Day Trip in Laiya, Batangas: La Luz Beach Resort

While the rest of the country visited Boracay on Labor Day, my family and I went on a day trip to Laiya, Batangas in La Luz Beach Resort.

I had been planning this trip for two weeks now. I searched the Internet for the best places we could go to. Since it was just a day trip, I was looking at either Subic or Batangas. We were 12 (including the Cupcake), and all the adults didn’t want to swim and only wanted to chill. Meanwhile, my siblings, cousins, and I wanted to enjoy the beach and do some water activities. La Luz Beach Resort was perfect because it had exactly what both groups wanted.

Photos grabbed from La Luz Beach Resort’s Facebook page

It was just a little hard to contact them at first. I texted all of the numbers on their website, e-mailed them, and even sent a message via their Facebook page. I was quite persistent because they don’t just allow walk-ins, so I really needed to make a reservation. After a few days, I finally got a reply from their e-mail and was given the rates for a day trip package, which included the beach entrance fee, a family cabana, a buffet lunch, and buffet merienda. It was Php 900 per person, and they required a 50% down payment to reserve our slot. Paying the down payment was easy because I only needed to go to a BPI, then e-mail them back a copy of the deposit slip, which they replied to quickly and confirmed our reservation. La Luz Beach Resort is also pet-friendly, so if you want to bring your dog, the entrance fee per dog is Php 450.

It was decided that we would leave the house at 5am, because check-in was at 8am and check-out was at 5pm, and of course we wanted to make the most out of our trip. However, like a typical Filipino family, we left a little past 5:20am. Haha! The trip from our house in Quezon City to the resort took about four hours, considering we passed by my Ninang’s house and fetched her and my cousin in Pasig, before taking C5 going to SLEX (South Luzon Express Way). We also stopped over in Jollibee just before Candelaria in Batangas to have breakfast. There was an accident involving a truck along SLEX that morning as well, which caused major traffic and took up almost 40 minutes of our time.

With a lot of help from Google Maps and the directions on La Luz Beach Resort’s website, getting there was smooth and we didn’t get lost. From SLEX, we went straight all the way to the STAR (Southern Tagalog Arterial Road) toll way, then exited the San Jose-Ibaan Exit (way past Lipa exit). We turned left onto the San Jose-Ibaan-Batangas Road, then made a slight left onto the Lipa-Ibaan Road, which becomes Poblacion Road. Then we turned left onto J. Pastor, then right onto Rosario-Ibaan Road, and continued onto Gualberto Avenue. After about 4 km, we made a slight right onto Garcia-Rosario-San Juan-Candelaria Road, then continued onto Gen. Luna Street. We made a right onto Hall Street, and made our way towards San Juan-Laiya Road. When you get to San Juan-Laiya Road, just keep going straight and you’ll pass by several beach resorts. La Luz is all the way in the end, after climbing a hill. You’ll see a huge sign and entrance to your left. The toll fees combined will equate to about Php 300 going to Batangas, and another Php 300 heading back to Manila. Other expenses to take into consideration are the gas (of course), and the required Ecological Fee of Php 20 per person before entering Laiya.

When we arrived in La Luz at about 9:30am, a guard welcomed us and double checked my name on his list. The parking lot will be the first thing you’ll see upon entering, followed by the registration area. Their staff was really friendly and accommodating, and had us escorted down to the resort’s main office to pay our remaining balance and be given instructions. We were then led to our family cabana, which had a great view of the beach. The buffet lunch was to start at 12nn until 2pm, and the merienda would be from 3pm to 5pm.

The family cabana was large enough to fit all 12 of us. There were even plugs in case you needed to charge your phone and other electronic gadgets. You can bring chips and other food if you like, but what they don’t allow is bringing beer unless you’re okay to pay a corkage fee. However, they do sell beer at Php 50 per bottle. They also have Tanduay Ice for sale at Php 60. Softdrinks at 1.5 L were sold at Php 90.

The first thing we did was swim, of course. I liked how there was a raft in the middle of the beach, which us cousins hung out in. We also tried the Flying Fish, which was priced at Php 2,500 for 15 minutes. Since only six of us could fit the Flying Fish, the Cupcake and one of my cousins switched in the middle of the ride and the other just stayed on the speed boat.

Lunch was okay, though I expected a little bit more. They served fish, chicken adobo, and chicken pastel. For dessert, there was sweet banana with sago. The line got really long because of all the other day trip goers, so it took a while to get our food. But if you stay overnight, you’ll have your own separate area, and your own buffet area.

After lunch, we rented a Kayak for Php 200 (good for one hour) and explored the place, particularly the area near the Rock Formation, which had a breathtaking view of the corals and fishes underwater. It was really, really nice. After this, we had our merienda (the line wasn’t too long this time), then swam a bit more before taking a shower in the Shower Area. The Shower Area is enough to accommodate the day trip goers, but just make sure to bring your own towel and toiletries.

We checked out at around 5:30pm. Since the trip back home would take another three hours or so, we stopped by a gas station along SLEX and had dinner in KFC. My cousins and I had so much fun, and wouldn’t mind going back to La Luz Beach Resort again. Hopefully next time, we can book for an overnight stay.

Family Class Picture

Day Trip in Laiya, Batangas: La Luz Beach Resort

http://www.laluzresort.com/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Luz-Beach-Resort/142242039130999

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