From Baga Falls, I hopped on the habal-habal on the way to the beach. After about another hour of habal-habal ride, we reached the end of the highway, turned to the left, turned to the right across the acasia tree, and another right following the sign of the beach resort chosen by my driver. At the end of the road, we turned left and entered the Sunrise Paradise Resort.

The entrance fee was twenty pesos and I was off swimming.

White, powdery sand. Clear water. I wanted to swim.

I knew there was more to Dipolog City than its baywalk, sardines, and cheap seafood. So, on my fifth visit, I asked around and the locals pointed me to Linabo Peak. They also talked about Baga Falls in Poblacion, Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental, an adjacent province, and this white beach farther inside Misamis Occidental, in Baliangao.

For a while I forgot that it took me forever to get to this place.

Upon my return to my hotel in Dipolog City that night, I asked myself: had I known it would take that long to get to this beach, would I still go? For someone as desperate as I was to get someplace on the only free day I had, I would still go to this white beach in Baliangao.