The Road to Sweet Escape

Summer is officially here! The cold nights and lazy mornings are gone. The heat of the sun has scorched the Metro that as early as March people are starting to get-out of the city and head to the beach.

Within ten days we were able to plan out an early summer get-away in Zambales. My friend has already

visited the place two years ago and she was lucky that she has experienced the place at a time it was not yet that popular. The place I'm referring to was Magalawa Island in Palauig, Zambales.

At first, we were planning to get a tour package but it requires to be at least ten in the group. We decided to contact directly the resorts in the island and choose which will give a better offer. There are only two resorts in Magalawa Island namely Armada Resort and Ruiz Resort. Most of the blogs I have read chose Ruiz Resort and they highly recommended it however due to limited time we chose which of the two resorts will respond to our query first.

I've send a text message on both resort and its Armada Resort who called back and answered our query. Luckily they still have rooms left for our accommodations. The accommodations cost us P1,500 each and we are only required to pay P1,000 as reservation fee. We made our confirmation just five days before our planned date. For more details about Armada Resort you may visit their website http://magalawaislandresort.com/ 

My friend offered their car for our travel and her sister volunteered as our driver so that she can also join us. It was a very long travel. It took us more than six hours to reach the place not to mention that the port for the boat transfer was difficult to find. Going to Zambales was just easy. The hard part is finding the rough road which will lead to the port for the boat transfer.

We actually got lost finding the rough road which will lead to the port. Our contact person at the resort called us and sent the instructions so that we can get to the place. We were told to look for a tricycle terminal and ask for Radyo Veritas road. It leads to the rough road although there are some part which is already cemented. It took us around 30 to 45 minutes in the rough road.

The nice thing about Armada is that they have their own port. For those who like to bring their own car, you may leave it at their port. The boat travel will just take about 15 minutes. Their boat can carry 30 passengers.

Our contact person at Armada is already waiting for us. She showed us the place where we will stayed and told us that they will just prepare our lunch. We went to the nipa hut where our foods will be served after we have settled our things.

The P1,500 we paid consist of foods, snorkeling, rafting, lodging and boat transfer. The price we paid is very reasonable. Just imagine paying P1,500 and you have four complete meals. It includes lunch on the first day, dinner, breakfast and lunch before the departure. Below are some of the foods we had.

We had a great weekend for an affordable amount. The place perfect for anyone who wants an affordable getaway. It may not be as fancy as other places but it can still temporarily help you forget all worries.