CARAMOAN, Philippines -- For the second time around, Survivor Israel will rent the whole of the Gota Village Resort, a local government-operated tourist destination

Hisardot’s non-celebrity shoot would last 40 days and the celebrity edition, 30 days, excluding the one and a half months allotted for pre-production so equipment, props and sites could be prepared for the show, said Jimmy Binyamini, production manager.

He said Gota Village was the “best place" to shoot Survivor Israel there, citing the "good people" and the "unique sites” the tourist spot

They were here in 2009 in the same month to shoot one edition of Hisardot whose broadcast ended last month via Israeli national television Channel 10.

This time, they will again start shooting on Feb. 28 and end filming sometime in late May or early June.

Aside from promoting the adventure appeal of Caramoan Islands, which will be shown throughout Israel, the Hisardot will employ some 200 local crew to assist their 120-crew production, according to Binyamini.

“Caramoan is a great adventure site ideal to our show, that’s why we are here again,” he said.

Hisardot has two parts, the “reality” part and the game part where the participants’ wits and survivor instincts are tested, according to Binyamini.

Like castaways on an island, the participants of Survivors are made to live in primitive conditions for 40 straight days, followed by a camera 24 hours a day.

Hisardot is actually the second media outfit of Survivor that filmed their editions on the small islands strewn at the northeast of Caramoan facing the island province of Catanduanes Island  also visit Puraran for surfing in Catanduanes Island

The French Survivor, Koh-Lanta Caramoan, was the first media outfit that filmed Survivor in 2008, followed by media outfits from Israel, Bulgaria and Serbia in 2009.

Koh-Lanta was shown in Europe with an estimated 12 million viewers.

A top executive of the Camarines Sur provincial government, who asked not be named because the negotiations are still ongoing, revealed that Survivor USA has been considering filming here starting 2011, until 2012.

He said the production crew of Survivor USA has searched many areas in the Philippines and found Caramoan the most ideal place for their filming because of the unique geographical features of the place and the available facilities that meet production standards.

Caramoan has become a favorite place for the Survivor shoot because of the variety in scenery and unique sites that catered to adventurous tourists, said Jovi Villareal, recreational officer of Gota Village Resort.

Ning Villanueva, provincial tourism officer, said the provincial government's hosting of Survivor brought in droves of foreign tourists, making Camarines Sur the most visited destination in 2009.

Citing records from the Bicol regional office of the Department of Tourism, Camarines Sur was the top tourist destination in the Philippines in the first nine months of 2009, with 1,022,092 visitors, of which 206,937 were foreign tourists.
Among the foreign tourists, Israel was the second highest number of arrivals after the US citizens.Visitors from the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan also arrived in the province.
The regional revenue generated from tourism reached more than P1 billion, of which P0.7 billion was contributed by Camarines Sur.
Villareal said the local government-owned facility is within the 4,000-hectare national park being managed by the provincial government as agreed upon with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Some 2,000 hectares of this park has been declared a protected area being developed for eco-tourism purposes, he added.

He cited many unexplored sites like tiny lakes, subterranean passages and underwater caves in the small limestone islands here that could cater to the more daring and skilled adventurous tourists.

Within the eco-tourism area, small islands are scattered sporadically with plants and weed trees, at the base of which are a number of narrow beaches and coves accessible by boat or kayak, according to him.

On the fringes of the land within the Gota Village Resort, towering vertical limestone walls suitable for rock climbing abound while a newly discovered subterranean river awaits exploration.

The primary attraction of the Gota Village Resort’s tourist area is the scenic view, which is defined by its unique geologic configuration in the middle of a wide coastal marine environment.

According to a 1981 study of the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences, Caramoan exhibits the so-called karst topography.

This means a landscape defined by varied formations of limestone masses which were subjected to geologic processes that created vertical cliffs.
Euphi Peñano, resort manager, said the geologic features of the place highlighted the area’s natural tourism assets.“As for the Survivor production coming back, they must be profiting from the scenery here that draw television viewers to their show,” he said.