Bataan... Churches and Beaches (Montemar Beach Resort)

It was a clear day when we left manila at around 6AM. Heading towards the north with no clear plan at all.. We just have a list of Bataan hotels and resorts where we can stay for the night... not sure where exactly though. haha We have planned to stay in Balanga Crown royale Hotel, but passing thru the small "Inn" looking hotel, we decided not to stop by and I am sure we will only be staying in our rooms if we did stop there as the Balanga is the "city" of bataan where there are not much nature attractions.

First Stop was in Abucay - we went to view the Balanga Catholic Church. It was close at the time of our arrival and only the small chapel beside it was open. We managed to take a few pictures of the church's front facade, which is not very attractive compared to the Manila(Intramuros) area churches. The left side of the church is a cemetery(it does not look like a century old cemetery but a very common one). The right side of the church is where the small chapel is, it also has its office to its right with very little space for car parking.

After our stop to the said church, we headed off towards Bagac Bay, with the hopes of having an accomodation facing the beach; we were informed that the bagac beach is a nice place with cheap rates too. Unfortunately the bagac beaches have suffered greatly from the "Ondoy" typhoon, soome cottages still need to be cleaned and the beach shore needs to be cleaned as well. We did not stop and take aa further look around, as their day tour rate is a stagerring 300 bucks!!

Next option is Morong Beaches... But we called and have been answered by someone from the Montemar Beach Club, so we did not go to Morong and decided to go visit Montemar First. Their overnight rate is about 3100bucks with free breakfast and well, we were told that the Montemar has really nice rooms and the beach is also quite heavenly. Since we are in Bagac stopping by won't hurt anyway. We were asked to call the front office first prior to the guard allowing us go inside the resort vicinity. We were given a room at the first floor, sea and pool view, but we requested to have a room at the 2nd floor instead, and they allowed us to change rooms and did not even charge us an extra hour since we arrived prior to check in time. 

The view is really great, the waves are almost perfect, but the water is rough and not quite good for non-swimmers. The Montemar Beach is in between two land formations...

There are lots of things to do in this resort, 2 swimming pools, but the one is closed when we got there. We dipped into the blue pool, the water is cold, chlorine free! We enjoyed the almost an hour dip and chitchat at the pool because it was shaded and we were not much exposed to the heat of the sun at noon.

Non-water activities are available as well and there are spacious places for sports like basketball and volleyball, and even a small children's playground. There was also a hanging bridge joined and supported by two old trees, one must be careful climbing these trees as the structure needs to be repaired, some soft spots can cause accidents, so I did not dare try to cross it.

There are some cottages where you can relax and just listen to the beach waves, and the bird's sweet humming sounds... even the sounds of the dancing trees makes the day in relaxation perfect!

At sunset, the montemar beach isn't the best site for sunset viewing, here is a picture of the sunset here in Bagac... its just ordinary, but still romantic, in my opinion... The weather too is perfect, it was such a blessing that we did not encounter rains and have enjoyed going around the resort from "left" to "right". If it weren't for the cost, I would have loved to go to this place quite often. From the services, the courteous greetings, the beach shores, the huge rock formations, the trees, the spacious rooms even is just a perfect getaway! We were there at a time where the beach is not packed with people and it feels as though we have the place all to ourselves!

It was such a sad time thinking about leaving the place... :( I was so relaxed at this place, felt as though I am really close to nature, and though there are no other things we did at the place aside from walking from one beach side to the other, it seems like the time is not enough for more than that! Oh if other beaches have ant holes in the sand like the ones in potipot, Montemar beach has a number of baby crablets! haha they are not biting, but are really cute crustaceans that walks or crawls really fast when they see moving people on the shores. No worries about the sea water too, it is really very clear - like that of a fresh water body. Montemar, by the way is a Triple A rated resort, and it does feel like everything is indeed rated triple A in this resort. :)

Day 2 Island Hopping Tour - Coron, Palawan

Starting off with the last stop for the day... The Banana Island. We asked the boatmen but they didn't know why the island is called "Banana Island", we found out the next day through the caretaker that this was due to the shape of the island, almost similar to a shape of the banana leaf. 

We paid an entrance and overnight fee of 700 pesos per person (including the huge hut we slept on) in this island. 

The view is magnificent, from the boat, about a few minutes before our boat settled this was the view we get to see. The clear water, the white sand that we all love!! My friends and I are too excited to get down the boat and just relax and enjoy the place all to our selves! 

