Calayo Beach Resort - Forefront of Eco-Tourism in Calabarzon

It's not surprising for expatriates and tourist - both local and foreign - to take their vacations in one of many islands in the Philippines. The pristine beaches, parks and wildlife, camping sites, and the like, are reason enough to take a vacation in any if these destinations. And some of the best activities that families and friends can enjoy is when they spend their time together in a beach.

Sitio Hulo, Calayo Rd, Nasugbu, 4231 Batangas

One of these beaches, which have an obscure-sounding name is called "Calayo Beach" in Nasugbu, Batangas. When this beach was suggested by Reniel our teammate, to be considered as our Team Building destination, I could not help but poke fun at the name. The friendly banter was logical, as I discover later. Based on its name, the beach seems farther than those beach resorts lined up along the town proper (I think Calayo came from the tagalog word “ka-layo” meaning very far). The beach sits in big a natural cove that opens to the South China Sea. The clear water of the beach has blessed the Nasugbu area and has made its beaches popular with locals and tourists alike.

The simplicity and peacefulness of what is still predominantly a fishing village as well as feasting on the fresh bounty of the sea brought in by the local fishermen. Moreover, Barangay Calayo - which is considered a first class municipality - have a population of 2,574 according the latest survey. Nasugbu is bounded on the north by the municipalities of Maragondon, Magallanes and Alfonso in the province of Cavite; on the east by the Batangas municipalities of Laurel, Calaca, and Balayan; on the south by the Batangas municipalities of Lian and Tuy; and on the west by the South China Sea. Entering the town proper via the national highway, one passes fields of sugar cane, corn, and rice fields; hills and mountains. The terrain slopes downwards to the South China Sea. Because of its rolling terrain and coastline location, agriculture (sugarcane, rice, corn, vegetables, coconut, fruits), and aquaculture are Nasugbu's main industries.

The Trek To A Faraway Land

 True to its name, Calayo Beach is a good three-and-a-half hour road trip The 95 kilometer trip (depending on your start off point- ours is from Buendia, Makati) is not a walk in the park. The grueling trip, took us a good three-and-a-half hours from point A to point B. Our designated driver-Kenneth- had a string of experiences tucked under his belt in as far as driving is concerned. So there, to go to Calayo Beach, acquire the services that have been in the driving industry longer and knows his way around the Metro and neighboring places. From Makati, we traversed the Magallanes route via skyway.We took the Naic-route going to Barangay Calayo. The road splits into two and we saw a giant “NAIC” sign. We transverse the left fork in the road and this led us to Governor’s Drive. After this, the Antero Soriano Highway becomes part of the old Governor’s Drive and continued on Governor’s Drive towards Maragondon, where, upon reaching the town, the road veers to the right. Governor’s drive eventually becomes the Nasugbu-Ternate Highway, which we drove past Puerto Azul. Upon reaching a fork in the road several kilometers past Puerto Azul, we veered to the left fork towards the Kaybiang Tunnel and Nasugbu. Passing the Hamilo Coast and Papaya Coast. After Papaya Cove, we arrived at the town of Looc. Here, the Nasugbu-Ternate Highway makes a 90-deegree right turn that leads to a long straight road that will rise up towards the mountains heading towards Nasugbu. At the very first left curve after this stretch, we saw a road that branch downward to the right, away from the main road. The road downwards was our destination towards the town of Calayo.

The Gang Of Fore

The brainchild of this trip is our Team Manager Jenny and our designated human google map Reniel. Our revered boss was not in attendance that was under the weather days prior to the gig. But in attendance were all (well, almost) the team of Makati. Nicole, our top wave 5 teammate who only have kind words to our clients. Juan Carlos or JC as we fondly call him. Or as Nicole call him "Daniel Padilla". John Lloyd or Lloydie, was also in attendance. Anne, Jayvee, Rever, and last but not the least, Joshua Mariano, our haute couture teammate. Completing the rest of the group is Chester, the lone hold-out from the 2nd wave. And our 1st wavers Rachel, Jane, Sharmaine and yours truly. Technically, this will be the 2nd official team building of our Makati account and the 3rd for our team. The previous being was celebrated in Patungan Beach also in Nasugbu and in Los Baños, Laguna.

