Caramoan: Tugawe Cove Resort

It was my first time to go to Caramoan this summer. We flew via Skyjet to Virac, Catanduanes. From the airport, we travelled to Codon port via van which took us about 30 minutes. We then had a 30-minute boat ride to Tugawe Cove Resort. I highly recommend tourists to go there during the summer so that the weather will be good especially for island hopping.

Caramoan is just WOW! Calm blue sea.... white sands... fresh air... blue skies... This is nature in all its glory! 

Codon Port

A glimpse of Tugawe Cove Resort from afar.... 

 Cabanas by the lake -

 If you don't want to climb the stairs or you just want to stay near the beach,

 then you have to choose these rooms.

Hillside Cabana- 

It is still a long climb up the restaurant from the cabana.

Hilltop Cabana - View from the restaurant

Infinity Pool - 

This was actually seen in one of the episodes of Survivor Caramoan.

View from the restaurant deck.

Camayan Beach Resort

My family's favorite destination whenever we want a weekend of relaxation is SUBIC particularly the Camayan Beach Resort. Subic is just a short 2-3 hour ride from Manila. And thanks to the new SCTEx (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway), the short road trip is not a hassle anymore.

We prefer the Camayan Beach Resort because the guest rooms are situated near the beach. We love it because we can wake up each day and see the beach which is a few meters from our rooms. We can swim whenever we want without having to worry about paying extra for beach entrance fees, cabanas and chairs. Guests also have free breakfast buffet. If we have checked-in in one of the hotels along Waterfront Road in Subic, we would still have to wake up early and travel for about 15 minutes so that we can swim in one of the Subic beaches. More importantly, the resort is also dog-friendly. We actually brought our dog with us during our last trip. ( We've grown so attached with our dog that we carry her around as much as possible wherever we go.)

These additional rooms were just built recently to accomodate their guests.

A band would play at certain times in the afternoon playing reggae songs.
I remember even watching a fire dance perfomance in one of our visits at the resort.

There's also a lifeguard who keeps an eye on the guests!

The guests were playing tug-of-war here.

I prefer these rooms because they're a few meters from the beach.

The view just outside our rooms.

This area behind the wooden fence is for resort guests only
so the guests don't have to rent plastic chairs or cabanas
if they want to stay outdoors.

Summer in Boracay

It was the first time for me to visit Boracay two summers ago. And I only have one word to describe the place....PERFECT! A lot of people have been raving about the place but I never had an urge to take my vacation there until my brother gave my parents a free trip to Boracay as an anniversary gift. I just joined them the last minute.

Boracay is a perfect summer destination with its white sand, blue waters and skies. No wonder a lot of tourists frequent the place. I hate riding in small airplanes but Boracay is so worth it.

My brother booked us at Boracay Regency Beach Resort and flight arrangements were fixed via Seair. What I like about Boracay Regency is that from the time we arrived at Caticlan Domestic Airport, we were already assisted by their employees on where to go next which was great for first timers like us.

From the airport, we proceeded to Fairways and Bluewater Resort where we rode a small boat to take us to Boracay.

View of Caticlan from Seair

Our small boat which took us to Boracay

Picture taken while going to Boracay

I think Boracay Regency Beach Resort was one of the main reasons why we enjoyed our Boracay trip so much. When we arrived at the hotel, we were given welcome drinks while waiting for our room. Our room was clean and their housekeeping staff was very efficient. Our balcony wasn't overlooking the beach area but it was okay since the hotel was only a few steps from the beach. Their breakfast buffet was great. There were a lot of choices to cater to both Filipino and foreign tourists. There were also 3 swimming pools to choose from if you get tired of the beach. ( What we did was we spent the day at the beach and then we'd go to the hotel's swimming pool for night swimming.)

Boracay Regency Beach Resort

Hotel Lobby

A view from the hotel lobby's glass window

Steps leading to the beach front

It was April when we took our vacation there so the weather was great too. I told my mom that even if you're not a professional photographer and you're just using an old camera with low resolution, the pictures would still turn out to be beautiful. Our timing was also perfect since it was before the Holy Week ( I hate crowds!) so there were only a few visitors when we had our vacation there. So if you want a relaxing vacation, try visiting the place during the lean months.

Puka Beach is situated on the other side of Boracay Island. You can reach the place via boat ride. Some prefer island hopping so they rent boats for the day. But since I don't like boat rides, we went there via tricycle! ha!ha! What's nice when we visited the place was that there were no commercial establishments along the beach so it was just pure nature at its best!

Puka Beach

I super love this picture.
It looks like it was taken from a postcard.
And to think I just used my ordinary digital camera
when I took this picture.

The grotto -
The water here is just chest-high
so you can just walk towards the grotto.

It's nice to spend the day sitting infront of the beach
appreciating nature's beauty.

Beautiful sunset of Boracay!

Trip to Canyon Cove

My family went to Canyon Cove Resort in Nusugbu, Batangas last February to celebrate my dad's birthday. Travel time was okay. It took us about 2 hours to reach the resort from Manila. The first thing that I noticed when we arrived at Canyon Cove Resort was the unfinished, old building overlooking the entrance. I think it's supposed to be the residential apartment for club members but due to lack of investors, they weren't able to finish it. Anyway, it's an eye sore to anyone who'll visit the place.

When we got inside, we were again greeted with more rows of unfinished buildings. The main building was painted (thank God!) and well-kept. The resort had ample space for parking. The lobby, which was already filled with tourists mostly Koreans, was spacious and modern. A view of the beach and pool area could be seen already from the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the lobby.

We arrived at the resort at 11am. Check-in time was around 1pm so we were able to check out the place first and took a couple of pictures. We then decided to eat outside at Kainan sa Dalampasigan for lunch.

After lunch, we went back to the resort to check-in. I must say that despite the unsightly unfinished buildings inside the resort, I was pretty pleased by the main hotel's guest rooms. The bedroom and the bathroom were small but very clean. The balcony was overlooking the pool area and the beach.

A view of the resort from the lobby

A view from our room's balcony

It's nice to take pictures in the morning because that's the time when you can truly appreciate the calm, blue water and sky of Batangas.

This shot makes the pool look like an infinity pool.
It seems as if the pool water and the sea are one.

Watching the sunset

Canyon Cove @ night

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