Les Caraibes Beach Resort (San Juan, Batangas)

It's been a pretty long time since I last posted something on my blog. So many things have happened during my "blogger's hiatus."

I'm not a beach baby so I would not consider going to the beach by my own volition. But I would happily tag along if someone invites me to go on a beach holiday. Who wouldn't say no to a free ride, free lodging and free breakfast by the sea? LOL. But of course there's something more than those things -- in this case, there's bonding with family members on a worry-free weekend, and exploring nature.

It's been over a couple of decades since I last went to the beach, and it was on my father's company excursion pa when I was about 13 years old. And even though I am not a beach bum, the moment I first stepped on the warm sands again, it felt refreshing to see the vast blue waters once more. Maybe since I've been stuck inside the four corners of my small bedroom working my ass off even on weekends (I work at home), I felt I needed some change of environment even once in a while. So seeing the serene waters by the Les Caraibes Beach Resort in San Juan, Batangas was indeed a welcome, relaxing change.

My eldest sister and her husband flew here from their current home in Singapore, primarily to fix some things at the LTO. To make the most of their short one-week stay here in the Philippines, they chose going to the beach as a side trip. Besides, they probably missed seeing and being to a real beach (I just found out that most beaches in Singapore are man-made and cannot be swum).

We stayed at the resort for only two days. Good thing it was also US Independence Day last Monday, which meant I was able to have my day-off. :)

Since summertime has already passed, it is now an off-peak season for most resorts here in the Philippines. So as expected, everything here was pretty quiet (for the exception of the lone videoke noise coming from the neighboring resort), and the beaches were not too crowded.

During our stay there the day was partly dark, and we even experienced some rainshowers. But that didn't dampen our enjoyment. However, there was still something that drove me a bit mad (will show that to you later).

Enjoy looking at the photos, folks! They may awaken your longing for the beach life again. :)

My niece could barely wait to be there, so she sprinted towards the beach right away while most of us were still unloading our things inside our lodging.

My two nieces -- beach babies :)

I saw a lot of sampalok (tamarind) trees growing near the shore, so I discovered that they can also grow on sandy soils. A lot of sampalok pods have fallen from the tree, which then sprout into seedlings like the one you see here.

The amenities were decent enough, although the lodging we chose to stay in didn't have a kitchenette like we hoped (we were also about to cook our food). The bahay-kubo-style cottages didn't have air-conditioning systems, but otherwise featured outdoor kitchenettes. The staff members were nice and accommodating.

We rented a kitchenette from one of the bahay-kubo shacks where my mother and I cooked adobo, inihaw na bangus and inihaw na tilapia, while the rest of our folks went swimming right away. As typical of the kitchens found in the provinces, the outdoor kitchenette was quite crude but otherwise complete with dinner plates, utensils, glasses, as well as things for cooking and preparing food such as a stove, a knife (but a dull one), a chopping board, pots, and a kettle. It also had a sink with a running water. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic of the area, as I didn't bring my cellphone along and was also busy helping out my mother in cooking our food. I actually enjoyed cooking outdoors.

After I finished, I spent the rest of the day taking pictures, as well as eating. I wasn't prompted yet to "swim" (I actually cannot swim) or just wade in the waters.

Aside from those things, I was also busy looking for possible litter. And you must have known that I detest the sight of trash especially in tourist spots. Actually, Les Caraibes, at least, looked cleaner compared to the neighboring resorts, lalo na ung sa katabi namin. But still, I found a lot of trash at Les Caraibes -- on the sand, buried under the sand, and in the shallow waters. Most of the trash I found were cigarette butts, but we spotted others like plastic and glass bottles, even some driftwood and a pair of usable sandals just floating in the sea.

The sight of litter really pissed me off... and I could not believe that many of us Pinoys actually tolerate seeing them, much more swim with them! Please, if you want to preserve the beauty of our country LEAVE NO TRACES! Littering most especially in tourist spots tells us a lot about the Pinoy's character -- that we are undisciplined, sloppy, and too selfish to care about the environment. Please let's become responsible tourists, folks. :(

Trash at the resort near us.

I picked up a lot of trash. That's sad. :(

There are rock formations at the near end of the beach, but we had to walk a few meters pa along the coastline and pass by other resorts just to get there. Fortunately, the caretakers let us -- we thought we wouldn't be allowed to walk beyond the boundaries of the resort we were staying.

Would you believe that it was the first time I saw weathered rock pillars and beachrocks? See, I'm not a beach person! But I was amazed just seeing them -- I even climbed the biggest rock in the area, and then got to survey the coast and the sea. It was awesome....

