Cycling Destination : Kamandag Beach

There are beaches that don't get shared online. No resort, no entrance fee, no cemented path leading you to a plastic chair. Just black sand, the sound of the waves, and the feeling that you got there before anyone else did. Kamandag Beach, sitting right beside the well-known Puerto Azul resort in Ternate, Cavite, is still that kind of place — for now.

We've been there twice with the Bantoanon Outdoor Club, a group of cyclists from Metro Manila and Cavite. This is the story of one of those trips: an overnight ride that started before sunrise and ended the same way.

4am in Buendia

Most of our group comes from Manila. That means whenever there's a ride going south to Cavite, they're the ones leaving in the dark.

The meet-up at Buendia was set for 4am — which sounds rough, but nobody complained. By the time the Cavite members met them at Tokwahan at 6am, the Manila group had already been riding for two hours.

That says something. You don't wake up at 3am to get ready for a ride you're not sure about.

"We stopped at Ternate market around 10am — bought rice, sardines, bread, and enough water for the night. Simple food, but it hit different after hours on the bike."

The Turn that Changed Everything

The road to Puerto Azul is a climb most Cavite cyclists know well. We took that same road, but not all the way. About halfway up the first uphill stretch, our contact Joepring pointed us off the paved road and onto a gravel path going down toward the water.

That was the turn. Most people keep going on the main road to the resort. We went down the gravel path. That small choice — maybe 30 seconds of deciding — is what brought us to a beach that most people haven't seen.

Black Sand and No Crowd

The beach showed up at the end of the path: a stretch of dark, volcanic black sand, quiet, and completely empty. The land is privately owned, but at the time we visited, it wasn't blocked off yet. It sits right next to Puerto Azul

No entrance fee, no guards, no vendors. Just the sand and the sea. The best beach isn't always the prettiest one. Sometimes it's just the one where you're the only people there."

Afternoon Wine and a Quiet Night

After lunch on the sand, the afternoon slowed down in the best way. Someone brought wine. Nobody had cell signal. The conversations got longer and more relaxed, the way they do when there's nothing else pulling your attention away.

The black sand stayed warm even after the sun went down. By the time the fire was going and the wine was done, we'd run out of things to say — in the good way, when everyone's just comfortable being there.

The Sunrise is Amazing

We woke up to a calm, flat sea. The water was still, catching the early light in long, quiet streaks. The sunrise lasted maybe twenty minutes before it just became a regular morning. But those twenty minutes are the reason you pack a bag, ride all day, and sleep on black sand in Cavite.

We left at 7am. Everything we brought, we took back. No trash left behind. It's the least we could do for a place that still lets people in.

How to get there

Kamandag has no signs. You take the road toward Puerto Azul and — with someone who knows the way, like our guide Joepring — turn off onto a gravel path halfway up the first climb. It leads down to the beach. Since it's private land, access isn't promised. When we went, it was open. Worth checking before you make the full trip out there.

Stock up at Ternate market before heading to the beach. There's no signal once you're there. Bring more water than you think you'll need. That's really all you need to know.