Knee-deep In The Hoopla

 Upon reaching our destination, we hurriedly prepare our team lunch, which is way beyond our lunch time. We arrived at our rented transient house a little over 2pm. After familiarizing ourselves with area with every nooks and crannies, it's time to cook. We need to prep up the food for our first meal. My instinct was to first cook the rice, and took that responsibility. Jayvee volunteered to cook chicken adobo which I thought tasted very good. Jane helped cut up the ingredients, as well at TL Jenny and Rachel as well. We took our hearty lunch by 3.20pm. There was an issue with the signal for our data network for our phones. It's a good thing the transient house provided us a wifi. The whole Ternate are is not signal-friendly, by the way. Even for signals in our network, is very scant. So the group's Tiktokers were mum and did a little exploring at the beachfront just to scan the vibe around. The transient house we rented is a two-storey edifice. Rooms for men and women were separate. Two mini shower and toilets. A karaoke was provided with signs saying, we can only use the machine until 9.30pm. The kitchen was space-constraint, the kitchen wares were provided for, the LPG was also free to use.

Ahhh….the LPG. There were two separate gas stoves that we can use; one was outside of the house and the other one inside the house. While prepping the rice for our lunch, I tried to utilize the gas stove inside the house. As i turned on the stove a burst of flame almost engulfed the kitchen area and Jayvee was quick to turn off the gas-line. As it turned out, the gas-line was not connected to the gas stove itself. It's a good thing Leo -Rachel's partner-was at hand to fix the hose to the stove. Special mention to Nicole, for washing the dishes after lunch with no qualms and no expletive language. After resting, we realized that need to prepare our dinner. The young ones, Joshua, Nicole, Anne, JC, Lloyd, Rever were busy exploring the neighborhood and discovered AlfaMart in the area and bought a Mojito and some food stuff to boot. Jayvee, Jane and I are now prepping for dinner before sundown. I lit up the barbecue grill for the bangus, tilapia and squid to cook. Jane filled up bellies of the seafood and stuffed 'em good. Jayvee now cooked Caldereta. TL Jenny helped us as well after taking a quick nap in the room. TL Jenny did the budgeting with the help of Jane and Reniel. TL was the one also who brought all the food and drinks.

The Soiree

The evening came and went by, not without dull moments, but with revelations, punctuations and exclaimed views. I roused myself from a quick nap after an exhausting day -we still have no sleep, coming off from our duty the night before- and there was already a soiree happening. The long table in front of the house was ideal for group meal, and on this case a drinking spree. .Love, sex, relationships, one-night stands, cup D sizes, crushes, role playing were some of the topics talked about during that time. Of course, topics like this wouldn't be as easy as it may be discussed without drinks. And Ren's infatuation with someone is suddenly everyone's interest. Rachel's partner, Leo joined in as well. And is a good source of advice and experience. Rachel enthusiasm is high and entertaining too. Jayvee's as well. Lloyd's antics were amusing as always. But wait, where is Anne? Asleep in their bunker. She was the last one to log off that morning from duty. Chester. Oh Chester. He had this knack of a cacophonic timing in jokes, which are pesky and fun at the same time. TL Jenny took a power nap as well, but joined-in later. It's the first time I heard Reven's voice outside of the production. Ha! The power of liquor. JC sat beside Joshua, and everyone is cajoling him to get closer to JC. It did help when everyone was hooting and hollering for Josh to pucker up JC. And it happened. The power of liquor! Being a teetotaler, i joined in the spree consuming iced water and some cola. I also pinched-in to the discussions at hand. It's amazing how much information is revealed and discovered when drinks are there to consume. Maybe this is why drinks were invented after all. It didn't help (or did it help?) to know that a nearby store is still open, to buy drinks one bottle after another. Joshua had a little too much to drink, and have to be accompanied to the restroom, twice! And despite being drunk and all, he still managed to remember his beauty regimen and still did his rituals and dons his facial mask. As the night wears off, and the glasses were making its rounds, everybody had a good time. With the food and drinks, we start to realize that it's the wee hours in the morning, and would have to prep up breakfast for the gang.

Waterworld

We prepare for breakfast. I cooked fried rice from the left over rice the day before. Nobody noticed it. But I made the mistake using sugar in the fried rice, instead of salt. Jane cooked sautéed corned beef.

I also scrambled the eggs on the ref. We have to wait for 6am before Jane can cook the corned beef. The onion ran out, the day before. And it’s just a sin to sauté any food by Pinoys without onion. TL Jenny, ever the supportive TL she is, acquired some from the store. I also fried the canned sausage TL Jenny had brought. After breakfast, Rachel and TL Jenny sealed the deal with one of the local motorized boat for an adventure in the water facing the China Sea. The gig is for three hours, and the package includes, sandbar experience, fish feeding and the highlight of the trip, cliff diving. This would be considered the highlight of the trip.

Chester and Jayvee chose to stay at the rented house. Too sleepy, they confessed later, was their reason for not coming with us on the Island Hopping adventure.

