It was always difficult to think of a place to spend a weekend nearby Manila. Traveling by land, there’s only a handful of places to visit without driving more than 3 hours, and since there’s only a handful, most of us already been there. This weekend, we spent an overnight trip to Montemar Beach Club in Bagac, Bataan.  It’s 200KM away from Manila, and exactly 3 hours away by car.

Montemar Beach Resort is a 12 hectare, private resort and by private I mean very private, they own the whole cove, end-to-end. The beach is lined with fine medium to dark gray sand. You can comfortably walk by the beach, and head to the sea, it’s not good for swimming though unless you’re really good at it.

Waves on average of 2-3 feet constantly hit the beach from South China Sea. Its really a different experience, I remember when I was a kid, we used to go to Splash Island to experience their artificial waves. Well the waves here don’t stop! It’ll come on you until you can no longer jump, the good thing is, it’s safe since its rare that you’ll step on a sharp stone.

After our experience several minutes of wave bashing fun, we’re hungry as expected. Nearby is a restaurant, where you can dine and enjoy  the cool breeze from the sea or just relax staring at the waves hitting the shore. Its a Spanish-inspired building, lit by lanterns above. One can have a decent meal for 200-300php per person. Our stay already include a set breakfast.

We got an air-conditioned room, garden view room for 3,400+ (peak rate) that is good for 2 adults and 2 kids. The rooms are very spacious around 30 square meters, and have a good view of a garden. Some rooms on the second floor have a loft. The bad thing about the our room is you can hear foot steps from above, we had difficulty sleeping because the room above ours have a lot of activities even at night. Our room have no TV, so you better bring some form of entertainment like a laptop.

Montemar is more fit as a family-oriented resort, and also company outings. Aside from the beach, they have a swimming pool, a playground for the kids, tennis court and a golf-course.

Directions by  Car:

1. Take NLEX and exit to SCTEX after Dau exit, toll fee is 136 for class 1 private cars.
2. Take SCTEX and exit to Dinalupihan, toll fee is 88 for class 1 private cars.
3. After Dinalupihan exit, turn right to Balanga, Bataan.
4. Just drive straight, passing by Mt. Samat, turn left at Bell Tower monument.
5. Watch for the next fork, take the left road, its a narrow road, less than 5 minutes is Montemar’s gate on the right.
   

Alternately, you may take a ferry from PTA Bay Cruise Terminal at CCP Complex, in Manila to Orion Bataan. From there you can hire a van to take you to the resort in around 30 minutes.

More Information

You may visit their website at http://www.montemarbeach.com

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