Pagudpud: Going to the tip of Northern Luzon island

Summer 2013 was decided to be the day my family conquered the Northern part of Luzon, the Ilocos region. We left Manila around 11:30 pm and we were hoping to reach the Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud before lunch, but alas that didn’t happen. We had many stop overs, made a few changes to the itinerary and settled on a better plan!

North Luzon Google Map

From Manila, just take the NLEX route, get out of the Sta. Inis exit and proceed onto the National Highway. We opted to not pass the SCTEX since we figured that there wouldn't be any traffic. Around 3am, we reached the Municipality of Rosario and had a short coffee break at a gasoline station. By 6:30am we arrived, the city of Vigan and looked for breakfast. The town looked so peaceful and quiet, and the only restaurant that was open at that time is Chowking. If you want Jollibee breakfast, you needed to wait till 7am, too long according to the noises made by our tummies.

Laoag City: Laoag City Church and Bell Tower

After 2 hours, we reached the city of Laoag, where we took another stop over at Mcdonalds. Little did we know that behind of Mcdo, was the Laoag church and bell tower. More photo opportunities and sightseeing!

Cape Bojeador

Since we were going up to the Blue Lagoon, we would be passing by most of the "Must see"destinations in Pagudpud, we decided not to give it a miss and headed over to check them out as well.  2 hours down the national highway, you will pass by Cape Bojeador. This is an old lighthouse that was established in the Spanish Colonial Period.

Bangui Windmills

Further down the road you will see signs that would direct you to the Bangui Windmills. 

Don’t worry if you miss the first entrance, there are 2 more up ahead. I would suggest you take the directional sign before crossing a bridge, as this will lead you directly under the Bangui windmills. There will be a row of vendors, where you can buy your Bangui Windmill T-shirts for Php 180, miniature windmills keychains/magnets as well as various other pasalubong.

Pagudpud Arc

By 1:30pm we finally reached the arc of Pagudpud.

Shore line at Saud Beach

You will pass by Saud beach in approximately 30-45 minutes, and since we were all hungry by this time, everyone decide to have lunch at Saud Beach and Resort.

Patapat Viaduct

After refilling our tummies, we left and proceeded to Blue Lagoon which was roughly another 30 minutes away. However, we overshot the turn and ended up near the Patapat Viaduct, which was technically the tip of Luzon. If we had continued further we would have reach Cagayan.

Blue Lagoon, Pagudpud

Finally by 4pm we have reached the Majestic Blue Lagoon.