🇵🇭 SANTA • Magsaysay District Beach (Dedicated Travel Guide)

This is a travel blog feature, qualitative guide, compilation, and curation dedicated to the Magsaysay Beach as a subject matter (in Santa, Ilocos Sur).

• Take note that this documentation is an ongoing personal journal project. This page will be updated intermittently. My goal for this curation is to create stories, reviews, and documentation about the Magsaysay beachline in Santa.

• To view more photo details and contexts (like location, date taken, and camera used), you may put your mouse cursor over the image if you are using a PC. If you are on a mobile browser, touch and hold the image until a window pops out.

• All photos included in this article are actual photos of the beach taken by me. Photo thumbnails could be enlarged by tapping or clicking it.

🇵🇭 SANTA, ILOCOS SUR

This article is divided into sections, organized in separate tabs for context-based navigation. All of the sections are works-in-progress. Once I get to gather more data and materials for specific topics related to Magsaysay beachline, I will add additional tabs. I have also collected various materials for this beach stored in my drive. Hence, aside from writing updates about this beach, I will also write about my previous visits in this beach.

▼ OVERVIEW ▼ CURRENT EVENTS & HISTORY ▼ WHAT'S NEW?

For a clearer context, the name "Magsaysay Beach" here refers to the beachline under the jurisdiction of Magsaysay District, a barangay in the town of Santa, Ilocos Sur. There is no official or designated beach name yet to this area, so I'd call it the Magsaysay beachline.

 ►  Santa Seawall and the Beach

🇵🇭 SANTA • JACKSTONE BREAKWATER PROTECTS THE COASTLINE FROM FURTHER EROSION IN FRONT OF THE SEAWALL.

A certain part of the Magsaysay beachline is located in a delicate area that is prone to coastal erosion. A segment of this beachline is located in front of the Santa Seawall. Some parts of the beach line are also good for swimming and other beach activities.

The DPWH placed tetrapods (jackstone breakwater) on the beach below the seawall to mitigate further erosion. Powerful big waves are common in this area during typhoon season. The Santa Seawall fronting this beach has been destroyed multiple times.

 ►  Manila North Road and the Beach

🇵🇭 SANTA • THIS SEGMENT OF THE MANILA NORTH ROAD WAS ERECTED ALONGSIDE THE BEACH.

A segment of the Manila North Road (MacArthur Highway) is visible from the beach area. In fact, a segment of the highway runs on top of the Santa Seawall.

The beach area has become narrower, though, due to constant erosion.

 ►  Luna Hill and the Beach

🇵🇭 SANTA • A PARTIAL VIEW OF THE VERDANT LUNA HILL (OBSTRUCTED BY THE SEAWALL) CAN BE SEEN FROM THE BEACH AREA. IN FACT, THE SEAWALL ITSELF IS PART OF THE MOUNTAIN SLOPE THAT DIRECTLY MEETS THE SEA.

The harsh location of the beach may not be the most ideal place for beach activities, but I haven't never seen a beach area fronting a gigantic mountain here in Ilocos aside from the Magsaysay Beach. This natural design is unique here in Ilocos Sur. In fact, the mountain slope of the Northern Luzon Heroes Hill National Park ends at this beach area. This explains why the beach is very prone to landslides and coastal erosion.

A drone photo may somehow justify the beauty of this scenery. I'm also curious of the original view when the road and the seawall weren't there yet.

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HISTORY OF MAGSAYSAY BEACH
(TIMELINE OF EVENTS)

2024-August-18 • (2) The SK of Magsaysay did a beach clean-up together with the BFP Santa, PNP Santa, and Samahang Ilocano-Santa Chapter.



2006-May-16 • (1) The town of Santa was reportedly the hardest hit town when the waves brought down a concrete seawall constructed along the shoreline of Magsaysay and other barangays. Typhoon Caloy reached Signal #4 when it moved northward and reached peak intensity with 10-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph) on May 15.

______________________________________

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
• (1) Molina, T. (2006, May 17). Big waves leave Ilocos coastal folk homeless. Philstar.com. https://www.philstar.com/nation/2006/05/17/337017/big-waves-leave-ilocos-coastal-folk-homeless
• (2) 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐊𝐀𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐀𝐍 Brgy. Magsaysay

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This section is where I will post any new original materials I obtained related to Magsaysay beach. It could be a blog or a visual/photo update.

 ►  2022-December-19

This is my latest actual intentional visit to Magsaysay beachline. It was a part of a spontaneous ride, though; but reaching the area, I decided to intentionally document the area. It happened during the pandemic period with less stringent mobility rules. The specific segment I visited was the part of the beach below the Santa Seawall, alongside the Manila North Road.

I noticed that an erosion control intervention was applied to this part of the beach. Based on my research, DPWH placed tetrapods on the beach to control erosion.

This was also the first time that I personally stepped onto the beach area. I did not go to the waters, though. This place is very familiar to me because I always pass by here everytime I travel down south of our province going to the towns after Santa and major cities like Baguio and Manila. I found out that there is a stair going down to the beach area.

At that time, I noticed that the beach area had no soft consistency. Instead of sand, it seemed like they were replaced with gravel and mountain rocks. This part of the beach is actually very prone to landslide. I suspect that the rocky beachline could be a result of erosion from the mountain slope in front of it. The seawall in front of it actually speaks of the erosion incidence in the area.

On the other hand, I noticed the presence of a creeping vine called "kadena de amor" in the beach area. The vegetation starts from the mountain slope below the highway then creeps down to the beach area. See image gallery above for the photos I took on this day.

For the full story of this visit, check this link: ▼ 🇵🇭 SANTA • This beach in Ilocos has stories to tell

🇵🇭 SANTA • This beach in Ilocos has stories to tell

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SPEAK YOUR HEART OUT. DON'T BE SHY TO POST YOUR COMMENT, THOUGHTS, OR FEEDBACK. MAG-REREPLY AKO ONCE MAKITA KO ANG COMMENT MO. :)

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EDMAR GUQUIB y DEL CASTILLO

Born and Raised in Vigan, Philippines. Hardcore Ilocano-Cordilleran. Professional Nurse on Weekdays. Coffee Addict. Travel Blogger in Between. For collaboration or partnership, email your business proposal at admin@edmaration.com.

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