La Luz Beach Resort 2012

If you are planning to go to the beaches of Batangas, why not try La Luz Beach Resort. It will take you between 4 hours to about half a day's drive from Manila. It is a resort which in my opinion caters to the class A and B market.

Once you arrive, you are greeted with a refreshing drink of ice tea and a face towel freshly soaked in cool water. While this may not sound like much in writing, it is like finding an oasis in the desert after enduring a long drive under the hot summer sun.

The cottages of La Luz are the best aspect of the resort, again IMHO. Simple, but elegant. Furniture is made of bamboo and capiz like shells. Rooms are clean and well maintained. Air condition and hot shower baths are available. No fancy tech stuff though, which I think is intentional, since without TV or computers to occupy one's time, then one is forced to make use of other means of having fun such as reading magazines, playing board games, beach volleyball or frisbee, hiring a masseuse, kayaking, snorkeling, and of course swimming on the beach. This doesn't mean that you can't bring your gadgets. A lot of tourists have their own laptops, phones, and pads - but I think this defeats the purpose of being at the beach. Consider it an opportunity to withdraw from tech addiction.

Digital cameras are a must though, since there are a lot of potential photography subjects available at the resort. You can choose from the natural landscape, to the resort's dining facilities, to the beach chairs and umbrellas, just to name a few. There is even an elevated rock formation from which you can take pictures of a lot of different views of the shoreline. This must be the reason why a couple choose the spot as the venue of their beach wedding.

The sand at La Luz is not as fine nor as pure as the beaches of Boracay. And the beach immediately drops from about 3 ft to 6 ft with just a few strides from the shore. This might be a turn off for inexperienced swimmers, and is probably the reason why not that many children are present at the beach. Life vests are available for a fee, and are usually coupled with snorkeling gear, for those who are not afraid to dive the depths. Floating platforms also act as achievement trophys for the adventorous swimmer.

La Luz offers lunch, dinner, and breakfast buffets along with the facilities. Open-air cottages with matresses are scattered along the shoreline and are free (as long as you've already paid for a room reservation and for the buffet) on a first-come-first-serve basis. So if you are a couple, or a family, wanting to enjoy summer on the beaches of Batangas, give La Luz a shot. A bit pricey, but well-worth it.

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Boracay 2012 Zuzuni

If you ever get the chance to visit Boracay, make sure to try out the food at Zuzuni. I really enjoyed the bacon, egg, and potatoes breakfast they served us. Their bacon is better than Country Styles'. The potatoes are nicely cooked and combined with fresh butter.

My friends enjoyed their lava cake and ice cream. It's called lava cake since the hot chocolate oozes out of the volcano shaped cake once you slice into it. I must admit, I am not much of a dessert person, but I still enjoyed these too.

Combine everything with a Starbucks frapuccino and I'm all set.

The people serving in Zuzuni are really courteous and helpful too. They will willingly share their knowledge of other tourist destinations on Boracay and give you helpful tips on how to reach these places. Good food and great service are always a part of a winning combination. Kudos Zuzuni.

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Boracay 2012 Kite Surfing

Perhaps one of the best tourist attractions I saw in Boracay was a shore filled with kite surfers. Since the waves in Boracay are not as strong as in Hawaii, surfers need to take advantage of the wind in order to generate fast surfing speeds. And with the right wind, the speeds they attain are comparable to a jet ski, and sometimes, if they are lucky or really really skilled, they can launch themselves around 6 feet up in the air, perhaps even more.

I was amazed at how the kite surfers were able to avoid bumping or tangling into one another, in what appeared to be a shore filled with surfing enthusiasts. I was able to speak with one of the kite surfing business owners and you actually have to have a license in order to rent kite surfing equipment. They also provided 3 level training lessons, from beginner, then intermediate, then expert. And the beginner lessons are supposed to teach the aspiring kite surfer the lessons on safety and surfing etiquette.

The lessons don't come cheap though. Beginner lesson's prices cost around 3,000 PHP (for 1.5 hours of training) while the Intermediate lessons cost around 14,000 PHP (for 7 hours of training). I didn't even bother asking how much the expert level lessons would cost. The equipment costs around 80,000 PHP but I was able to see some signs around the island stating they were selling used equipment for around 500 USD.

