Gasan

Gasan is a town in the province of Marinduque in the Philippines. With 33,000 people living within town limits, it is the province's third-largest town in terms of population, and is often called the cultural capital of Marinduque.

By road
Road traffic, particularly when entering from the north (from Balanacan Port, Boac, Cawit Port or the airport), is rerouted to run in a loop around the town center. The Marinduque Circumferential Road, known in downtown Gasan as San Jose Street, is one-way in front of the Gasan Municipal Hall, so southbound traffic is routed around it through Bonifacio and Rizal Streets, while northbound traffic passes either in front of the Municipal Hall or, if the Circumferential Road is closed, through Gomez and Cayetano Streets, in front of the Gasan Central School.

The way by which traffic is rerouted in Gasan particularly affects those entering Gasan via public transport. All buses serving Marinduque from Luzon, as well as jeepneys plying the Balanacan Port-Buenavista route and from Balanacan Port to the interior barangays of Gasan (such as Tiguion), stop in downtown Gasan. However, there are no designated jeepney or bus stops, which gives a lot of flexibility as to where the vehicle should stop, but for first-time visitors this requires guessing as to where to go down. If the destination is downtown Gasan, it is recommended to ask the conductor or jeepney driver to stop as close as possible to the Municipal Hall, as it is at the center of town and it will be easy to navigate around downtown Gasan from there.

If headed towards a part of Gasan which is not in the town center, be sure to inform the driver which barangay to stop at. In most cases, buses and jeepneys will stop in front of the barangay hall, or at a specific address if the destination is along the Circumferential Road.

By boat
Boats between Gasan and Pinamalayan in Oriental Mindoro dock at the Gasan Sea View Park in downtown Gasan.

Get around
Tricycles are the main form of transport in Gasan, with the main terminal being the Gasan Public Market at the northern edge of the town center. The town center is also small enough to go around on foot, although sidewalks are non-existent.

Transport between Gasan and the Tres Reyes Islands is done via pump boat (bangka), which dock at the beach of Gaspar Island, the only inhabited island in the chain. Most tourists charter pump boats from locals for day trips to the islands (while the rate is negotiable, the average cost of chartering a boat for the day is ), while some resorts have their own boats which transport their guests to and from the islands.

Telephones
The area code for Gasan, like the rest of Marinduque, is 42. Area codes are not required for dialing telephone numbers in Marinduque, Quezon, Aurora and Romblon, which all share the same area code.

Smart Communications and Globe Telecom, the two largest telecommunications companies in the Philippines, have coverage throughout Gasan, although signal reception is sometimes spotty outside the town center. In some areas, Smart may have a stronger signal than Globe, or vice-versa.

Subscribers of the Philippines' third-largest telecommunications company, Sun Cellular, will not have any reception in Gasan, as their mobile coverage in Marinduque is limited to Boac and parts of Mogpog and Santa Cruz. It is strongly recommended that you get a Smart or Globe telephone number prior to visiting Gasan in order to continue getting coverage, or to make all phone calls in an area with coverage before heading to Gasan.

There are no payphones in Gasan. However, with the high penetration rate of mobile phones, there are reloading (top-up) stations throughout the town, both inside and outside the town center.

Internet
Internet cafés in the town center serve casual surfers and online gamers. There are very few cafés outside of the town center; if there are, these would normally be located along the Marinduque Circumferential Road.

A few establishments, such as Balthazar's Tavern and the Barbarossa Pub and Restaurant, and a number of hotels offer free Wi-Fi to their guests.

Post
The Gasan Post Office is on the ground floor of the Barangay Uno Barangay Hall, along San Jose Street, beside the local office of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). It is open on weekdays from 9AM to 5PM.

Money
There are two ATMs in the town center: Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) has an ATM on Bonifacio Street, on the side of the Gasan Municipal Hall, while the Gasan branch of Card Rural Bank, on San Jose Street, has an ATM on its premises.

Go next
Head on north to Boac, the capital of Marinduque, or south to Buenavista.