. The agent told us to contact a certain person, who was going to meet us. Funny she asked us  to contact a person, when she should be the one arranged it for us, why we got an agency if we would contact others too? We learned that the agency in the deal is not based in the area; they just have contact in Padre Burgos.

While we were waiting for the local contact we took pictures and had our breakfast in the restaurant.

Finally after less than an hour, the local contact arrived. She offered us to take a side trip to Putting Buhangin also known as kuwebang lampas. We had to add 600.00 for that plus 80.00 pesos per head as entrance fee for the island. We were asking for discount since we paid 4,193.00 for 7 persons. But she refused because the agency just sent the local contact 2,300.00 and it is still lacking. It’s an internal issue don’t know what their agreement, so we took the side trip instead.

Just a tip for those who are looking for a discounted tour better check the local tours first, that’s what we learn from this trip. Especially if the price sounds cheap, you don’t know it could be cheaper if you would directly book a tour from the local agency.

Like in our case we paid 4,193.00 pesos for the deal plus 600.00 for the boat and 560.00 for the entrance in Kuwebang lampas a total of 5,353.00 pesos. Unlike if we could have directly taken a tour from a local contact, we could have saved more:

Boat rental for the three islands (Borawan-Dampalitan-Kuwebang Lampas)– 1,800.00

Entrance fee for the three islands (80.00 per island) – 1,680.00

Overnight Stay in Kuwebang Lampas with tent good for two to three persons additional of (100.00/per person) – 700.00

So we could just have spent a total of 4,180.00 that’s for 7 persons already. But well it’s a lesson for us discount is not always a discount. The deal said 599.00 instead of 1,200.00. It was a false deal.  The fees are fixed mandated by local tourism so no overpricing with the local agents. Well it’s our fault we didn’t check first. So you guys next time check it first too.  Don’t trust the discounts.