After my first visit November last year, San Juan has been an instant favorite of mine and I've been coming almost every month since then (2x in November and once last December and February).
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| Photo by @travelprinceph |
Despite the 6 - 7 hour one way journey (I mean you can easily hop on a plane and get to Visayas in an instant), San Juan has a certain charm that makes it a favorite by a lot of people.
Here's my quick guide for spending a quick weekend at the El Yu. Quick note, this is only my personal guide of where to eat and what to do.
Day 1
4:00 AM: Travel to San Juan
12:00 NN: Grab lunch. Sabong Fried Chicken is my favorite chicken when I'm in San Juan. Chicken is tasty and yummy and the serving size is also generous so you'll really get full. It's also popular with everyone visiting so it gets busy during lunch time.
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| Sabong Fried Chicken |
Tip, since it get's busy during lunch hours, seating is very limited. What we do, we get a table at Artek Wine Yacht beside Sabong and order a pitcher of Sangria to go with our chicken (I know, it's too early to drink but here are some excuses: 1. It's a weekend and 2. It's night time somewhere in the world.)
Sabong is located at Great Northwest.
2:00 PM: Shopping. Drop by The Surf Shop at San Juan Surf. The Surf Shop is a quaint little store inside San Juan Surf. There, you can buy Gwapitos merchandise, which is also found at Kermit Siargao. The difference between buying in San Juan and Siargao is that the merchandise will specifically say Siargao or San Juan. The Surf Shop also sells swimwear, as well as items from Vans.
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| Shopping at The Surf Shop at San Juan Surf |
Other than The Surf Shop, you can also buy cool shirts and tank tops at Promdisea and Surftown La Union.
Since I'm a coffee lover, I buy Kalingga or Benguet coffee as my own pasalubong to myself when I come here.
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| Perfect pasalubong for coffee lovers |
4:00 PM: Get sporty. If you're not into surfing, then why not get active in some other way. Be friendly and play some beach volleyball.
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| Beach volleyball with friends |
If there's no one playing, rent a ball at Sebay and start a game and get people to join. It's also a good way to make friends and meet new people.
5:00 PM: Stay cool. It's a hot day and you definitely need something to cool you down. Head down to MaiKai's Hawaiian Gourmet Shave Ice. With 26 falors, you'll definitely find something you'll like. Other than keeping a nice cool dessert, the shop is equally cool and perfectly Instagrammable too!
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| MaiKai's Shave Ice |
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| MaiKai's colorful shop |
7:00 PM: Get some dinner. From all the day's activities (and the night ahead), better eat heavy (because you will dance all that anyway at Flotsam). My favorite burger in San Juan is Mad Monkeys Burger Lab. The patty is juicy and delicious and it's just really good. The store is just very tiny so seating is very very very limited. Either wait or grab your food and eat at your room.
If you're feeling fancy and want a sit down dinner, then either head down to Coast Call at San Juan Surf or Kahuna Beach Resort.
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| Kahuna Beach Resort |
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| Kahuna Beach Resort |
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| Kahuna Beach Resort |
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| Kahuna Beach Resort |
9:00 PM: Get the party started. San Juan is definitely a party beach, a big thanks to Flotsam and Jetsam. Who wouldn't want to dance the night away under the stars by the beach? Here, the party starts early since they also close early at 1 AM. Still this is more than enough time to get drunk and dance all your worries away.
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| Flotsam and Jetsam |
Day 2
7:00 AM: Catch some waves. There are a lot of surf schools dotting the beach that offers surfing lessons. If you didn't party last night, and was able to wake up early, then get active and ride the waves.
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| San Juan beach |
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| Surf's Up |
8:00 AM: Grab a perk me up. For some (like me) who danced the night away at Jetsam and Flotsam the night before, you're probably still assessing if you will get-up or stay in bed. If you decide to get-up (and make the most of your stay), then you definitely need a caffeine kick to jump-start your day. You can either get some coffee at El Union Coffee (Great Norwest, same as Sabong) or at Clean Beach. Both also serves some food menu items so you can also catch some quick bites with your coffee.
I actually prefer the coffee at El Union and my favorite is the Iced Coffee Dirty Horchata.
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| Dirty Horchata by El Union Coffee |
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| Dirty Horchata and Grilled Cheese sandwhich |
The advantage of Clean Beach is that it has it's own place which is beach front and has more food options available. They also have different seating available (like banig at the beach) which makes it a good place to hang-out as well.
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| Aloha Burger by Clean Beach |
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| Coffees at Clean Beach |
9:00 AM: Beach bum. Once the caffeine kicks in, you are ready to hit the beach again. You can be lazy and people watch by the shore or hit the water and enjoy the waves.
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| San Juan Beach |
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| San Juan Beach |
11:00 AM: After checking out and before heading back to Manila, better make sure that you're stomach's full for that long trip back home. A trip to San Juan wouldn't be complete without eating at an institution, Tagpuan. This place was made famous because of their Tapa bowls that each equally delicious and affordable as well.
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| Tapa Bowls by Tagpuan |
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| Tagpuan |
12:00PM: Bound for Manila. What do you think of this quick itinerary? Could you share me yours? Comment down below.
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| Photo by @jhayk2012 |
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