Ronco Beach Resort
During holidays we often find ways to relax from our busy lives. Escaping the normal routines and for us the best way to do it is head out to the beach. In the Philippines there are more than 7000 islands each has it's own magical charm. From where we live the best nearest beaches can be found in Batangas. There are several municipalities in Batangas that has a lot of beach resorts.
We chose Calatagan which is almost 4 hours drive from where we live. Come join us today as I share with you our experience in Ronco Beach Resort.
My wife search online two weeks ahead of time to get an accommodation. Still because of the holidays we were only booked for one night. We wanted two nights but just opted to book our second night on different resort. On the good side of it we would get a chance to experience two different resorts during our holiday.
We arrived at 2:30 pm and check-in time was 2:00 pm so we arrived just in time.
The only available room was the Deluxe Room III.
Cost:
4,200 ($80.24 usd) pesos per night
Inclusions:
Good for 4 persons
with aircon, television, refrigerator and balcony
It was nestled on the side of a hill, cemented and the walls decorated with corals. If you don't mind climbing up a few steps this room is perfect.
On the balcony, there is a seating area made from bamboo and a table where you could eat your meals.
On the door, it says 3-person room capacity but they allow up to four persons. They told us if there are more people to stay you just need to pay extra.
Inside there double deck bed made from bamboo and a queen-sized bed. Not much-moving space in the room but it was ok since you would be spending most of the time outside.
There is a small television which looks like from the 90s era. It's working but who would want to watch tv all day?
The window has a view of the ocean and the swimming pool below. The window looks like it needs some cleaning though.
On the balcony, you have the best view of the resort. Overlooking the dock and the pool which they light up at night.
At beach resorts, most kids prefer to swim in the pool. It looks ok but it is a small pool and we are still very cautious when it comes to health protocols.
Other accommodations here are called Kubos which is the Philippine native hut.
Cost:
2,400 ($45.85 usd) pesos per night
Inclusions:
Good for 4 persons
Non air-conditioned with electric-fan
If you are just on a day tour. You could rent an open cottage and just pay the entrance fee.
Cost:
Day 200 ($3.82 usd) pesos
Overnight 400 ($7.64 usd) pesos
Open Cottage Rental
Good for 7 persons = 700 ($13.37 usd) pesos
Good for 10 persons = 1,000 ($19.11 usd) pesos
Good for 15 persons = 1,500 ($28.66 usd) pesos
The Dock
I believe that the highlight of this resort is their dock. Most of the visitors spend their time here to relax specially at night when they turn on the lights on the dock. It seems like a good for a drinking spree at night and a good place to enjoy your coffee during early mornings.
There is one table here and a couple of lounge chairs in case you would like to go on sun bathing.
They also offer here boat rides.
Cost:
450.00 ($8.60 usd) pesos per person for 1 hour.
As the sun went down the air was a little bit cooler. The water was very low and wouldn't be fun to take a swim as you would need to head out further into the ocean to swim. My daughter and wife instead just spent their time fooling around on the dock.
Night came and the lights were turned on the dock. I can see why a lot of people hang out here at night. People were coming in and out to take some photos. I still struggle to shoot low light but managed to get a couple of shots.
They also allow tents on the beach I am just not sure if you need to pay extra to sleep here.
Morning came and we had a very good sleep. We needed breakfast early in the morning and it was a disappointment. We asked the staff if we could order for breakfast. They told us that breakfast starts at 8 am and they are not sure if they could accommodate our order. They said that a lot of people orders for breakfast, they told us to just come and check later at 8. It seems like they don't care about their customers and looks like they just don't want to cook.
We gave up on ordering breakfast from them and luckily my wife had with her a can of Spam and some bread. Our breakfast problem was solved. After eating I was just curious and check if there were a lot of people eating and ordering breakfast during 8 am. All the tables were empty and no one was having breakfast. Just proves my guess that they just don't want to cook.
Anyway I didn't let it ruin our morning and just had a nice stroll at the beach.
On the further right side of the resort near the boundary there is another beach area but does not look well developed. Looks like a good place to explore with a lot of mangrove trees.
My attention got caught by the trail going up the hill. I decided to explore this area instead with my daughter. The trail is cemented and has bamboo railings as a safety precaution for those going up.
Up here you have a great view of the ocean and the resort.
I did a short photo shoot with my daughter and these are just a few of the photos.
I found out that the trail leads up to the Dolphin House which is another accommodation for larger groups of people. We didn't both go up as we do not want to invade the privacy of the people up there. Instead, we just went down this path that leads back to the beach.
If you want to explore more, from the resort there is an unfinished road that you could trek. I goes further up the hill which is surrounded by trees and you could hear different sorts of birds. If I had my zoom lens with me I would have taken some shots of the birds here.
It was lunchtime and I saw this cat up a small coconut tree. Looks like it is hunting for something. A bird perhaps which I guess would be very hard to catch even for a cat.
Check-out time from the resort is at 12 noon and we had to eat lunch first before we move to the next resort where we will be staying at. We had two options go back to the nearest town to look for a place where we could have lunch or check again the restaurant in the resort if we could order something. Going back to the town will take us around 30 minutes plus another 30 minutes going back. We would be wasting gas and gas is very expensive these days. We decided to ask again and luckily they were ready to cook something for lunch.
The restaurant is decorated with cultural items like this wheel from a horse carriage converted into a chandelier. They also had a small native boat hanging from the ceiling.
Food
Pan fried pork belly marinated with lemon grass - 300 pesos ($5.73 usd)
Ginataang Baka (Beef in coconut milk) - 300 pesos ($5.73 usd)
Steamed Rice - 30 pesos each ($0.57 usd)
Lunch Total Cost - 720 pesos ($13.76 usd)
Not bad for a lunch for four people.
Surprisingly the beef is delicious and the serving could be enough for 3 people. The beef has been cooked slowly in coconut milk and has made it very tender. You would know that it is cooked right if you see natural oils from the coconut milk on top of it. I say this is one of the best Ginataang Baka I have ever tasted.
As for the fried pork belly, it was not bad. It was like a home-cooked pork belly with a nice lemon grass flavor. Something that I may try to replicate at home. Seasoned with salt and pepper I just need to find out how to infuse the lemon grass.
We enjoyed our lunch and I guess you would have no trouble ordering lunch here. But about breakfast, it would be best to bring something with you if plan to stay overnight here.
We stayed here until 1 pm as check-in time in our next resort is also at 2 pm.
Experience
- Accommodation was just right for the price. The beddings and restroom were clean. Air-conditioning and refrigerator were working fine.
- The resort was clean except for the further right side where I saw some bottles and plastic wrappers.
- The beach was clean but the water is low with a lot of seagrasses. This is unavoidable as this is how the beach is in Batangas at times.
- Loud music from a few people doing day tours which is unavoidable.
- Lunch was great but good luck on ordering breakfast.
- Majority of the staff should be more concerned with the needs of their customers. Some are even quite rude on a few occasions but there are two who were nice.
Overall it was still ok as the price is reasonable. I just hope they could improve more on the service of their staff.
Thanks for joining us today and I hope you come with us again as we share with you the next resort that we visited. I'm sure you would love our next location because it was a 10 overall for us.
Hope you check us again soon.
Live life, swim the ocean and love.
All photos are original and taken with
Lumix GX85 with Olympus 45mm f1.8
and GoPro Hero 9
