Recommended Beach Resorts for Company Summer Outing/Team Building Venue
UPDATED: March 2014
Herewith is only a general recommendation per area though there may be pockets of beaches that don't fit per Tutubi's description with estimated travel time out of Metro Manila and only land travel is considered i.e. no islands nor boat/ferry rides much more airplane rides (for those rich and generous companies)
Beach resorts in Cavite: travel time around 2 hours (even less due to Cavitex)
Tutubi visited Lido Beach Resort in Noveleta, Cavite without much expectation and he's right. The beach there is dirty as it's part of Manila Bay, you can even fish garbage out of the water. The sand is black and usually turns-off most city dwellers looking for a white beach in Cavite. The best beaches in Cavite are those at the southernmost tip of Cavite province with several high-end resorts like Puerto Azul (visited by Tutubi sometime in 1998), Caylabne Bay Resort, Boracay de Cavite
Beach Resorts in Bulacan: Travel Time: around 2-3 hours
not much is known about beach resorts in Bulacan due to it's also part of Manila Bay so if you can find them, expect them to be dirty and unfit for swimming. Bulacan though boasts of several nice resorts with wave pools.
Bataan Beach Resorts: travel time around 3 hours via NLEX
The beaches of Morong Bataan is inside Manila Bay, not that dirty as quite far already from Manila but the sand is fine gray. Reason why it's not that famous. The beaches of Bagac town (where Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar the resort of old houses is located), on the other side of Bataan Peninsula has white sand and good enough for human activities.
Batangas Beach Resorts: travel time varies from 3 hours to 5 hours
In Batangas province you have so many choices from Nasugbu (the nearest to Metro Manila via Tagaytay) but doesn't have real nice beaches and shoreline for swimming.
The much hyped Laiya Beach in San Juan is quite nice but not quite as raved by other people. On one end of the beach is fine sand bit murky and on the other end is the so-called La Luz point, a rocky part where it's nice to snorkel. In between the two is a short strip of fine white sand. Tutubi visited this in 2005 when the popular and pricey Acuatico Beach Resort with it's nice infinity pool is not yet built.
the nice part of the white beach of Laiya, San Juan, BatangasLobo Beach resorts, visited by Tutubi in summer of 2012 (unposted yet) does not offer very good beach too as the beach is full of pebbles (but not the same as those in Luna, La Union). They offer great diving experience though as you can see Isla verde from a distance, said to be one of the best dive sites in the country. Calatagan has also has nice beaches while Anilao town has mostly dive resorts catering to scuba divers.
The once famous Matabungkay beach in town deteriorated with too many balsa (bamboo rafts) parked on the shore that make swimming difficult and sometimes dangerous
munting buhangin beach with munting visitorsNasugbu beaches hold promise with fine sand of Munting Buhangin Beach and nearby beaches where you can see Munting Buhangin Beach Resort, Punta Fuego, Canyon Cove and others.
Quezon Beach Resorts: travel time 4-5 hours
Parts of the beaches of Quezon Tutubi has visited include Sariaya (his first beach experience in "19forgotten" has dark gray sand but the area is good for swimming. Same in Atimonan town but the waves may be a bit dangerous. Up north in the towns of Real and Infanta, the beaches are gray sand, sometimes rocky, and with huge waves as they're facing the Pacific Ocean. The town of Pagbilao has nice white sand beaches though but there may not be enough beach resorts rooms and overnight accommodations for large companies.
Quezon has many islands too with fine white sand beaches that many bloggers hype to be like Boracay (usually exaggerated accounts) and also the southern towns are unexplored by Tutubi.
Zambales Beach Resorts: 3 to 5 hours travel time via NLEX-SCTEx
not so crowded and tourist-infested, the beach of Pundaquit, San Antonio, ZambalesHere you have lots of choices though may be quite far already for some companies. Subic Bay has nice resorts including the once popular White Rock and the pricey Marina Lighthouse Resort. Most of Zambales shoreline has black sand or fine gray sand like those in Pundaquit, San Antonio (where you can have nice yet pricey resorts like Punta de Uian)Pundaquit is the gateway to Anawangin Cove and Capones Island.
Pangasinan Beach Resorts: travel time 4 to 6 hours via NLEX, SCTEx
the backpacker-friendly Patar beach in Bolinao, PangasinanPangasinan is a large province. there are many towns with pockets of nice white sand beaches sandwiched between those with gray sand. Western Pangasinan boasts of nice beaches of Anda, and Bolinao and Tambobong White Beach in Dasol town. In Bolinao beaches you can choose Ilog Malino for safe beach for family outings and the backpacker-friendly Patar beach has fine slightly brownish red sand. Pangasinan also has historic beaches in Mangaldan and Lingayen (where resorts like El Puerto Marina can be found) which played silent witness during the liberation of World War II. The Hundred Islands in Alaminos boasts of several beach resorts for overnight accommodations, some with cheap room rates, even dormitory-type rooms for the budget conscious (but usually without official websites nor any published telephone contact numbers)
Lingayen beach is typical Pangasinan and Zambales: fine gray sand with waves suitable for surfing schoolLa Union Beach Resorts: Travel time of 5 hours or more via NLEX, SCTEx (but expect this to shorten once TPLEx is completed)
La Union boasts of nice white sand beaches but they're actually popular for one thing: surfing. You can find beach resorts in the towns of Bauan and San Fernando (where the expensive Thunderbird Poro Point is located)
Further up north, lies Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte (where Pagudpud resorts await) that are too far away for most Manila-based companies to consider for summer outing. Not much nice white sand beaches in Ilocos Sur except Sabangan Beach in Santiago, Ilocos Sur (as Tutubi was able to scour most of seaside towns of Ilocos Sur) and probably other towns north of Vigan (unexplored by Tutubi)
Santiago Cove: a hidden treasure of Ilocos Sur, a white sand beach without the crowds Lastly, if our company summer outing came too late for summer and into the rainy season, you can check out Pansol hotspring resorts in Calamba, Laguna where you can swim to your hearts content without getting out of the hot water due to freezing cold when out of it. :)
This is not a definitive list as Tutubi has yet to fully explore all of them. He may have left out some nice places or gave comments that don't agree with your own.
Labels: Bataan, Batangas, Beaches, Bulacan, Hotels and Resorts, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Luzon, Quezon, Zambales
posted by GingGoy @ 9:30 PM,
4 Comments:
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At Feb 22, 2013, 5:37:00 PM,
Jennifer said...
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You have quite a list here. It's good that you mention even the negative points as it gives any reader looking for a nice beach to go to and idea of which one to choose. Which among these is/are your most fave so far, though?
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At Feb 22, 2013, 7:34:00 PM,
GingGoy said...
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jennifer, i don't have a favorite here as my favorite beach is not listed :) i'll probably go for Patar beach for being backpacker friendly. do share this post to your friends
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At May 16, 2013, 5:18:00 AM,
Ian | GoingRoamingWandering said...
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Nice suggestions for team building! I wanna try to visit the beaches in Nasugbu and Laiya as I've never been there but they say public transpo is hard to go there...
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At May 21, 2013, 1:02:00 PM,
Online Hotel Booking said...
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Excellent post. I want to thank you for this informative read, I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your work.
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