Sand, sun, and fun time at the beach of Aquaria in Playa Calatagan, Batangas

Last March 21, and it’s not yet even a weekend, we joined a group of media practitioners to visit and take a peek of the newest pride beach resort called Aquaria in Playa Calatagan Calatagan, Batangas.

Sand, sun, and fun time at the beach of Aquaria in Playa Calatagan, Batangas.

The travel
And so we started traveling from Manila at around 9 am. Our group met-up at Coffee Bean Tea & Leaf in EDSA Shangri-La for a quick breakfast. After all were accounted, the shuttle revved its engine to start the ride. From Manila, we took the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and it’s a good thing the flow of the traffic wasn’t bad that morning. We reach Tagaytay by 9:55 am. As we passed by Tagaytay, there was an eagerness to stop-by and visit Sky Ranch – the newest leisure park boasting off the tallest Ferris Wheel in the country. So okay, we just passed through. Maybe next time, we’ll set foot to Sky Ranch.

Part of the group posed for the camera before leaving Manila. Breakfast at CBTL.

The ride went on and you can say that you’re already in the South Luzon province when you step in the land of Colette’s, the favorite Buko pie of everyone. I never had met anyone who haven’t craved for that popular Buko pie!

After passing Sky Ranch, we also saw the road to the Puzzle Mansion in Brgy.Asisan. The Puzzle Mansion is just the Guinness World Records holder of the largest puzzle collection. The owner of this is Gina Gil Lacuna.

Inside the shuttle.

By the way, Tagaytay and Batangas are known for its watermelon, corn, buko, pineapple, banana and coffee produce.

While on the road, these Sandari Batulao‘s signboards took my attention. Sandari Batulao is a known resort spa in Nasugbu, Batangas. People go here for healing and detoxification treatments.

I’ve lost count of how many Sandari Batulao signboards that I’ve seen that morning.

If you’re heading to Batangas and you took this road from Tagaytay, you’ll see that there are so many hotels and inns along the way. If you’re planning a weekend getaway here, there are many choices for stay-in accommodations that you will find. One of the popular place here is Taal Vista.

As we go along, I saw different restaurants and eateries serving the gastro-specialty here, which is bulalo. One of the best place that I had a bulalo was in Rose & Grace and at Josephine’s, but there are also equally good serving bulalo at the local eateries here. Tagaytay and Batangas also have the best beef and pork meat in town.

Batangas is well known to many beaches and resorts, like Pico de Loro Cove at Hamilo Coast, Nasugbu; Munting Buhangin in San Juan; Matabungkay in Lian; Golden Sunset in Calatagan and Club Punta Fuego, also in Nasugbu.

Aside form private vehicles and buses plying the province, jeepneys and tricycles are the common transport here.

Road trips and sight-seeing while on the road are fun and it brings back some memories but too long on the road sometimes gets boring or will make you feel sleepy. Good thing that I’ve brought my travel companion, Sennheiser headphones, and it kept me company with the music that I downloaded into my Android phone. Good music and headphones make it a perfect travel companion.

While nearing our destination, we also passed-by Lago de Oro, which is famous for its wakeboarding sports activities.

11:20 am
After more than two hours travel time, we finally reached Aquaria. Aquaria Beach Resort is the newest property from LANDCO Pacific Corporation, its developer. It’s a 12-hectare world-class leisure property designed for families and friends to enjoy an exciting holiday.

This festive logo greeted us as we entered Aquaria Beach Resort.

With the looks of it, I would say it’s really a great place for a weekend getaway.

Looks nice, right?

After boarding off the shuttle, we took some photos first. Some of our companion already changed to their swimwear attires. We had our lunch served by Club Punta Fuego. That was one of the sumptuous lunch I had that week. Imagine, we had grilled seafood  From prawns, lobsters and squids. That was what a perfect summer for me! The lunch buffet was so good that I had to eat with my hands and forget about using spoon and fork. I don’t mind and we are on the beach so, I just enjoyed every single moment of that tummy fillers.

Inside Aquaria Beach Resort.

We took the opportunity to feel the summer vibes! Summer umbrellas!

Lunch time!

Ooh, seafood!

After lunch, we joined the boat ride and we sailed the Sta. Ana Sea which is part of South China Sea. it took us more than one hour in the sea. We took a glimpse of the symbolic Calatagan lighthouse. The boatmen told us that we couldn’t go there because it’s already restricted to the public. The boat ride was fun and exciting. I took that opportunity to be with the group because it’s not everyday that I can ride a boat. The last time I ride was in Caticlan for boat transfer, last year in September.

The fun and exciting boat ride.

Calatagan lightthouse.

But this boat ride was different. It’s a sight-seeing tour with a group who shared the same passion, writing. The sea was fairly calm that time but there are occasional big waves when we reached a certain area, so we need to go back. It’s nice to see the waves as it splashes on the side of the boat.

Sea water splashing on our boat.

I’ve learn from that boat ride that the faster the boat speeds up, more sea water will be thrown on your face, and that’s really fun!

We got back on the land around 3 pm. Some of us head to the pool and tried the Giant Slide while I took more photos. Oh by the way, while we were on the sea, we also jumped in the water. Great experience.

The guys really enjoyed the Giant Slide.

And the ladies also took the Giant Slide dive!

Take a quick look how the boys had some fun with the Giant Slide!

Snacks were served that time and more drinks came in. I had beer and a margarita, one after the other. We had pasta and halo-halo too!

So this another lifestyle that we really can’t afford on regular and thanks to the wonderful PR agency by Chris Cahilig for inviting us to join this media tour. This media tour was organized to promote Aquaria and let the public know that they are one of the best resort in town today.

PR agency head Chris Cahilig and Mawi Tess de Ocampo of LANDCO.

Aside from swimming, there are lots of activities to do here. After getting rested and fed, we gamely participated in the different activities for the day, such as water sports like tutorial on stand-up paddle (SUP) boards and wind surfing.

Guests can take a tutorial on stand- up paddle (SUP) boards.

Aquaria is part of Landco’s 12-hectare Playa Calatagan Leisure Tourism Estate, which houses its various innovative resort lifestyle concepts. All of these are meant to cater to local and foreign tourists, families, and corporate guests.

Aquaria is part of Landco’s 12-hectare Playa Calatagan Leisure Tourism Estate, which houses its various innovative resort lifestyle concepts. All of these are meant to cater to local and foreign tourists, families, and corporate guests.

Aquaria is part of a series of projects meant to fulfill Landco’s goal of turning Playa Calatagan and the rest of Calatagan into a premier tourism and lifestyle destination in the Philippines. Soon, Landco will be putting up a world-class seaside condominium near Aquaria, just a few steps away from the beach.

Fine sand beach of Aquaria.

Aquaria welcomes guests at Php 400 per head for adults and Php 200 per head for children, which is already an all-day access. Those who want to avail of cabanas can do so at rates of Php 1,000 for the smaller ones, and Php 1,500 for the bigger ones (good for ten people) for the day.

For reservations and more information about Aquaria, call Landco Pacific Corp. at 836-5000.

So that’s it. We left Aquaria with a heavy heart… cliché! Kidding aside, it’s a great experience and it’s hard to say goodbye when you’re just almost having more fun. But since, the entrance here is affordable, I might just go back here. Maybe with the family or friends. Anyways, it’s just a two-hour away from Manila. We can just bring in food and do ihaw-ihaw in Aquaria.

Our group leaving the place.

How about you? Do you think this place’s nice? You better see it for yourselves. I’ll bet that you’ll fall in love too. Plan your weekend getaway and include Aquaria Beach Resort in your next trip. Ciao for now!

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