The summer season in the Philippines almost ended with us not going to the beach. But it was a big deal for my boys. Since we were also celebrating my son's 16th birthday, we opted to make an impromptu trip to a beach resort just 3 hours away from our place. Funny actually, because it was only our first time to go to Real, Quezon.
I made a quick research and the Internet pointed me to blogs mentioning a couple of beach resorts that are known as surfing spots. I wanted a quiet time with the family so I thought of finding other beach resorts in the area. Luckily, I found La Juliana Beach Resort and the reviews of the place are good.
We left home around 6 in the morning and, from our place in Cainta, took the route to Siniloan, Laguna. I'm already familiar with this route because this is where we would always drive going to Bicol. Tita Miriam, the contact person of the resort, specifically instructed me to make a left turn from the 7-11 store along the highway of Famy and Siniloan, and drive towards Infanta, Quezon. I was already familiar with the place. It's easy to find because next to it is the terminal of Raymond Bus and in the middle of the street is a monument of the Red Horse beer logo. There are also numerous signs pointing to Infanta, Quezon so it's not really difficult to find. Google Maps also helped us a lot.
La Juliana Beach Resort is only one of the many beachfront resorts in Real, Quezon. From the 7-11 store, I think it took us around 30-40 minutes to reach the place. We drove up the mountain where both Smart and Globe signals are so bad that I thank my instincts for having me download the offline version of our route. I knew we were near already once the road started to go down the mountain. There was a junction ahead but, again, we followed the numerous signages of establishments in Infanta. From that junction, La Juliana was just minutes away.
It was only 9am when we arrived. Good thing that our reserved room was already available and Tita Miriam said we can already check-in. The Family Room I reserved is really good for 5 guests but can actually fit up to 8 people and even up to 10 if an extra mattress is placed on the floor.
After settling in, Dadijun and I left Rap and our niece, Megan, in the room to drive to the Talipapa nearby. With the beach just across the street, seafood sold here is so cheap! We were so excited so we hoarded crabs, lobsters, Blue Marlin, small Yellow Fin Tuna, and baby squids. Akala mo isang barangay ang kakain! But we were celebrating Rap's birthday so pagbigyan na, haha!
There was a big wooden bench just outside our room so we brought out the plastic table in our room so we can dine with more space. We all ate heartily, kamayan style!
In the afternoon, we finally headed to the beach. The beach front is wide; the sand, although dark grey in color, was fine. We just placed a sarong on the sand where we left our slippers and snacks. There are a couple of hammocks set up at the beachfront but we were not able to use it because there were groups renting the cabanas.
A word of caution, though. It would be best not to wear light colored swimming attire and undies because the sea water is brown-colored and muddy. I made the mistake of wearing light-colored undies and it took me a while to wash all the muddy stains off. Add to that, the water supply was poor. We left the bathroom faucet open when we went out to swim and when we came back after an hour, the pail wasn't even full yet. That's how poor it was. I guess it's because there were lot of guests checked-in that weekend. I just wish the resort provided extra pails where we could have collected water for showering after our swim.
A woman swimming near us, who I presumed is a local, explained that the water was muddy because the river is just close by. The water from the mountain, went down to the river basin, and finally mixed with the sea water. It just means that the soil up there has already eroded which reminded me of the past tragedies that the towns of Infanta and Real suffered from the rampant illegal logging in the area. It's so unfortunate because the town has a lot of promise, especially the fact that it's only a few hours away from Manila.
By the way, there's free wifi connection in the resort but it was not fully working at the time we were there. Our phones were also useless inside the room except when we were at the beachfront where we were able to get a cell signal for our Globe phones.
Despite the few inconveniences - the poor water supply and weak cellphone and internet signal, we did enjoy our stay at La Juliana. We checked out around lunch time and got free cupcakes! I forgot to mention that they have yummy cakes and cupcakes for sale. The chocolate cupcakes given to us were super moist and heavenly!
Do we have plans of coming back? It's just a quick road trip from our place, less the traffic and toll fees going to any of the beaches in Batangas. So, yeah, we do have plans of coming back.
Here's the resort's price chart should you be interested in staying there. Sorry, my watermark covered the cooking fee. It's just 70 pesos, by the way. So if you don't have a portable stove or grill, you can ask them to cook the seafood that you bought from the Talipapa.
For more details and updates, you may get in touch with La Juliana Beach Resort on Facebook (facebook,com/LaJulianaResort) or call/text Tita Miriam at +639173283142 or +639985607406.
