Friday, July 05, 2013

Lola Tekla's Beach Resort of Laiya, Batangas

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This trip is actually unexpected. The original plan was to go to Puerto Galera with my officemates. Unfortunately, the weather didn't permit us and so we had to think for an alternative route. We're in Batangas Port, stranded and feeling hopeless because there were no trip going to Galera that day due to a bad weather condition. I hate that LPA building up that day! Good thing we were able to use our smart phones and search for a good spot in Batangas where we can spend our weekend getaway.  We traveled for 3 hours already and turning back will be and will always be our last resort. After a couple of arguments and lay back moments in Batangas Port, we finally made up our mind -- Laiya, Batangas it is.

We chose Laiya, Batangas because there are tons of positive feedback about how beautiful this place is. Most specially its beach part.  Creamy sand, enticing clear water, water adventures/activities, and lots of resorts to choose from. These factors made Laiya, Batangas a perfect place for us who were unprepared for this change of plan.

Personal chat? Lol (Photo from Thea Velasco)
As we land on Laiya, Batangas, the beach of Laiya didn't fail to 'wow' us. Our disappointment on our Galera trip just fade away and all we can think off that time was to get a nice place to stay in. Budget friendly, lesser crowd, fun activities, accessibility to market place, and lots of freebies. These are the qualifications we wanted as we scout for a resort. Then we found Lola's Beach Resort. A public resort in Laiya, Batangas that almost fulfilled our qualifications. Trivia: Lola is a local term for grandmother. The resort is called Lola Beach Resort because the owner of this place is already a grandmother - named, Lola Tekla.

Serves as our home for an overnight (Photo from Lola Beach Resort FB Page)

Lola Beach Resort is a non-private resort so there is no entrance fee implemented in this place. Aside from that, they have 5 rooms to choose from which can accommodate large group. We were 9 in the group and we chose Room #4 to spent an overnight. It costs 5,500 Php per night which includes a refrigerator, bathroom, kitchen with stove, dinning table, spacious receiving area, and (1) AC room with 4 beds that can accommodate 3 persons each bed. A free large nipa hut near the beach was granted to us as a freebie. Yeah!

This is how it looks like as you enter Room #4 (Photo from Lola Beach Resort FB Page)
The are 4 beds in the AC room and 1 bed outside of it (Photo from Lola Beach Resort FB Page)
Small bathroom and our free hut! (Photo from Lola Beach Resort FB Page)
There is also a Sari-sari store inside the vicinity of Lola Beach Resort which is good if you need something like soap, shampoo, canned goods, alcoholic beverages, etc. Another key factor why we chose Lola is because of its accessibility to wet and dry market. Since the room we got has a stove, might as well cook our own food instead of buying ready-to-eat food which is not ideal if we wanted to save money. Fresh fish, chicken, pork, and vegies are available in a market nearby. It is just a 5-10 mins walk away from Lola Beach Resort and it is hard to miss out.

We don't have any problem with the staff of Lola. They gave us a warm welcome and were all friendly. Lola Tekla even visited us in the house. Even at her age, she still manage to walk and checked out her guests. They also let us borrowed some kitchenware like plates, spoons and forks, knife, frying pan, etc...

After doing the grocery that we will be using for our whole stay, we decided to have a swim. I don't know if it is normal but the temperature of the water there is a bit warm. However, the water level there is gradually changing from shallow to deep so it is also ideal for non-swimmers. Apart from splashing on the water, we also had some fun games like creating sand castles. We divided the group into 2 to compete and let our creativity shine! Lol.

Fun time in the water (Photo from Thea Velasco)
D' Castle builders. Which is better? (Photo from Thea Velasco)
never mind... hahaha (Photo from Thea Velasco)
It's time for some water activity. One of the facilitator of Lola Beach Resort offers us a banana boat ride. Note: Standard fee for this ride is 1500 Php for 15 mins and is good for 5 pax. Only 6 of us are willing to try the Banana Boat so we divided the group into 2 again. One group decided that they will only go for a plain ride while the other group wants the extreme ride wherein the Banana Boat will turn sideways and riders will be toss into the air (of course, I am included on the 2nd option). It was my first Banana boat ride and I really do had fun. After that, we were also offered to try the boat ride going in the snorkeling part of Laiya. Again, the weather/rain stops us from doing that. We didn't take risk. Safety first.

