Batangas City is known for its beautiful beaches and stunning dive sites. And since it is near Manila, it is frequently chosen for company or group outings. For Shen’s fifth birthday, she wished for a family beach getaway which we highly favored. We are so happy because our little girl had overcome her fear of the sea. We chose Munting Buhangin Beach Camp in Barrio Natipunan, Nasugbu as it is three-hour away only from Manila and has a beautiful sea view.

It was a gloomy Saturday but it didn’t hamper the mood and everyone was excited for a beach getaway. Bringing of food is allowed in the resort. My hubby wanted our tummies to be full so we bought lots of food from snacks to the main dish.

Caving breakfast with a beautiful view

At the entrance gate, the security guard did a headcount and wrote it on a piece of paper. He instructed us to give it to the cashier upon payment. We went down to the parking area through a wet and rough road. Then we took the steep and concrete steps carrying our stuff in getting down to the main resort. It was a tiring trek. My mom had caught her breath when we reached the last step. Whew!

Shen was so excited for the swimming.

The only available cheap room for the eight of us was the Barkada fan room. But it was small, with no comfort room and no table to put our things on. We were offered the Honeymoon Suite. It was quite expensive but we took it since it is the last available air-con room for the family. It has one queen-size bed with a pull-out bed, one single bed, private room, ref, small table, grilling area, and a balcony overlooking the water world.

Our room for the day, the Honeymoon Suite

Room rate – P4,800.
Entrance fee – P200/head.

Rion was free since she is one and a half months old.  I thought this resort was for the average traveler. But the room rate was expensive as well as the entrance fee.

Yours truly after having my fill of the water activity

Gloomy July

We had our dinner on the balcony. It was so cool and quiet outside. Indeed, a perfect place to look at the sky and contemplate certain things. Unfortunately, there were pesky mosquitoes so we went inside the room. After eating and washing the dishes, we went back to the beach. There were no stars in the sky and there are no beach lights, too. It is not safe to hang around. Hooh! But we enjoyed dipping in the water amidst a little speck of light.

Kulitan at night

Thanks to the little brightness coming from open cottages. It helped us looked for a good spot to swim. The water was warm; the gentle waves refreshed us peacefully. But we were annoyed by these small creatures that tickled our legs. Are they tiny crabs?

Kuya Pao and Shen

After an hour of wading on the water, we went back to our room and rinse. We stayed on the balcony and did some wacky things before we surrender ourselves to sleep in a very cold and nice room. However, we had some discomfort while lying in bed. Our skin itched and so we sprayed alcohol in our mattress.

The hundred steps that worn me out carrying our stuff going down the resort

Dawn came too quickly. I awoke to the sound of the alarm clock at 5:00 a.m. I leaped out of bed and looked at the sky in the glass window. The horizon was impeded by dark clouds. It seemed rain will fall any minute from now. Pretty sure, I will not have a sunrise photo in my cam.  Dismayed, I went back to bed and sleep again.

Gloomy morning as seen from the window

Next waking hour – 6:00 a.m. Still, there’s no trace of good weather conditions outside. We ate our breakfast on the balcony. We cleaned our mess and later wore our swimwear. We locked the room and though it was still gloomy, we explored the end portion of the long stretch passing Terrazas de Punta Fuego to Costa de Loro.

As we strolled around the long stretch we saw this small body of water that goes directly to the beach. It was so clear and shallow perfect for kids to swim.

It’s good that the sun finally beamed into the sky. Munting Buhangin was now crowded with bathers. We opted to swim in Terrazas. It’s good that this is open to all. We enjoyed a refreshing water solitude.

The refreshing view from the window

We discovered that the annoying “small creature” last night was jellyfish! We saw not only once but several of them hovering freely in the water. We went back to Munting Buhangin to stay away from the jellyfish and continue to swim.

My hubby and I went back to the room to grill our food. We didn’t swim anymore. We rinsed and prepared our lunch. Aside from mosquitoes, we also had another visitor. Look at this.

After we had our lunch, I went inside the nearby vacant rooms to see if they are nice to stay. Later Shen and I strolled around. It was flickering hot outside. But later heavy rain poured! The sudden change in climate was annoying. We decided to go back home.

We checked out before 12 noon. My sister and I were left to check if our stuff was all kept. The cleaner came inside. He fixed the bed, did some cleaning, and off he went out of the room.

The happy smile of Mik

We exchanged glances, displeased with what we saw. The cleaner didn’t change the beddings. Maybe this is the reason why we had some itchiness every time we go to the bed. This is our first time experiencing it. From our previous family getaways, we frequently saw cleaners change the beddings after the guests went outside the room. But in this resort, they did not.

Our visitor early morning

Comments:

Good sides:

* Munting Buhangin had a nice and tranquil view.
* The gray sand though not white is fine. It is so nice to walk barefoot.
* There are no disturbing small rocks on the seafloor.
* Guests will no longer ride a boat to get into the resort as it has its own private accessway.

Downsides:
* Sorry, but we were not fully satisfied with our stay in the room. We experience itchiness every time we go to bed.
* One has to go down to the main resort. Not advisable to elders or disabled people esp. those who have lung ailments.
* The road is not well paved. Be sure to drive carefully as it gets slippery when it rains.
* There are small jellyfish hovering on the water.
* There are no beach lights. Not so safe to swim at night.
* There are pesky mosquitoes on the balcony.