Quick Batangas Getaway

Some trips take forever to plan but never materialize. Or as the date approaches, suddenly people get busy and are unavailable. This is not the case of my recent beach getaway at Nasugbu.

A longtime friend of mine, JK, asked if I wanted to go to the beach and naturally I said yes. I liked that it was very spontaneous, and both of us were up for it. No planning was done, we just had a conversation Saturday, and just agreed to see each other on Wednesday and no further discussions about the trip. True enough Wednesday, we  met up at South Station so we can catch a van going to Dasmarinas, where we would catch a bus to Nasugbu.

It was almost an hour and a half ride to Dasmarinas where we had a quick stop over at Robinsons Place. We got some coffee (a must try is a quaint little café called Arroz Ecija) and kakanin (Filipino rice cake) for snacks before the long trip to Nasugbu.

After a quick coffee break, we headed outside to catch our bus. Unfortunately, we had a difficult time getting a ride to our destination. After almost an hour of waiting, we decided on getting a Tagaytay bound bus (which is still on the way) and ride another bus from there.

We reached Nasugbu in the afternoon already and the first agenda was to eat since we weren’t able to get lunch. It was also a good time to stock up on supplies like food, booze and other items we didn’t bring for the trip.

We hired a tricycle that would bring us to our destination, Munting Buhangin, and back to the town. It was pricey at 550 pesos since it was a tricycle from the bus station (tourist price I guess) but if you look like a local and walk to the tricycle station, you could get it at 400 pesos (back and forth).

Our resort was Munting Buhangin as suggested by my friend and was suggested by his friend (who has been there – a friend of a friend of a friend lol). The way to the resort from the gate was still a 5 minute ride through rough road (since the road hasn’t been repaired I guess from the time it was made).

Once you’re at receiving/landing area, you have the parking lot and another1 – 2 minutes of walking through a flight of stairs going down to the reception area (this maybe a challenge if you have difficulty walking).

Munting Buhangin is nestled in a cove that shares the same beach as Terrazas de Punta Fuego. What I liked about the beach was the fine sand (although not white as what you’d expect from Palawan or Boracay). It had a gentle slope, meaning you can get a few meters away from the shore and the water was still waist to chest deep which was nice. It didn’t really have any sea weeds or anything, just sand, sand and sand (reminded me of Blue Lagoon Pagudpud). Also, I liked that the beach was a private cove and only guests at either resorts are the only ones at the beach.

Since it was midweek, there weren’t many guests at that time which was good because the beach wasn’t crowded. You have a lot of space to chill at the shoreline or swim around at the water. It was a bit cold but we also did some night swimming (be cautious as there are no lifeguards) and some star gazing, just lying on the beach.

Amenities:

Munting Buhangin doesn’t have a pool, which is forgivable since you are beach front and walking distance from the beach. There’s a restaurant that serves Filipino dishes but is only open until 6PM. This means you need to pre-order your food before it closes and have the option to have this delivered to your room. There’s also a sari-sari store for some drinks, snacks and other items but like the restaurant, it’s only open until 6PM. Prices here are jacked-up because “it’s a resort” so make sure to bring in your supplies. 3-in-1 coffee (instant coffee) and it was already 25 pesos (like seriously). One positive about the store was that we were able to refund the San Miguel light beer we weren’t able to drink, so kudos to that. 

The resort offers activities such as basketball, volleybal and table tennis. For water activities, they have kayaks, jet skis and banana boat. 

There's also videoke, if you wanna sing your heart out. Just be mindful of the other guests with your singing.

Also, bring medicines/first aid kit as I’m not sure that they have one. I had some tummy issues and was asking for meds, neither the store nor the front desk had any meds for me.

Room:

We got their “Villa” which is located beachfront (which was a plus) but other than that, it was the only good thing about it. The room rate was 5000 pesos but in reality, the room would be lucky to get 2500 pesos per night (in my opinion). The “Villa” had a veranda with a big table and a chair (perfect for eating or when drinking) that fronts the beach (which is good). Although it wasn’t maintained and there were broken tiles (like a lot). 

The room was sparsely decorated, and comes with a smal fridge but no TV (well I guess because you have the beach to enjoy). 

Shower area was average at best (plus points because there was hot water and bidet although the bidet’s water pressure was stronger than the shower).

The ventilation system was not working (unfortunately I had the stomach flu and can you imagine my horror when the ventilation didn’t work, I was embarrassed that my friend had to tolerate whatever smell was still lingering even after I sprayed a lot of perfume already). They did provide towels (which was also your beach towel) and a small bar of soap and tissue paper. Again for 5000 pesos per night I felt that it was too overpriced. 

It was so funny to me that they were charging this price for a room that has a broken screen door.

Reminder, not all room types will have towels (I know, weird right). We wanted the tree house (since it was quaint and that it was closest to the beach however they said it doesn’t come with towels (and we didn’t bring any). Like really?!?! So bring your own towels just in case. Bring your own toiletries too.

Food:

Mediocre at best but the issue here is the pricing. For 200 pesos for the plated meals and around 300 pesos and more for the different dishes, it was charging restaurant prices for carinderia/cafeteria quality food. I got their grilled liempo but I should have ordered chicharon instead since it was all fat and no meat. Good thing JK had the grilled chicken which had a generous serving size (matched the 200 price tag atleast). We also had their pinakbet with bagnet but we had overcooked vegetables (I know pinakbet since I’m Ilocano especially bagnet) and no bagnet in sight, only cooked pork meat. Total meal cost was 770 (restaurant pricing), the 70 pesos was the service charge which I’m confused since there was no service, they just brought the food to our “villa” which was a couple of steps from the restaurant. I mean they didn’t even give us glasses or even water to go with our meal.

Next day, we had our breakfast (which is inclusive of the entrance fee) which was fried bangus. The only thing I liked about it was the yummy vinegar, complete with peppers and chili to give the bangus a punch.

After breakfast, while we were walking along the beach, there were some guys (I’m guessing fishermen) who were offering fish and asking us how we want it cooked. That maybe another option for you to try if you don’t want to eat at the restaurant.

Overall:

It was overall a nice quick getaway at the beach, well spent with good company. Despite our disappointment with the resort, we still looked at it positively as we had time to relax.

Now for the Munting Buhangin, for the money we spent here, we could have added a bit more and stayed at the resort beside it, Terrazas de Punta Fuego instead. The resort is OK, nothing fancy, a simple resort, which was actually fine. But the issue is the pricing, everything is overpriced for the value of the items or service in my opinion (and based on the pictures I've shared). 

One more thing that confused me was that we were already checking-in (staying for the night) but there was still an entrance fee to pay (weird). I haven’t encountered a resort (except this one) where you’re already paying for a room but you still need to pay for an entrance fee. 

Also the 30% off wasn’t really 30%. The price would have been 3500 pesos (30% discount of 5000) however the amount on our receipt was 3660. There was also a service charge of 500 which was still excluded from the room price.

Anyway, this maybe the first and last time I would visit Munting Buhangin. The review maybe harsh to some but I am speaking from actual experience.

Nasugbu is still a good place to unwind, although I would skip Munting Buhangin next time.   

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