Photo op before the water activity starts (Photo from Thea Velasco)
Team Extreme and Team Unexpected Fall (Photo from Thea Velasco)
Love the part when we are being toss in the air! Thrill part of the Banana Boat ride (Photo from Thea Velasco)
After almost 5 hours in the water, Jean and Ate Cath (the cooks) called us for dinner. It was one of the best dinner I have ever had! It was just a grilled fish, grilled liempo, plain rice and Ferdie's sawsawan recipe but it was a perfect combo! We all ate like a construction worker and seems like there's no tomorrow. I can still imagine how good it was as I blog this entry. Yum!

After the dinner, everybody washed up while others take some short naps before we continue on our socials. We drink all night till dawn and laugh. We also celebrated Jean's birthday. By the way I would also like to mention Donna because she took the responsibility for washing our dishes for this whole trip :] Thanks Donna!

The chef, the assistant chef, the dishwasher and the lazy boy (Photo from Thea Velasco)
The next day, we were all surprised to see the big waves. I actually planned to have a boat ride that time unfortunately it was really impossible. Just simply refer on the photos below to see how dangerous those big waves are. Having said so, instead we took that chance to have a photo op.

Big waves at my back! (Photo from Thea Velasco)
Next time we'll make sure that the weather condition is clear from LPA (Photo from Thea Velasco)
Polaroid shots from Jean's Instax camera (Photo from Thea Velasco)
Our most perfect jump shot that day...  (Photo from Thea Velasco)
Trying to catch viewer's attention but Claire outstage me here. Aw
We left Lola Beach Resort at around 3:00 PM. One of the caretaker called a jeepney that took us to Alps Terminal Bus and costs 35 Php per pax. Even though it seems like everything was against this trip, we still manage to enjoy and relax away from our busy life in the city -- not bad!

Breakdown of Expense:
Accommodation: 5,500 Php (divided into 9 persons)
Banana Boat: 1500 Php (divided into 6 persons)
Food: 250 Php (group contribution) good for 4 meals
Pasalubong: 300 Php (makapuno, espasol, etc..)
Transportation: estimate of 450 Php Two way (can't give you a breakdown since we
originated in Batangas port and we just rented a private van from there)

Lola Beach Resort
Balacbacan, Laiya Aplaya, SanJuan Batangas
Contact # Alex Atienza: 0917-3643602 | Ronald Atienza: 0919-6807597

47 comments:

  1. Cool! Ganda naman jan! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks po. Yup magandang pasyalan ang Laiya :]

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  2. Hope I can bring my friends and family to this cute place....

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  3. Hahah natawa ako sa blog na to... cute yung Claire dun sa last photo ;)

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  4. Pwede bang di mag avail ng room pero mag oovernight? As in mag pipitch lang kami ng tent. Kailangan lang kasi namin ng beach na maoobserve overnight para sa lab activity namin sa school. May entrance fee din ba?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lola tekla doesn't offer tent pitching. Pero hile hilera yung resorts dun pwede kayo mag tanong tanong kung pumapayag sila magpatayo ng tent. About the entrance sa Lola Resort, walang entrance fee oag kukuha ng room. Ayun po.

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  5. Magkano ang entrance at cottage if day tour lang?

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    Replies
    1. Nalimutan ko na yung pricing nila pero ito yung mga contact numbers na pwede itext/tawagan, mga taga Lola Beach Resort sila:

      Alex Atienza: 0917-3643602
      Ronald Atienza: 0919-6807597
      Winnie Vertudes: 0916-9112046

      Delete
  6. Magkano po yung Cheapest room nyo? Thanks! :) Balak kasi namin magpunta dyan dahil mag celebrate ng bday. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Di po ako affiliated sa Lola's Beach Resort. Bale ang natatandaan ko lang pong rating is yung room na nakuha namin which is 5,500 na good for 8-10 persons.