The day was still bright but at the same time was starting to turn gray, so my sisters and I had to hurry a bit before rain showers would catch up on us.

La Luz Beach Resort (pictures below) was the cleanest resort we saw, and obviously the most upscale... a stark contrast to the other resorts. Look at the nice-looking bamboo recliners!

This particular portion of the resort is also a "coral reef" protected area, so I guessed swimming was prohibited there.

In the last picture above, you can see the rock on the extreme left -- the reason why we walked this far! Surrounding the big rocks was a bed of craggy beachrocks, which were wet and covered with slippery moss. So you must exercise some caution when you decide to walk over them. These rocks were sharp!

My two sisters. Hahaha.

My two sisters again, on top of the world. LOL.

Making it on top... makulay pa ung leggings na suot ko ha! Hahahaha.

Back to our beach house... we made it "home" on time before rain showers descended. We even managed to grill up some hotdogs despite the droplets of rain.

The next day... it was a beautiful morning, although we were taken aback that as early as 6 a.m., videoke noise already started to haunt us! Wouldn't they mind the other late sleepers?

I found out that that the fisher folks would also rise early to sell their fresh catch at the shore.

As an inveterate foodie, of course I was excited for the free breakfast. We sat at the sheltered communal dining area of the resort along with the other guests, where we waited for our orders.

The breakfast was quite simple, but at least in my opinion it was definitely better than the expensive Continental breakfast I once had at Thunderbird Resorts in Binangonan -- mahal na nga, hindi pa nakakabusog. Filipino silog brekkie FTW -- and they were free!

And although there was some mix-up in the orders -- the server brought us four glasses of orange juice and two cups of coffee instead of five cups of coffee and two glasses of juice that we actually wanted -- it was OK naman, and we thought we needed some vitamins too, not just caffeine.

That's my order, the daingsilog -- the daing na bangus was breaded so it was crunchy and delish! Kulang na lang acharra, hehehehe.

We swam and waded in the waters for the final time before leaving in the afternoon. Unlike yesterday where the waters were still and calm, now they were actually washing up the shore with their pretty moderate waves. Some waves were stronger than the others. My nieces also had fun being "buried alive" by the warm sand, hahaha.

As for me, I actually got to wade in the waters and became partially wet. I didn't want to go further in the sea as I couldn't swim and besides I didn't like the saltwater getting into my eyes. Mahapdi, huhuhu.

Despite being in the water now and actually enjoying it, I still did not forget to look for any trash. My sister and I eventually got a "bounty" -- an impossible-to-ignore large strip of linoleum (!), few large pieces of wood (probably from a boat wreckage) and a pair of sandals which were still considered usable (the owner must have forgotten them). We found them just floating in the water. WTF?!?

These trash did not only pollute the environment, but they were also hazardous to the swimmers and also to the sea creatures. What if you get hit by the large driftwood while you are swimming? Think about it.

I knew that there was the maintenance staff who tried their best to keep the place tidy. But still, we found a considerable amount of litter, which means much of the area was still pretty dirty.

It is mostly the tourists' fault for not being responsible. The ironic thing is that there was a large trash bin not far from the shore, pero tinatamaad ata ang mga tao na magtapon ng basura sa tamang pagtatapunan. I ended up acting as if I were a trash scavenger. Hahaha.

But seriously.... well sorry, I otherwise couldn't get over it.

And you know what -- just a day after our beach holiday, news circulated that Davao City acting mayor and Presidential son Paolo Duterte expressed his hopes that his father's administration would impose a nationwide ban on littering along the shorelines. This couldn't be more timely! I hope President Rodrigo Duterte will act on this, to save our beaches. Please read:

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/572474/news/nation/paolo-hopes-dad-duterte-will-impose-nationwide-smoking-ban-along-shorelines

Anyway.... Les Caraibes Beach Resort has quite a decent beach. It may not have the powdery white sands and the rolling waves, but it is nevertheless a pretty beach. The resort staff were nice and helpful. We also enjoyed their free WiFi connection. Plus, they allowed pets -- we also brought along our shih-tzu Kaylee (we forgot to bring her collar and leash to tether her as well as walk her around the beach, but it was OK since she was well-behaved most of the time :) )

There are also a lot of things you can do at Les Caraibes aside from swimming -- there's also the banana boat ride, kayaking, jet-skiing, etc. Check out the resort's official Blogspot page for the amenities (although the list of rates may be incomplete, that will do... or better yet, contact the resort for more info):

lescaraibesresort.blogspot.com

Check out their Facebook account!