Costa Pacifica in Baler, Aurora

Beach View At the Viewing Deck of Costa Pacifica

The Pool is so beautiful. The water is a bit warm too. It wasn't really summer yet so it was a bit raining in the mornings (stayed there 3 days 2 nights). We were greeted by showers in the morning. 

Pool Photo for adults (about 4 ft) at 2PM. 

No one was taking a dip. It was a Friday. But look at the heavy and thick clouds. 

Photo Take below from the Clubhouse, facing the sea. The view is breathtakingly beautiful. :D 

The path towards the Rooms, these are Beach Front Rooms (entrance is at the back) The resort is really clean. 

This is our room, it connects to another room with kitchen and living room. Its very spacious!!! 

So I took a few minutes walk from the resort to the beach. And this is the path / viewing deck path fronting the resort. Getting down from it will lead you towards the beach. 

Its a nice 10 minute walk the whole of this Beach. Its windy too so you won't feel the heat so much. 

The Beach is clear of trash, its clean with a lot of space to run and walk around.

Welcome Board. If you are coming from the public access "deck". 

Inside of the Clubhouse / Restaurant. This is their ceiling. Took a photo while waiting for our food to be served. 

So We attended a wedding and this was the set up on Costa Pacifica's Garden. :D 

Dinner is served plated for us.  

The next day, we ordered at the Restaurant, called Beach House. Its a triple cheese ham sandwich. 

Their potato fries is good. We loved it. =) But the sandwiches are so-so.  

Buko Lychee Shake is good too. =) 

Breakfast is buffet at Costa Pacifica. There are a lot of choices, breads, bacon, pasta, pizza, waffles and hotcakes. There are also the typical filipino breakfast like salted egg and tomato, tuyo, tapa and tocino. They also have omelettes and champorado.

Valentino Spa and Resort and a Side Trip to the famoue Batangas Lomi

It was quite a busy season, hence our summer outing was postponed until about early July. We were looking at other options but Valentino Spa has offered us a perfect overnight stay for our alloted budget for about 20 people.

We stayed in a 2 dorm type room, with 4 double deck beds; There were only 2 bathrooms, hence we took turns taking a bath; There were shower areas near the pool at the back of the location where we were situated at and it sure helped the boys so they left the two bathrooms mostly for us girls to use.

Valentino Spa and Resort offers Villas too, for families and friends alike. They have a spacious area, suitable for team buildings too. There were about 3 swimming pools, and a jacuzzi (that is always on).

Since it was past the peak season, we almost have the whole place all to ourselves. We were able to do some team activities without disrupting other patrons. It sure was a great place to relax and take a dip.

Here we are, waiting for our turn at the famous Corcolon's Lomi in Batangas! Its a must try if you are nearby. We waited close to an hour before we were served with our orders! It's cheap and tasty! Cholesterol overload, though. =)

 

Bali Tour Series B: Beach Hopping

Bali is known primarily for their white sand beaches, but a trip to Bali has introduced us more to their culture more than anything else. They have more to offer than temples, and beaches actually. This post though will focus on the obvious Bali spot every one dreams of visiting in Bali. ;)

Nusa Dua Beach: This beach is where most of the high end resorts are located. The beach is free, you can take a dip, swim a bit and have a quick change by the beach (or by a paid bathroom near the surf board rentals).

Just a few meters walk, at the other side of the Nusa Dua Beach, is "The Bay, Bali" The beach also has a long shore ideal for beach walking. We first went here, and intended to swim a bit, but the sand although was white... it was a bit rough since the quality of the sand is not that fine. Taking a close look (using the microscope function of my camera) it shows corals that aren't that much fine yet. =)

Beach "Sand" Up Close

The water, as you can see, is very clear and clean. =)

Jimbaran Bay - The restaurant where we ate our lunch was at Jimbaran Bay. It is also a white sand beach. The whole stretch of the beach is calm, and suitable for swimming. The whole Jimbaran Bay was lined up with a lot of several other resorts and restaurants by the bay. =) Too bad we did not stay for a long time here. The sand was fine, but not as great as that of the Nusa Dua Beach. =)

Seminyak Beach - This is yet another beach, more of a public one. There was a huge parking space for patrons here. We intended to take a swim but was a bit disappointed since the beach was not as white as what we thought most Bali beaches are. =P Another challenge was the lack of a public changing room too. So once you take a swim, there was no way you can wash up properly. You will have to change into your normal clothes in public. We are not able to see how the locals do it, though since there was practically no one around, except for our group and a couple of vendors.

The Seminyak beach is free of charge, and well it sure looks like a great place to relax, we just ought to transfer and get on with the rest of the tour (finishing earlier than usual) since we felt we couldn't swim and not wash up leaving our skin to dry with sea water. This beach sure does have a huge shore. =)

Sanur Beach - This is the last beach on our list for this tour. Having come to this beach as part of the trip and where we had our wonderful lunch by the bay. The beach is calm, but a bit more rocky in one area. The shore is a bit shorter, and narrow hence not much beach goers come. There are parked boats in some area around  the shore, but still the view is breathtaking.

Tali Beach, Nasugbu Batangas

I was quite excited when I heard we are going to Tali Beach Resort for my birthday weekend. It was such an exciting countdown since I haven't been to the beach this year, nor have I had any trip outside Manila for a Vacation.

 

Tali Beach was in Nasugbu Batangas. Off we went from Fairview to Batangas at 6AM. There is a slight delay due to some MMDA officer thinking we were riding a Colorum Van. (This shall qualify for an entirely different post, I'd say).

 

Ready as we all are, we arrived in Tali Beach Subdivision, with high hopes of a great swim day. The weather is lovely, it is great for a late afternoon Swim. =)

 

We were directed inside the Subdivision. The Place was not yet as developed as the Terrazas de Punta Fuego. Well I thought maybe that is why we have not heard much about This membership place.  \Our friend has advised us that there are is no Clubhouse, and no pool to swim in. So We are only headed to the beach side.

 

The house we rented is Php 17,500. It was a huge house, with plenty of beds to sleep on. I counted 4 big rooms, with at least 4 beds in each room, All air-conditioned.

 

The Kitchen was well ventilated, Complete with kitchen utensils, knives, gas stove, microwave oven, plates, cooking pans, and so on.

 

Up we went to the roof top to further explore the house; It was a huge space, where the whole family and friends can stay and unwind and have a nice long chat feeling the cool wind blowing.

 

The House had a rooftop Jacuzzi too! The view was that of the Sea, when facing the back of the mini pool.

 

So we prepared for lunch, rested for a while and to the beach we go. =) It was a 3 minute drive from the house we rented to the beach sides; There were many mini beaches along the "Beach Drive" of the subdivision. There was the Tali Beach, Palm Beach, Marina Beach.

 

The Stairs going down to the beach side wasn't that bad. SO excitement was still in me... not until I was close enough to the beach that I saw piles of trash in the water! If you swim, you will literally be swimming with the garbages! What a heart dropping scene when all you want is to take a dip in the sea. =(

 

 

We stayed and took photos of the surrounding... It was great except for the huge pile of plastic bags, chips packages, tetra, juices, and some other garbages you'd normally see in your black bag.

 

 

We were told to try out the other beaches, so we went to Marina Beach, just a minute from where we first stationed. But this beach was no different. There were a lot of dead corals on the beach side, there were a lot of small rocks too, and dried weeds all over.

 

Overall ratings: Nope this beach is not for Swimming. I would not even dare come back to this side of Nasugbu. It is way too costly for a dip in the small Jacuzzi, and not be able to enjoy the Beach. Why would I even travel 3 hours for a small pool? =(