We brought along two heaping of hotdog buns. “Hmmm…someone didn’t like my fried rice.” (insert sad emoji here). As it turned out, the buns are for the fish which we are going to in the first stopover. The first stop, took about 30 minutes. The ride was smooth. We were asked to don a life vest. A regulation, we were told. Problem, Ren needed a bigger size, and it only came in one size. This is serious, although, the operators of the motorized boat are careful and follows all the rule and all, things like must be looked after. Later that day on the same trip, I would see a toddler donning the same vest, which rather look awkward, because the vest darn too big for the kid. And if safety is their concern, it doesn’t feel that way. Anyway, on our first stop is to feed some small tropical fish. Reven and JC disembark from the boat and swam with much gusto. We were handed out goggles, for those who want to swim and dip in the cold water. The others follow suit. Rachel and her partner were enjoying the dip and wading around the boat. TL Jenny joined the fray as well. Ren and I stayed inside the boat. Anne, Lloyd, Charmaine, Nicole and Joshua enjoyed our first stop. We stayed there for 15 mins. Just wading to the cool water, the corals from beneath is very clear. If you would look at the bottom, it would seem just a few feet. But as per the tourist guide’s advice, it’s at least 20 feet. There were other boats in that area as well. When the time comes for us to leave the area, the guide were collecting the goggles lent out to us, and made a count if the goggles were complete.

Problem. There was one goggle missing. A blue one, said the guide. Everyone self-checked their seats. And everyone denied ever using it. We stayed for another 10 minutes just to look for it. The guides dove the reef to check if one of us had accidentally left it in the open see. After checking the reef, they could not find it. We were all perplexed, how could something disappear without anyone noticing it. The guides gave up, and on to our next stop. I thought we will be charged for the missing pair of goggles. But they didn’t. Later on, on our trip back, someone confessed as the culprit who lost the goggles. More on that later.

The trip took 30 minutes to go the next site: Cliff diving.

The site is a fjord. It was strategically nestled between two rocky hills. And in between them is an enclaved dive spot. We watched for a while some folks who were ahead of us. One guy dive head first, hitting the water in a splash. And the other one, did a half summersault before hitting the cool water. The first to disembark was Joshua and Nicole. Then Rachel follow suit. It looks intimidating and fun at the same time. The drop is a 35-40 feet jump. Rachel took a while to get the gut to jump. And when she did, a loud shriek was heard. Lloyd also disembarks from the boat, and was thought to jump. Lloyd was quick to quip,”Ano ako sira ulo?”. Again, Ren and I stayed at the boat just watching everything unfold. There were many boats in the area. There are many beautiful females there, wearing skimpy bikinis. I thought Ren, Kenneth (the driver-friend of Ren) and I enjoyed looking at them, than looking at the place. He he. There is nothing else to do. Come on.

I didn’t see who else jumped, because our focus was on the bikinis. But Nicole, Rachel and Joshua definitely did it more than once. And when they climb on back to the boat, they almost in a teeming fashion commented, “ang sakit sa ilong”. Nicole jokingly declared, “wala na nga akong ilong, pero masakit pa din”. This cracked us.

 The last stop was to visit a Sandbar. We consumed another 30-40 minutes. The ride was bumpy and splashy. The sea water is splashing on our face as we traverse the open sea.

When we got to the site, there was really nothing much to look at except for the sandbar which has white sands. The hill surrounding the sandbar was picturesque. As Jane puts it, it’s as if a painting. Which I agree, hands down. This time, alighted from the boat and discovered how cold the water is. There were ambulant vendors plying their wares. I think we stayed the longest, just hanging around and waded the water. Of course, we scouted for the females wearing skimpy underwear. And we were not disappointed! We also spotted a high-end mini yacht off the sandbar. We wondered how much was it?

Our trip back to our rented house seemed shorter.

Going Home

We got back at around 11.15AM and this time, the sun is up and heat is searing. Our checkout is supposed to be 1:00pm. So, we have less than 2 hours to have lunch and prepped ourselves up.

We prepared for our lunch. There were leftover rice from breakfast. I fried the canned sausages (sponsored by OM Malou) to add to the left-over food in the breakfast. There were shanghai rolls and lumpiang togue left the day before, which I fried to add to the lunch menu. All the while, Chester and Jayvee is still fast asleep.

All in all, everyone took their lunches and took showers to prep our trip back to Buendia. We left Barangay Calayo at around 1:10pm. During our trip back, the usual banter between the teammates ensued. Jayvee and Nicole is back to their usual moniker of “laki mata” and “pango”, respectively. Everyone was I high spirits. The leftover food was consumed inside the van. Joshua was being teased for hugging the toilet set, twice. Noriel was supposed to follow us to Calayo the day before, but due to some pressing matters, he failed to do so. Jabo also did not make it, as well Nana. You missed one-half of your life guys. Ren was not part of the occupants in the van. He rode his motor cycle to and fro Buendia to Calayo Beach.

Until next time guys.