Making a splash in Aquaria

MANILA, Philippines -  It was a great idea for me and a few friends to go to Aquaria — the new leisure resort in Playa Calatagan in Calatagan, Batangas. I heard a lot of good things about it from a friend but I never expected the place to be so cool. When I saw that giant water slide — they told me it was three storeys high — I knew that I had to conquer it.

The trip to Aquaria conveniently took only a short time — in less than three hours we were already at the entrance. Wow, I could not help but get awestruck by Aquaria’s amenities — the place is really first class.

After we settled down with our things in the cabana that we rented — there are several cabanas around the place, usually near the cove pools and the beach — we went around to see Aquaria’s amenities. It turns out that the giant pool slide is located amid several cove pools. There’s even a sunken pool bar.

The sun loungers with their yellow, oversized umbrellas shone like giant sunflowers. There were hammocks! I swore that I would enjoy that hammock big time later.

Even though the trip to Aquaria from Metro Manila was short, we had worked up an appetite. So we had a truly delicious lunch of  grilled  lobsters, prawns, and squid. The best place to enjoy seafood is really at a resort like Aquaria. My Filipino-French friend Alex Dieudonne of band Line of 7 and I ordered a refreshing the frozen margarita: it was perfect for the noonday heat.

We ended up eating a lot, so we decided to get at least an hour’s rest before hitting the pool and the beach. My manager Chris Cahilig and the rest of our group went back to our cabana but I could not wait to use that hammock. It’s the best way to enjoy the sea breeze blowing through the beach.



I found out that Aquaria is a 1.2-hectare property that is designed to be a world-class leisure destination. It’s both a water park and a beach resort — I think it’s the perfect alternative to Boracay. For only P400 for adults and P200 for kids, you can already enjoy the world-class pool and the white sand, the clean, clear blue sea without having to book a flight or take a boat to an island. This makes Aquaria a perfect place for day-trippers who want to enjoy a resort vacation without spending a lot of money and taking a lot of time.

While resting from the heavy lunch, I watched the Aquaria guests, mostly families and groups of friends, enjoying the various activities: soccer, volleyball and Frisbee, and even water sports like kayaking, wind surfing, boating and jet skiing. At the time we were in the resort, there was even a tutorial on stand-up paddle (SUP) boards.

Finally, it was time to hit the beach and try out that giant slide. Whoo! We could not wait to get into the water. The giant slide was a rush! Pretty soon we were laughing and enjoying ourselves. It’s great that there’s both a water park and a beach — we felt like we were getting two resort vacations for the price of one. We went boating and wind surfing, too.

When in such a beautiful place like Aquaria, we just have to take photos. So here I’m sharing some of the shots we took. Hopefully, you’d get an idea how awesome the place looks by looking at the background. These photos are going to be part of my best summer mementos.

Summer will last several more weeks, so I suggest you check out Aquaria for yourself to enjoy this season to the max. It’s going to be worth your while — hope you enjoy it as much as we did!


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

source: philstar.com

Landco opens Aquaria leisure tourism resort in Batangas

MANILA, Philippines - Upscale leisure resort developer Landco has launched Aquaria, a 1.2-hectare leisure and entertainment destination within its 12-hectare Playa Calatagan Leisure Tourism Estate.

The Playa Calatagan Leisure Tourism Estate is Landco’s playground for innovative resort living experiences and concepts — all meant to cater to local and foreign tourists, families, and corporate guests.

With Aquaria, Landco moves closer to its goal of making Playa Calatagan and the rest of the province (where Landco has four other premier residential and agri-tourism projects) one of the country’s most preferred tourism, leisure, and recreational destinations. Landco also plans to put up a world-class seaside condominium near Aquaria, just a few steps away from the beach.

Landco recently treated a select group of guests for them to experience what Aquaria leisure resort has to offer. These lucky guests did some all-day partying in the world-class beach resort, enjoying various beachside activities like soccer, volleyball and frisbee. They also participated in water sports like kayaking, jet ski, wind surfing, stand-up paddle (SUP) boards, and boating.

All these activities naturally made everyone very hungry, so by lunchtime they were served grilled dishes, including lobsters, prawns, squid, chicken legs, beef kebab, and pork belly — these were perfectly matched with refreshing lemon grass tea, freshly squeezed fruit juices, and liquor from the bar right beside the Sands restaurant by the beachfront.

The guests enjoyed the fresh sea breeze, retired to strategically located hammocks where they either read a book or simply daydreamed amid the peaceful, serene atmosphere.



Those who could not wait to enjoy the swimming pools and the beach proceeded to the air-conditioned locker rooms (there are separate areas for ladies and men). Beside the locker rooms are individual showers with adjoining dressing areas and toilets.

