Our Blue Coral-Acuatico Beach Resort Experience in Laiya, Batangas

My sister - the birthday girl - Anna poses beside the infinity pool at Acuatico Beach Resort

We managed to go to Acuatico Beach Resort (a high-end beach resort in Laiya, Batangas) because it is just beside Blue Coral, where we were actually booked. We read a lot about Acuatico so we thought we should do a quick look of its facilities before we took our lunch. And boy, how we envy the guests because of its stunning infinity pool overlooking the ocean.

We grabbed every opportunity to have our photos taken. (Tatay Lito poses for a picture at the beachfront of Acuatico.)

But let's forget about Acuatico first because as I mentioned earlier, we decided to stay at Blue Coral.

We arrived before 12nn but we were allowed to do early check-in on condition that we also do an early check-out the next day (an approximate of 22 hours of stay).



Because Blue Coral was a lot cheaper than Acuatico, we did not expect much from the place. We only wanted four things – swimming pool, beach, comfortable room, and good food - but I can say that we received more than what we expected. The poolside room is big enough to accommodate all of us. It has two double-sized beds and one double deck that can actually accommodate three or four persons. (See the left photo.) The aircon and the fridge are in good running condition. The bathroom is okay - no broken tiles and faucet. It is also big enough to allow two or three persons inside. Our decision to stay in Blue Coral in lieu of Acuatico was a good (or wiser?) one.





But since we read a lot of not-so-good reviews about food at Blue Coral, we opted to pay for the accommodation and made the decision to find someplace else to feast. However, our tummies were already complaining so we decided to eat lunch at the Blue Coral restaurant only to be surprised that the food was not bad at all. Tatay Lito loved the fried chicken so much. We thought that maybe because of reviews, they changed their cooks. Hehe.

We came to Acuatico to have dinner buffet to celebrate Anna’s birthday. The food was great – we had spaghetti, marinara, and carbonara cooked in front of us by the chef. There were salad, halo-halo, chocolate, and others for dessert, and beef, chicken, fish, pork, and others for viands. I did not eat sisig because it’s ‘mataba’. Overall, it’s quite worth the rate per pax. I said ‘quite’ because we were not big eaters.

We did not swim in the beach on the first day because the current was kinda strong. Lucas said “the water is moving”. Also, the beach was kinda dirty, with pieces of leaves, woods – and diaper. But the next day, we were greeted by the water’s calmness and cleanliness that we enjoyed the beach a lot. I do have to mention that Blue Coral’s swimming pool was also clean and well-maintained. Not too many people, so we were able to swim freely.

Before we went home, travelers as we were, we asked for one of the most visited restaurants in San Juan, Batangas and Old San Juan Restaurant was recommended to us. It was an old house converted into a restaurant. There were a lot of antique pieces inside (as expected). The sisig was okay for me as it was ‘malaman’. The bulalo was okay. The kare-kare needed more sauce. Overall, it was a fine

lunch for all of us.

We saw a church nearby. Being lovers of old churches, we went to check it and of course, pray. We were told that it was the church where Ryan Agoncillo and Judy Ann Santos got married.

Overall, it was a well-spent family trip. A white (okay, cream) beach not too far from Manila. Who says you need to take a plane to enjoy beaches in the Philippines? Laiya, Batangas can give your family the same enjoyment.