Closer to Pundaquit Beach at San Antonio, Zambales–just two kilometers offshore–are the small Camara Islands (interestingly, often misnamed Camera Islands). Cascading foliage sparingly laurels this pair of huge volcanic rocks amidst the South China Sea, where a Lilliputian statue of the Virgin Mary facing the mainland on top of a giant boulder blesses visitors who spend hours enjoying the shallow surf and clean sand. These craggy islands with pockets of white sand and smooth stone strewn with glistening seaweed, polished shells and white corals were named after Antonio de la Camara, a Spaniard who surveyed the islands in 1884 for the construction of a beautiful lighthouse which still stands at neighboring Capones Island. A sand bar connects the twin Camaras during the rainy season, and disappears during summer. 

camara islands lc-a pop9 san antonio