Upon leaving the shower rooms, the guests passed through a series of coved pools. One is a kiddie pool with overhead sprinklers; another is a sunken pool bar; the highlight is the main pool with a three-story giant pool slide. There are also wooden cabanas and cove pool cabanas all around. The pools are equipped with a lot of floaters to assist swimmers. Even those who don’t swim can very well enjoy the pools with these floaters helping them stay above the water.

Aquaria charges P400 per head for adults and P200 per head for children. These fees let visitors stay at the resort for the whole day. The smaller cabanas cost P1,000 for whole-day use while bigger ones that are good for 10 people cost P1,500 per day.

For now, Landco allows families to bring in foodstuff and their own barbecue equipment, provided that they keep the beach and the facilities clean. Meals can also be bought from the Sands dining pavilion since the company has a restaurant concessionaire. Liquor and non-alcoholic beverages can also be bought from the square-shaped open bar beside the restaurant.

Chairs and tables are available for rent by families and groups of guests, so they can eat right along the spacious beachfront. Sunbathers can have a lovely time at the sun loungers’ area, which has jumbo umbrellas; when things get too hot, they can easily refresh themselves at the pool bar. 

For reservations or more information on Aquaria, call Landco Pacific Corp. at 835-5083. Other leisure resort developments by Landco include Peninsula de Punta Fuego, Leisure Farms, Hacienda Escudero and the Playa Series-Playa Calatagan, Playa Laiya in Batangas, and Playa Azalea in Samal Island, Davao.

Landco Pacific Corp. develops high-end leisure communities, resort-inspired condominiums and luxury home communities. For more than 20 years, the company has made its mark in Philippine real estate, and is widely acknowledged as one of the leading leisure developers.

source: philstar.com

Boracay, Puerto Galera resort projects bag tax perks from BOI

MANILA - Two projects in two of the country's most popular tourist destinations bagged tax and other perks from the Board of Investments (BOI).

In a statement, the BOI on Monday said it approved fiscal incentives for a P2-billion five-star resort hotel that Boracay Seascapes Resort Inc will put up in the world-class island resort. Called the Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay, the project qualified for incentives under the 2012 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP).



Boracay Seascapes Resport is a unit of FDC Hotel Corp, which in turn is a subsidiary of Filinvest Development Corp.

Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay will rise on a 2.9-hectare tract of land in Barangay Yapak. The resort hotel will have up to 200 guest rooms as well as banquet facilities, a chapel, food and beverage outlets, a game room, a gym, a kid’s club, a salon, a spa, a swimming pool and water sports facilities.

Groundbreaking for the resort hotel is scheduled within the first quarter of this year while commercial operations would start in December 2017. The project will generate 285 jobs.

The second project costing P419.3-million is called the Talipanan Infinity Paradise Resort, which the company of the same name will build in Talipanan, Poblacion, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.

The resort will have 70 rooms. Operations will begin in December, and 88 workers will be hired.

The BOI said these projects would help hit the government’s targets of over seven million tourism jobs and 10 million tourist arrivals by 2016 under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP).

Launched last year, NTDP calls for tourism investments worth P265 billion and the construction of more than 50,000 hotel and resort rooms between 2012 and 2016.

source: interaksyon.com

Hotel of the Week: Waimea Luxury Houses in Puerto Galera

Waimea Luxury Houses is located on Sabang Beach in Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro. The easiest way to get there from Manila is by bus or private vehicle via Batangas pier. From there, several boat transfer options bound for Sabang are made available. In Puerto Galera, tricycles are the easiest way to get to the Waimea Luxury Houses.

















Website
http://www.agoda.com/asia/philippines/puerto_galera/waimea_luxury_houses_el_galleon_dive_resort_annex.html

Price specials
Regular discounts available year-round on Agoda.com





What makes this hotel a stand out?
Unlike anything else in Puerto Galera, Waimea’s three luxury private villas are a five- minute walk to El Galleon beach resort but offer the privacy of one’s own home. Set in a lush tropical garden, the private villas are built around a gorgeous pool. Each villa has been tastefully decorated, complete with essential amenities. The villas are divided into two sections: downstairs is a self-contained studio flat that is separate from the main house, and the top floor of the villa has two en-suite bedrooms, a mezzanine with balcony, spacious living and dining areas, and kitchen.

What Agoda guests are saying
“A great compound back on the hillside with its own pool and nice landscape. Great view of palms trees out to the ocean.”
—Edwin T, Couple from the US, October 2012

“Conveniently located from the next door Asia Divers, with a bit more modern flair and clean environment compared to the nearby original hotel.”
—Riwa S, family with older children from the UK, September 2012

“Perfect place. The staff members were great; the place is spotlessly clean; we really loved the place and would stay there again.”
—David K, couple from Australia, August 2012

source: interaksyon.com