We came to the place at around 4 to 5PM, almost sunset, which excites us more since we are to witness another beautiful sunset. The place is peaceful, there were perhaps just a few people around, the family of the owner, his 3 caretakers, and a foreigner couple who according to Manong is on their 2nd night staying at the island. We went to seek out the place, checking out the few cottages where we can stay for the night and deciding on it before actually trying to discover what else this island has to offer to us.  

Thanks to Yanthi, this picture was the view from inside the huge cottage we're staying! 

My friends enjoyed the beautiful shore, the white sand and the sun almost losing it's strength... We found the perfect place for a jump shot. The spot seems to have this purpose for all its visitors! Thanks to my BF for this  wonderful jumpshot! We couldn't have done this without you! 

The Banana Island by the way, relies on solar power for electricity. The lights are not very well lit, the flashlights we brought shone much brighter than that of the island's lights. There are no water directly flowing from the faucet ( they are currently fixing their water systems) and so the caretakers  have to carry pale of waters to fill two huge water basin in each of the room's toilets. The caretakers are friendly, and are always ready to assist us. They even lend us their whole kitchen so we can cook our food, both dinner and breakfast the next day. 

I just have to share a few more pictures taken in the island before the day finally gave way for the night to come. Hope you like the pictures and may you find inspiration in them, as well. 

After a few more minutes, when the sun is finally saying goodbye, we headed off to our cottage for a nice fresh water bath! We have been exposed to much to the sun, ans sea water that the sale is forming crystals in our skin! We just have to freshen up and prepare for dinner before totally heading off to sleep and end the day. Even the bird, stopped for a while and has probably enjoyed the view of the whole island, and the sea.

Time passed so quickly, the strong winds woke us up at about 5:30AM. The sun is shyly peaking and is ready to rise anytime soon. With the cool sea breeze, away from the noisy cars, and traffic of the city... We can't help but just spend time watching the sea, and feeling the strong wind blowing our hairs, touching our faces. Banana Island is definitely the best place to be at that time.

At breakfast, we were told to go to the nearby Island, The Malaroyroy Island, Also owned by the same owner of the Banana Island. This is perhaps one of the best beaches I have been! The island is right in the middle of the sea. The sand bar bridges two islands, and thus connecting them. The water is clean, the sand is powdery white.  This island is just 5-10 minutes away from the Banana Island. We were not prepared at the breathtaking natural wonder that awaits us here. 

The saddest part really was when we have to leave the place for Coron. It is almost 11AM and we have to travel another hour back to the island loop from this far island. Our ride was rough, all of us get splashed with sea water even on the boat. The waves are just huge... almost 3 feet high! All us brave girls, for every splash, the sea gets a loud laugh from our group. We endured the scorching heat of the sun and the waves. It was one of the roughest ride i had to take in all of  my boat riding experiences. 

It so hard letting go of the Malaroyroy Island... Leaving the place meant, we are just a few hours away before entirely leaving the place, Palawan. It was sad that we have to go as far as this place just to be able to enjoy the beauty of nature, but I feel proud of what the country's islands has to offer the world!

Our next stop would be the TWIN Lagoon. The entrance fee for this place is Php 100 per person. Whether you went down and took a dip or not, you will have to pay the entrance fee. Note that when coming from the Cayangan Lake, the entrance in this island should be free. (We did not know that until after reading some posted island tours in the guesthouse where we stayed. I supposed our boatman knew but did not tell us. My friend saw some caretakers of the islands giving the boatman their share of the earnings whenever they bring tourists for snorkeling, or for a tour...) So when you are going for a trip, make sure to plan everything out, and avoid miscommunication!

This was the last of our island tour. We headed off to Coron Town proper, took a slow bath (NOT BY CHOICE - the water in the shower at the guesthouse was only dripping!) and got dressed so we could go to the "Bayan" and find some decent lunch - at 3PM!
 
This wraps our our island tours. I will still have to share what happens in our attempt to climb Mt. Tapyas, and what the Maquinit hot spring has to offer its tourists. 


Entrance Fees:

Banana Island - 200 day tour / Overnight - additional 500 for a huge cottage / additional 400 for a smaller cottage/ and 200 for an open air cottage fronting the beach. 
Fresh water bath available, electricity is available at night only, free use of kitchen, kitchen utensils, stove for cooking, and best of all - free entrance to the Malaroyroy Islands! 

Twin Lagoon - 100 pesos per head (it doesn't matter if you took a dip or not) Free if coming from Cayangan Lake, so make sure to come from the lake when going to the twin lagoon.