4th-class town well on the way to celeb status

By Ephraim Aguilar

Philippine Daily Inquirer

First Posted 02:58:00 05/08/2008

CARAMOAN, CAMARINES SUR. It was not too long ago that only backpackers and the locals knew of this remote peninsula?s pristine beaches.

But the fourth-class municipality is expected to achieve celebrity status soon enough, with foreign productions completing filming and development projects in place. Even now it is being touted as the next Boracay.

About 10 million TV viewers in Europe and Canada are expected to watch the French edition of ?Survivor, which was shot entirely on Caramoan's white-sand beaches.

The eighth season of Survivor-France will be aired in France and other French-speaking nations like Switzerland, Belgium and Canada from July to September, their summer season.

Survivor, a popular reality game show that isolates its contestants in the wilderness to compete for cash and prizes, is known to choose locations in exotic environments.

Gota beach, the gateway to Caramoan?s other beaches and islets, was rented for exclusive use by the French production outfit starting late February until early this month.

According to Survivor-France TV director Corinne Vaillant, the powdery sand, the coconuts on Gota beach and the neighboring islets are a ?dream? for the French people.

We chose Caramoan because it's really wide. It's necessary that contestants don't see anything other than nature for them to believe that they're really lost in the wilds, Vaillant told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

With the filming completed, members of the production crew prepared to leave Gota beach on wednesday.