      If you want to inquire on the ratings of their accommodations, you can try reaching these numbers:

      Alex Atienza: 0917-3643602
      Ronald Atienza: 0919-6807597
      Winnie Vertudes: 0916-9112046

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  7. Thanks bro. Worth the reading. Keep it up. We'll be there cause of this blog. :)

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  8. question po, paano po papunta sa resort na to?

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    Replies
    1. May terminal sa Cubao bound to Lipa City. You can take Alps bus. Then from Lipa City, may mga jeeps na papuntang San juan. Sakay po kayo dun. Then From San Juan, sakay ulit kayo papuntang Barangay Laiya. TAnong tanong na lang kayo from Barangay LAiya kung saan yung Lola Tekla's Resort.

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  9. Hindi naman po nagrereply yung mga contact nunber na binigay mo

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    Replies
    1. Naku sir if thats the case, maaaring nagpalit na sila ng number. Nakuha ko po kasi ung nakapost na numbers dito sa ibinigay nilang calling card.

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  10. Hi Sir! Tanong ko lang kung ilang hours byahe nyo from manila
    (pasay) to Lola tekla's resort?

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  11. My estimate is around 2.5 to 3 hours sir

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  12. Gaya po ng sinabi ko sa blog, may LPA po that day. Hahahaha. Pero malinaw talaga ang tubig dito

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  13. Sir Ask ko lng po Kung alam po nila Over Night Rate sa Resort?

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    Replies
    1. Overnight rate here is not per head but it depends on the room that you'll get/rent. For example, we did get their room which is worth 5,500. Then that means our per overnight rate will be 5,500 (again, not per head but it is a group contribution). Btw, Their rooms ranges from 3,000 to 6,000 pesos

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  14. Would you know if bonfire is allowed at the beachfront?

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    Replies
    1. Im not sure but I believe they refrain bonfire here coz it might damage the quality of the sand? not sure though

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  15. Nice, By watching your blog, my all old memories get fresh and smile comes on my face . I also do so many trips with my friends and click so many pictures. Many of them are like same as in your pics we jumped and on of us click that .

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  16. Hi Geejay, i really enjoyed reading your blog especially about trekking.
    Keep it Up! More posts pa.

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  17. Hi ! May website ba sila na pwede maview or cocontakin nlang thru phone para dun magpareserve?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They have a fanpage in FB, you may try it to inquire po

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  18. Hi, Geejay

    May mga katabi ba sila beach resort din.. full na kc sa lola teklas..Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup tabi tabi na yug resort sa area na yun. Kaso wala akong mabibigay na contact numbers

      Delete
  19. Hi gEejay.ask q lng if my room cla for 16-20pax..tnx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Based on what I've saw, the biggest room they have can only accommodate up to 15 pax. If that's the case, I suggest you to rent 2 rooms with a capacity of 10pax each[??]

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  20. Hi. Ask ko lang if nag island hopping po kayo? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ndi na namin nagawa un kasi super unstable yung tubig because of LPA

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  21. hi..di bah cla ng pa2reserve?? were planning kse pmnta sah batangas this MAY 17 pero wla pah mapili nah beachnah mura ang accommodation.. thanks..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You may try the phone numbers below para kontakin sila:

      Alex Atienza: 0917-3643602
      Ronald Atienza: 0919-6807597
      Winnie Vertudes: 0916-9112046

      Delete
  22. Never heard of this resort even I read so many resorts in Batangas Resorts List.
    But it looks good and it's pink :)

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    Replies
    1. The resort doesn't have its own website. Maybe its one of the reason why people do not know the place.

      Delete
  23. Nice, Pipz from Ust-global sila before dba? haha Thea Isabel and M.Kris

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  24. ask ko lang kung nakakadaan ba ang mga vehicle papunta dyan kung may private vehicle kami?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yup... makakadaan po hanggang sa place ni Lola :)

      Delete
  25. Hi ask ko lang po kung mabato po ba dun sa beach?

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  26. is this place still available? anyone who have been there got a contact number/person?

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  27. is this place still available? anyone who have been there got a contact number/person?
    #repost

    ReplyDelete

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