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I made a quick research and the Internet pointed me to blogs mentioning a couple of beach resorts that are known as surfing spots. I wanted a quiet time with the family so I thought of finding other beach resorts in the area. Luckily, I found La Juliana Beach Resort and the reviews of the place are good.
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| (Photo lifted from La Juliana Beach Resort Facebook page.) |
La Juliana Beach Resort is only one of the many beachfront resorts in Real, Quezon. From the 7-11 store, I think it took us around 30-40 minutes to reach the place. We drove up the mountain where both Smart and Globe signals are so bad that I thank my instincts for having me download the offline version of our route. I knew we were near already once the road started to go down the mountain. There was a junction ahead but, again, we followed the numerous signages of establishments in Infanta. From that junction, La Juliana was just minutes away.
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| The facade. The resort will be on your right if coming from Siniloan. (Photo lifted from La Juliana Beach Resort Facebook page.) |
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| The structure at the left is the lobby. The gate giving access to the beach is closed at nighttime. (Photo lifted from La Juliana Beach Resort Facebook page.) |
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| The rooms. Our Family Room is at the rightmost side, in front of that small coconut tree. The wide parking area is well-lit at night. (Photo lifted from La Juliana Beach Resort Facebook page.) |
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| The room we stayed in. When we checked in, there was also a table and a clothes rack with some hangers. It was airconditioned and with cable TV. It had beddings but no toiletries. There's a double-sized bed and a double deck with a single upper bed and a double-sized lower bed. (Photo lifted from La Juliana Beach Resort Facebook page.) |
After settling in, Dadijun and I left Rap and our niece, Megan, in the room to drive to the Talipapa nearby. With the beach just across the street, seafood sold here is so cheap! We were so excited so we hoarded crabs, lobsters, Blue Marlin, small Yellow Fin Tuna, and baby squids. Akala mo isang barangay ang kakain! But we were celebrating Rap's birthday so pagbigyan na, haha!
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| I think these are local lobsters. I brought our small charcoal grill because I didn't want to walk all the way to the grilling station just to cook these babies. |
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| Shrimps are also at half the normal price of what is sold in Manila. I bought our camping stove so I can cook rice and other non-grilled dishes. |
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| We just covered the plastic table in our room with aluminum foil and plastic and ate boodle style! |
There was a big wooden bench just outside our room so we brought out the plastic table in our room so we can dine with more space. We all ate heartily, kamayan style!
In the afternoon, we finally headed to the beach. The beach front is wide; the sand, although dark grey in color, was fine. We just placed a sarong on the sand where we left our slippers and snacks. There are a couple of hammocks set up at the beachfront but we were not able to use it because there were groups renting the cabanas.
A word of caution, though. It would be best not to wear light colored swimming attire and undies because the sea water is brown-colored and muddy. I made the mistake of wearing light-colored undies and it took me a while to wash all the muddy stains off. Add to that, the water supply was poor. We left the bathroom faucet open when we went out to swim and when we came back after an hour, the pail wasn't even full yet. That's how poor it was. I guess it's because there were lot of guests checked-in that weekend. I just wish the resort provided extra pails where we could have collected water for showering after our swim.
A woman swimming near us, who I presumed is a local, explained that the water was muddy because the river is just close by. The water from the mountain, went down to the river basin, and finally mixed with the sea water. It just means that the soil up there has already eroded which reminded me of the past tragedies that the towns of Infanta and Real suffered from the rampant illegal logging in the area. It's so unfortunate because the town has a lot of promise, especially the fact that it's only a few hours away from Manila.
By the way, there's free wifi connection in the resort but it was not fully working at the time we were there. Our phones were also useless inside the room except when we were at the beachfront where we were able to get a cell signal for our Globe phones.
Despite the few inconveniences - the poor water supply and weak cellphone and internet signal, we did enjoy our stay at La Juliana. We checked out around lunch time and got free cupcakes! I forgot to mention that they have yummy cakes and cupcakes for sale. The chocolate cupcakes given to us were super moist and heavenly!
Do we have plans of coming back? It's just a quick road trip from our place, less the traffic and toll fees going to any of the beaches in Batangas. So, yeah, we do have plans of coming back.
Here's the resort's price chart should you be interested in staying there. Sorry, my watermark covered the cooking fee. It's just 70 pesos, by the way. So if you don't have a portable stove or grill, you can ask them to cook the seafood that you bought from the Talipapa.
For more details and updates, you may get in touch with La Juliana Beach Resort on Facebook (facebook,com/LaJulianaResort) or call/text Tita Miriam at +639173283142 or +639985607406.
Did you like my post? CLICK THIS to have my posts delivered straight to your email inbox.
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