Calatagan, Batangas: From hiking plan that ended at a beach.

One fine Friday afternoon of January, medyo inatake ako ng sumpong ko ng dahil sa boredom kaya anong nangyari? Well, I decided to go to Metro Manila to spend my weekend there. (Parang ang lapit lang ng Metro Manila from CamSur.hahah) So, I rode a bus from our house to Naga City and then from Naga City, I rode another bus to Metro Manila. It was a butt-numbing ride kasi 10 hours akong nagbyahe from Naga City to Metro Manila and because I want to travel cheap on that Friday evening, I rode a non-airconditioned bus.

Actually, pupunta naman talaga ako ng Metro Manila on that month kasi on the last week of January, me and my friends are scheduled to go to Sagada, Mountain Province. Medyo napaaga lang ang pagpunta ko ng Metro Manila kasi nabored na ko sa bahay. It was Saturday morning when I arrived in Metro Manila and because it was a weekend, I wanted to go somewhere para maglakwatsa. I then texted all my friends in Metro Manila pero karamihan sa kanila ay mga busy. A few replied to my text messages and they’d asked kung saan daw pupunta, at ang sabi ko ay maghiking kami sa Mt. Batulao on Sunday, however, nung Saturday evening, bigla na lang nagsend ng text messages yung mga kaibigan ko na hindi na daw sila sasama dahil sa mga kung ano anong dahilan. Well, I said to myself na I guess I’ll be doing a solo hiking on a Sunday.

Nakaset na ang plano ko for a solo hiking but then, another friend texted me and said to me that she and her friends are planning for a Sunday getaway but they don’t want to go hiking, what they want is to go to a beach. So I said to them that we can hike and go to a beach, but she said her friends just want to go to a beach. So she invited me to join them and since I really wanted to travel on that weekend kaya sinabi ko sa kanya na sasama na lang ako sa kanila. She then asked me kung saan ang magandang na beach na pwede namin na mapuntahan na malapit lang sa Metro Manila. Sa Batangas lang ang alam ko na may mga magagandang beach but I don’t have an idea kung saan mismo sa Batangas. So I googled for Batangas beaches and also using Google Maps, and then I saw a white sand beach in Calatagan. So I suggested to my friend na sa Calatagan na lang kami pumunta. I mentioned to her na tingnan nya muna yung website ng Stilts Resort sa Calatagan at natuwa naman sya kaya sabi nya doon na lang daw kami pupunta. So we set the time of departure for Sunday at sabi ko sa kanya let’s meet na lang tomorrow.

So Sunday came, me and my friend, and her friends too, met at Market Market in Taguig City. Nagdala sila ng sasakyan kaya di na namin kailangan pa na magcommute by bus. We left Taguig City at around 7am pero sinundo pa namin yung ilang kaibigan namin sa Cavite. It was a long drive because we need to stop for several times as we are not familiar sa route papuntang Calatagan. We arrived at Calatagan town at around 11am and we still need to travel for 20 minutes from Calatagan town proper to reach Stilts Resort. Medyo malayo ang resort but it was really worth it naman na puntahan. The resort is beautiful. It has a cream colored sand, and a wide beach front. Malawak ang resort at hindi na nga kami nagbalak na ikutin ang resort kasi whole day lang naman kami magistay dun. The day rate for a whole day stay is 350 pesos and the open air cottages rental fee ranges from 800 to 1500 pesos. They also have several rooms available for an overnight stay at the resort.

After looking for a cottage, at nakapili na kami ng cottage, we then ordered a lunch and while waiting for our lunch na maluto, nagphoto ops muna kami.hehehe! Sinimulan na namin ang pagiging camera trigger happy mode.hehehe! And then after eating our lunch, we then decided to walk at magstroll sa beach, and had a dip sa dalawang swimming pool nila. Mababaw ang tubig sa dagat ng Stilts Resort and you really need to walk for a few hundred feet from the shoreline just to reach a waist-deep water. The beach is suitable for kids since the water is not that deep. Kaya nga we decided na sa pool muna maligo kasi inantay pa namin na maghightide para makaligo sa dagat pero konti lang ang itinaas ng tubig nung naghigh tide kaya nung naligo na kami sa dagat, nagtyaga na lang kami sa knee-deep water. Okay na yun di ba? Ang importante makapagtampisaw pa rin sa dagat.hahaha! adik lang sa pagligo sa tubig dagat.hahaha! And another thing, if you want to watch or view a beautiful sunset habang nasa beach, then this is the place to go kasi nakaharap sya sa South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). Sobrang ganda ng sunset dito na we actually spend almost an hour para lang panuorin ang magandang sunset, and not to mention ang magspend ng ilang minuto para picturan ang magandang sunset.hehehe!

Anyway, after namin mapagod sa pagligo sa dagat we then decided na umalis na sa resort since gagabihin na kaming masyado kasi dadaan pa kami ng Tagaytay City. We left Stilts Resort at around 7am and then we travelled to Tagaytay City. At dahil hindi naman talaga namin plano na pumunta ng Tagaytay, mga beach attire ang mga dala dala namin kaya nung dumating kami ng Tagaytay, nilalamig na kami. It was really cold on that evening na pumunta kami ng Tagaytay na ayaw na nga namin lumabas ng sasakyan. Habang kumakain nga kami sa Gerry’s Grill medjo nanginginig na kami sa lamig.hahaha! Pumunta din kami ng Starbucks para makapagkape at nagtake out na lang kami pero the weird thing about us, nagtake out kami ng kape para inumin lang ito sa loob ng sasakyan habang nakapark lang sa harap ng Starbucks.hahaha! After that crazy trip, umuwi na kami ng Metro Manila. We arrived in Metro Manila at around 12 midnight or 1am na ata.

Our Sunday getaway was really fun. Sobrang nagenjoy kami sa mga pinaggagawa namin for that whole day. It was really an adventure and an exciting roadtrip. It was really fun to spend a roadtrip and a weekend with friends. And I was really thankful kasi halos sagot lahat ng gastos nung friend ng friend ko.hehehe! My planned hiking or my planned solo hiking ended up going to a beach and I was really thankful na nangyari yun kasi nakapunta na naman ako sa isang lugar na hindi ko pa napuntahan and at the same time nagenjoy ako kasama ang mga kaibigan ko. At yan po ang tinatawag na biglaang lakad na wala sa plano.heheheh!

If you want to go to Stilts Resort Calatagan, you can ride a bus bound for Nasugbu or Calatagan. The bus terminal is located at Pasay City, near the MRT Taft Station, at the back of Mcdonalds. And then after arriving at Calatagan town proper, rent a tricycle to Stilts Resort. It is a 20 to 30 minutes ride from Calatagan town proper.

Road Map: http://stiltscalataganbeachresort.net/?page_id=396

Here’s the website of the resort: http://stiltscalataganbeachresort.net/

Note: Hindi po ako binayaran ng resort para ipromote sila. Maganda lang talaga ang resort kaya gusto ko din ishare sa iba na naghahanap din ng mapupuntahan na magandang beach na malapit lang sa Metro Manila, lalong lalo na it’s summer time na. So what are you waiting for? Magtampisaw na sa beach!