Summers at Cabangan start at the beach. Sprawling sandy shorelines fringed by native agoho trees, kids running across the burning sand, massive rolling waves, dogs lazily sleeping along the shades of fishing boats, and fiery colorful sunsets.

My adopted province, it is where my wife spent a very sunburnt childhood, and it’s where we’re making our son spend his. Cabangan is situated right in the middle of Zambales Province—the West Philippine Sea on its west and the Zambales Mountain Range on its east.

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CABANGAN’S DISTINCT LOOSE SAND BEACHES

There was a time when the town was literally devoid of tourists, with hardly any resorts along its beachfront. Those are bygone days—posh hotels and resorts now line its beaches, bringing in literal busloads of tourists in town every weekend.

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CAMPING OUT ALONG THE SAN ISIDRO PORTION OF CABANGAN’S BEACHES

But people really start flocking to Cabangan during the Holy Week.

Come Good Friday, tents go up on the beaches of Cabangan—a local tradition now adopted by tourists—as entire families camp out for the night. Barbecue pits glow and bonfires blaze. The next day, carabaos race across its hot gray sand while fishing boats also race across its cool blue waters.

SWIMMING AT DAPYA RIVER

As crowds thin after Holy Week, we usually 4x4 our way to the mountainous side of town, visiting river spots—Malhay Bato, Agbobotilya, Dapya, and Namnel—that meander along the base of unnamed mountains. We swap the sandy shorelines of Cabangan’s beaches for smooth and slippery pebble beds, warm saltwater for cool freshwater, and rolling waves for calm, easy-flowing streams.

A CLIMB ALONG THE MOUNTAIN, PERHAPS?

The grassy conical mountains rising above the rivers can actually be climbed, and trails have actually been set, with Mount Mariglem being the current star in Cabangan. We’ve seen the photos online; they are indeed nice, but it is simply not for us. We are on the trentahin and quarentahin eras of our lives; we’re more than contented on admiring them from the river below.

With packed lunches, snacks, and crates of beer, we swim, we tell stories, and we swim some more until the sun decides it’s time for us to go.

STREET FOOD AFTERNOON AT CABANGAN

But before that, a quick stop at 4D’s Ihaw Ihaw, an afternoon-only barbecue stand, is usually in order—grabbing sticks of chicken and pork isaw, Betamax, helmets, and Kapampangan hotdogs, all dunked in spicy vinegar thick with chopped siling labuyo and onions—before finally heading home.

A CARABAO ALONG OUR PATH, WHAT TO DO?

On uneventful days, we’d go to the farms, doing things only city kids would in provinces—checking out rice crops, dodging carabaos with eyes firmly locked on us, and staring into the endless greens.

BIKING ALONG RUGGED TRAILS IN CABANGAN

Some afternoons, we’d bike in packs. Around unpaved trails, through farmlands, our tires rolling on grass, dirt, and sand, until we reach Bangan—a shallow river where freshwater from the mountains exit to the sea. We’d park our bike on a scenic spot, bring out packed street foods—fried fishballs, tukneneng, kwek kwek, and kikiams swimming on sweet manong sauce, and sometimes a couple of bottles of beer—as we wait for twilight to set in. Then we’d bike out the same way we came in.

CABANGAN’S LIVELY MARKET DAY

On Tuesdays and Fridays, it’s Cabangan’s Market Day. We’d drop by for goods brought in by locals around town. On makeshift tarps spread along the ground, vegetables harvested from backyards; barriletes (skipjack tunas) and arosep (sea grapes) brought in from the sea; sun-dried pilipiting (anchovies) and alimagmag (shrimplets); homemade patupat and cascaron rice cakes; panutsa sugar cane balls; and of course, the sweet dinamulag mangoes that the province is well-known for and the basis for its own festival, the Dinamulag Festival.

SUMMER’S END AT CABANGAN

But it is the gatherings that I best remember about our summers in Cabangan.

On the last days of the summer, when the season is about to change, relatives, kin, and friends gather at the family beach house. A long table is laid out on the grassy lawn, each person adding a dish they have personally cooked. As twilight deepens into evening, we share food beneath strings of lights, our stories and laughter drifting into the warm summer nights of Cabangan.