At the time of this writing, the surfing spots were at the Northeastern coast of Boracay, but I was also informed that they shift to the Southwestern shore then cycle back once a year.

If I could afford it and if I had more time, I would have loved to learn how to kite surf. Perhaps someday, if the Lord chooses to bless me, I would be able to do so. And if you already know how to, then you are blessed.

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Boracay 2012 Vacation

I am thankful to the Lord for a vacation I never imagined I would have in my lifetime. Boracay is a really nice and clean beach to spend a few days of vacation if you can afford to. It is an island located near the Northwestern tip Aklan, Philippines. If you are coming from Manila, your air travel options are either a plane to Kalibo Airport or a plane to Caticlan Airport.

Kalibo Airport is the older airport and is farther from Boracay. You will probably have to allot 2 hours of travel time from Kalibo to Boracay. From the airport, you can either spend the night in Kalibo, especially if you are arriving late in the evening or even in the wee hours of the morning. Most of the boat rides from Caticlan's port to Boracay are from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. so it is better to travel during the daytime so you can enjoy the boat-ride scenery. The van ride from Kalibo to Caticlan will cost you about 100 Php per person while the boat ride and port fees (Terminal fee and Environmental fee) will set you back by about 155 Php. And then from Boracay's port to the beach, expect to shell out another 100 Php (no distinction whether group or individual) to tricycles to bring you there.

Caticlan Airport was constructed to improve tourism to Boracay. Landing there will shave off an hour from your travel time. And once you get from Caticlan airport to the seaport, it all becomes similar to the previous guide above.

Once you are at the beach, finding a suitable place to stay in would probably be your first priority. We were fortunate enough to have been able to book the place we were staying at online, before coming to Boracay. We stayed at the Luna Rosa beach resort. The room was clean and decent. Air condition, Cable TV, and a hot shower are usually all I am after and all these amenities were present in the room. I would say this though, the staff could use a lesson or two in customer service.

Boracay's long white sandy strip is divided into three stations, dubbed Station's 1, 2 and 3. And just like in marketing, this division is meant to segregate customers into classes A, B, C, D and E. It doesn't mean that people can not move from one station to another. But in terms of spending, I think that you would have to have more money to stay in Station 1 than in Station 3. Station 1 boasts of the high-end hotels and restaurants. Station 2 is the place for the middle class, where familiar eating spots like Starbucks, Yellow Cab and Shakey's Pizza are available. This is also where the D'mall is located, where you can shop for clothing and souvenirs. Stations 1 and 3 are much quieter in my opinion than Station 2.

There are lots of daytime activities to keep a tourist preoccupied. Beach volleyball and soccer are popular activities for big groups. Kayaking, sailing, and "banana" boating are also options for individuals who want to spend time above the water. Helmet diving and snorkeling are options for those who want to spend time underwater. If you want to just lie down on the beach, there are masseuse and tattoo artists willing to lend their services while you relax. Food stalls and shops are abound so you will never go hungry as long as you have money to spend. And the local resorts have their own private pools if you happen to be their guest. But if I had the money to spend, I would have loved to learn kite-surfing, a really expensive but fun-looking sport that I will probably write about in another post.  

At night, people would usually eat at an all-out seafood buffet. Just make sure to ask which items are included in the buffet. You would think that giant crab, giant lobsters, and giant shrimps should be part of the all-you-can-eat experience, but these are usually paid for separately and are paid for by the ounce (or by the gram). Nighttime is also singing and performing time. A lot of bands, and acoustic performers come out to entertain dining guests. Fire dancers also display their talents. I've also seen bands turn into Karaoke services, inviting dinner guests to be their lead singer, and this often turns into a funny scene, and results to the chagrin of some listeners.

Overall, Boracay is really an enjoyable experience. It is like placing the amenities of a local mall beside a white sand beach. So go get that mocha frapuccino and then find a spot on the beach and watch the quiet waves as the sun sets. And through all of this may you find God's peace and rest.

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