One of the friends I traveled to Puerto Princesa with is leaving the Philippines very soon, so we all just wanted to spend one more weekend together. We initially thought of a quick escape to Boracay, or a little bit nearer - Baguio, or even much nearer Villa Escudero, but then he suddenly remembered he has a frisby match on his last weekend. My other friend and I saw the frisby event page on Facebook, and when we googled the location (Crystal Beach, San Narciso, Zambales), turns out it's just 4 hours away from Manila!
So my other friend and I decided to surprise him at his frisby match.
We invited another friend to join us, and here's how it went.
Sunday 3:30 am - we arrived at the Victory Liner bus station in Pasay and boarded the bus going to Iba - Zambales. We bought tickets to San Antonio - this is the town before San Narciso, because I found a really pretty place online which we decided to have breakfast at before going to Crystal Beach. A one-way ticket for one person costs P275. The bus was very comfortable and clean. We had a 20-minute stop at Olongapo, where we had a magical cup of taho to warm us up.
We got down at San Antonio and got a tricycle to Ohana Art Café (look them up on facebook!). Each of us paid P30 for the ride. The road to the café is verybeautiful - you'll see mountains on one side and farm lands on the other and the compounds of the wooden houses left and right were also so clean. Half way through, we stopped at a check point and each of us had to pay P20 environmental fee! How amazing is that; no wonder the area is so well-kept and clean!
Soon we reached our destination - a very quaint and exciting little cafe on the side of the road. The café is overwhelming; it's filled with so many little things - you won't be able to see everything!
There are inspirational quotes on the wall (all about love!), shell chandeliers, curtains ad dream catchers hanging from the ceiling, beautiful little plants on the shelves, a free fish foot spa, a dog (with colored eye brows!) and lots of mini-decorations made out of recycled material. So much creative thought was put into this little hippie place. Each table has a little message, and ours said "Call someone and tell them I love you". So we dared each other, noting that family and relatives weren't allowed! For brunch, my two friends a burger and myself a pizza. The price is very good too (ranges from P100 - P300). When my friends' burgers came, I commented "those fries are so little" while the waitress was still there..and a few minutes later she came back with an extra bowl of fries! I was so surprised that she made note of my comment! I absolutely recommend this place - it's definitely the most interesting café I've ever been to! It's a truly relaxing place with so much personality (every corner is Instagrammable!).
There are inspirational quotes on the wall (all about love!), shell chandeliers, curtains ad dream catchers hanging from the ceiling, beautiful little plants on the shelves, a free fish foot spa, a dog (with colored eye brows!) and lots of mini-decorations made out of recycled material. So much creative thought was put into this little hippie place. Each table has a little message, and ours said "Call someone and tell them I love you". So we dared each other, noting that family and relatives weren't allowed! For brunch, my two friends a burger and myself a pizza. The price is very good too (ranges from P100 - P300). When my friends' burgers came, I commented "those fries are so little" while the waitress was still there..and a few minutes later she came back with an extra bowl of fries! I was so surprised that she made note of my comment! I absolutely recommend this place - it's definitely the most interesting café I've ever been to! It's a truly relaxing place with so much personality (every corner is Instagrammable!).
We spent more than an hour there eating, talking, looking around and playing with their photo props. I asked the lady if there was any beach nearby and it turns out we were a few steps away from Pundaquit beach! We slowly walked towards the water, as if our souls were following a yellow lamp in the dark. I asked the boatmen if they could take us to Crystal beach by boat, but they said it's not part of their tour package.
If you have time to spent in San Antonio, then I highly suggest you take the boat tour to Anawangin and Nagsasa coves and/or Capones and Camara islands. It typically costs P1000 - P2000 to rent a little boat for a day (this fits 4-6 people).
If you have time to spent in San Antonio, then I highly suggest you take the boat tour to Anawangin and Nagsasa coves and/or Capones and Camara islands. It typically costs P1000 - P2000 to rent a little boat for a day (this fits 4-6 people).
We didn't have time for that, so we looked for a tricycle and paid P100 each to Crystal Beach resort (San Narciso is pretty far; more than 30 minutes ride away).
When we got to Crystal Beach Resort, we had to pay an entrance fee of P500 each. This was the part I didn't expect (I didn't see this while doing my research before the trip!) Turns out it's a large private area. Apart from the P500 we each had to pay P100 security deposit fee (which was refunded upon check out). After registering, we were each given a P150 meal/drinks stub (so this was taken from our P500) which we can claim at their restaurant. When you walk in, you'll first see the different types of accommodation - big rooms, small bamboo cottages, trees where you can hang your hammocks to sleep and also the tent area (you can either bring or rent your own tents to stay in at night). See their accommodation rates on their website.
Then when we got to the beach we saw the frisby match going on. We spotted our friend and he was very surprised to see us! After we changed into our swim wear, we bought some fruit shakes from the restaurant (we didn't use our stubs for this - we each paid P100 for a fruit shake), then we found some seats under a shade and relaxed for a bit before hitting the water. The current was strong! I have never encountered such strong waves before. I've been to Baler many years ago, but I didn't go to the water. So as expected, there were lots of people surfing the waves, and very few people hanging on the shores.
Then when we got to the beach we saw the frisby match going on. We spotted our friend and he was very surprised to see us! After we changed into our swim wear, we bought some fruit shakes from the restaurant (we didn't use our stubs for this - we each paid P100 for a fruit shake), then we found some seats under a shade and relaxed for a bit before hitting the water. The current was strong! I have never encountered such strong waves before. I've been to Baler many years ago, but I didn't go to the water. So as expected, there were lots of people surfing the waves, and very few people hanging on the shores.
After a few hours of relaxing and talking, we got changed and went for our lunch (at 4pm). We used our food stubs and ordered pasta, pancakes and some apetizers. The prize was really good, for the serving size! The mixed basket appetizers (hot dog, squid balls, cheese sticks, etc) was P150, the baked macaroni and tuna carbonara were P152 each. Price range is generally between P100 - P200. We used our meal stubs, and then paid the extra. This was our last supper with our dear friend!
After checking out, we got a tricycle (P15 each) to go to the bus stop. The tricycle driver suggested we take any bus going to Olongapo then go to the Victory Liner bus station to get a ride to Manila, rather than wait for the bus from Iba that goes straight to Manila (they're very limited). A bus ride to Olongapo is P50. When we got there, we walked over to the Victory Liner station and bought a ticket back to Pasay (P223).
So I put in our expenses just so you have a rough idea on how much you need if you want to make his quick one-day escape out of Manila! Our timing was really good too, so we didn't encounter any traffic leaving or heading back to Manila.
If you know other beautiful beaches near Manila, do let me know through the message box on the left side of my page, because I'd love to do more exploring!
So I put in our expenses just so you have a rough idea on how much you need if you want to make his quick one-day escape out of Manila! Our timing was really good too, so we didn't encounter any traffic leaving or heading back to Manila.
If you know other beautiful beaches near Manila, do let me know through the message box on the left side of my page, because I'd love to do more exploring!