Awesome Sand Dunes in Paoay, Ilocos Norte

Feeling "driver" haha!

        When we were in Currimao, Ilocos Norte touring with my Tita as I mentioned in my previous post, We decided to drive to the next province as well just to check out the other things we could do there for the day. There was the very old and beautiful Paoay church, and the Malacanang of the North. But then we also saw signs everywhere that says "Sand Dunes". And so we figured, why not check it out? Who knows when we'll be back in Paoay, right? And I'm glad we did! Because it was one of the coolest experience I've ever had in the Philippines!

        I really wasn't 100% sure what to expect. I thought it would just be a hot uncomfortable sand-y experience. As we drove up, the place called Suba Sand Dunes, we saw these 4x4 jeeps parked.

There was even a hot pink one!

        But we were asked to use this cool green one. I think you can't really pick which 4x4 you want to ride on because they rotate the jeeps so all jeeps get enough rest (and so it's fair to the other jeeps hehe) Still cool!

        I felt an extra jolt of excitement when we noticed that there were no car seats at the back. Standing ovation! Haha! So the thought of riding at the back of a jeep through sand dunes with the wind blowing in your face seemed like an inviting activity! But since we were with Rain, (yes she's my little daredevil), I had to sit at the passenger seat with her on my lap. 

        Disclaimer: The sand dunes guys told us that Rain could ride as long as she's brave enough, and as long as she sits in front with an adult.

Here we gooooo! I was thinking to myself that if ever I do come back 

        As soon as we saw the sand dunes, I was in awe. I never knew there was a place like this in the Philippines. It's 88 hectars of pure sand. I totally felt like we were suddenly in the Middle East. And this is not man made, mind you. It's all natural. Why there are this much sand here in this area of Paoay, I still don't know. But who cares because it's spectacular!

Suba Paoay Sand Dunes :) #ilocos #4x4

A video posted by Rina Zamora 🌈 (@rinasrainbow) on Aug 24, 2015 at 9:50pm PDT

        Then, the driver drove faster and drove down the sand dunes making us feel like we were aboard a roller coaster! It's really thrilling!

        As we drove up, a sand dune, we were suddenly met with a breathtaking view of the West Philippine Sea! The view was just amazing!

        Part of the attraction is stopping in different areas of the area to take awesome photos. What I loved about the Suba Sand Dune drivers is that they know how to take nice photos, and they even know the features of my phone that would best capture this amazing place. He took panoramic shots all by himself! Galing ni Kuya! I was really surprised!

This was soooo much fun!!!!! Suba Paoay Sand Dunes!!!! So much better than roller coasters!!!! 😍😍😍 #ilocos #SandDunes #4x4

A video posted by Rina Zamora 🌈 (@rinasrainbow) on Aug 24, 2015 at 8:34pm PDT

He also took this video of us going down a sand dune

After a few more sand dunes, we stopped over right by the beach to take more photos.

And I have to say, the beach was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever soon. 

        It looked like a shooting location for a Hollywood movie! It was a long wide beach with strong waves. 

The sand by the beach looked like small tiny rocks. But the weird part was that it wasn't painful on the feet even if you walk barefoot.

Mandatory jump shot!

        This was really an awesome experience. As we were leaving, I couldn't help but wish that Richie and my Zamora family, especially Rain's cousins, could experience this because I just know they will enjoy it. But I didn't think they would be up for the long road trip.

        Fortunately, my wish came true! On January 2016, my Dad in law's friend invited the whole family over to Sinait and stay at their private beach house! And guess what? Sinait is just an hour or so drive from Paoay! So I told them we really had to go. So....

TADAAAA!!!!!

Three 4x4 jeeps with the Zamora clan!

        This time we went to the Sand Dunes in Culili Point. Because this is the first Sand Dunes sign we saw from Paoay Church. Apparently there is more than one Sand Dunes attraction points there in Paoay.

        Happy standing passengers! Picky Eater hubby Richie, my pretty and talented niece Cara (author of the awesome blog Crave the World), and my bro in law Ryan. I know I said that the next time I return, I wanted to experience riding at the back. But I felt better being the one holding Rain at the front :) So I'm back to the passenger seat :-)

        What's even more surprising is that Dad and Mom rode too! :-) I was so happy! We just told their driver to drive at a safer pace. Mom rode in front and had her seat belt on. And guess what? They really enjoyed it!

Excuse my tummy

        Mandatory beach jump shot with my sister Raquel, cousin Pia, and Niece Cara :-) Tip: If you decide to wear kicks like I did, make sure you bring extra shoes and socks or slippers in case your shoes accidentally get wet by the beach. The waves attacked  our legs right after this jump shot. So I was walking with squishy shoes after. Eeeeeeew.

        Something we didn't do the first time I went was sand boarding. So I'm glad that we got to try it this time.

        The slope was very steep, and I for one am always a wuss when it comes to slides. Even with children's slides I'm always hesitant to make that first push. But my daredevil 4 year old girl wanted to go. So no choice si mommy haha!

       That's it! Thanks for reading my experience with these amazing sand dunes. When you go to Paoay, make sure you visit the Paoay Church, there's also Paoay Lake which we didn't get to go to, and the Malacanang of the North. But if you want something awesome don't ever skip the Sand Dunes! :-) Oh, and the driver also told us that in March, the place looks more amazing because there are no weeds or plants. Just pure sand everywhere! I can imagine how spectacular that looks! The Paoay Sand Dunes is definitely something one must experience when planning a trip to Ilocos Norte.