Capones Island, also known as Grand Capon or Capon Grande Island (Spanish: ''Isla de Capon Grande'') is a small island approximately long by wide, at its widest point, lying some off the coast of the province of
Zambales
Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon re ...
on western
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
island in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. It is the largest of the Capones Islands (''Islotes de los Capones''), a group of three small islands which also includes nearby Camara Island and another islet connected to it by a sand bar. The island is administratively part of ''
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
'' Pundaquit of the Zambales municipality of
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
.
The island is characterized by huge rock formations and steep cliffs surrounded by white sand and coral beaches. The
Capones Island Lighthouse
Capones Island Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse located in Capones Island off the coast of Barangay Pundaquit, San Antonio, in the province of Zambales, in the Philippines. The light guides international vessels coming from the north to north ...
is located on the hillside near the western end of the island.
Proposed marine park
The marine areas surrounding Capones Island as well as portions of the adjacent coastline of barangays Pundaquit and San Miguel rich in fish and coral reefs currently has no special protection. The decline in fish catch brought about by the
Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991 and continued siltation problems as well as
illegal fishing
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) is an issue around the world. Fishing industry observers believe IUU occurs in most fisheries, and accounts for up to 30% of total catches in some important fisheries.
Illegal fishing takes pl ...
practices in the area prompted the Environmental Protection of Asia Foundation to submit a proposal to the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2003 for its conversion into a
marine protected area
Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conserv ...
called Capones Island Marine Park in coordination with the local government unit of San Antonio.
It is also the aim of the program to provide alternative sources of livelihood to local fishermen, such as tourism.
See also
*
List of islands of the Philippines
References
{{Central Luzon attractions
Islands of Zambales