San Juan Batangas and Laiya Beach Experience

Batangas province is famous for beaches as our province is surrounded with waters.  For me, one of the best beach resorts are now in Laiya, San Juan, Batangas.  The nearest white beach in Manila that need not an airplane nor a boat ride to reach it.  To tell you honestly, I've never known that Batangas has white beaches too until I met my husband.  My partner4lyf was born and raised in San Juan Batangas at Barangay Palahanan 2.  What I only know before, that San Juan is the place to find a variety of beautiful clay pots in its cheapest price,most specially when buying in bulk. We usually drop by in San Juan just to buy clay pots and other stuffs made out of clay.  The pots sold here in Batangas City market were from San Juan Batangas.  Some of the potters and stall owners of clay pots in San Juan are relatives of my husband. And it never came to my senses that someday I'll be marrying a native from San Juan.  Whenever we had a chance to visit my pakner4lyf's place we will surely drop by there to look for pots and plants.

Photo taken at Rowena's shop, after the Typhoon Ofel

I've been to some of the resorts nearby Palahanan.  I had a chance of going to Dream Land Resort because of my husband's high school reunion.  And then Bahay Marikit during our honeymoon in 2007.  I cannot forget the fist time we had Halo-Halo in the market of San Juan.  It was delicious because the glass is full of different fruits (ingredients) you expect to eat so it has lesser ice with leche flan on top but the price is still cheap.  What amazes me was the store only sells Halo-Halo.

I was able to witness and experience Laiya white beach year 2009. To recall, the area was not yet developed. On the way, we see constructions going on side by side. I heard that hundreds of houses were relocated because the area will soon become a tourist spot - the reason for major constructions.  In the beach, we only place a piece of blanket in the sand and get a shade under a coconut tree to settle with. Our son who was then one year old, enjoyed playing with the sand and tried tasting it! He could have thought that it was sugar.

After having few hours of swimming we washed and changed clothes using the restroom of a church there. The senior pastor of that church was a long time friend of pakner4lyf. After a short talk, we headed to the newly constructed fish port. I love the scene of boats and mangrove trees. It was my first time to see mangrove trees. We take the advantage of taking pictures and seeing the sunset.

Our visit was followed up year 2011 and with more friends. There I see a great difference. The church of our friend pastor was already relocated but their cottages remained. This side of Laiya White Beach is termed as the "Public Area".  And the private resorts are already constructed during that time. My pakner4lyf and I walked at the shore just to look around. We were able to have pictures at the private resorts and then headed back at our place to enjoy the beach and play with the children. 

Our eldest son enjoying the sand

Year 2012 around February, we had a Japanese friend who wanted to spend her vacation with her brother in the Philippines. Pakner4lyf met her in Michigan. We assisted her of finding the perfect place for them to stay. They were able to find a very good place to stay in San Juan - Acquatico Beach Resort. The staff were nice and friendly this caused them to book here.  The previous resorts were unable to treat them well so they keep on looking for the perfect place to accommodate them.   Aside from good staffs, the place was beautiful and relaxing. Our guests were thankful for a worthwhile vacation and experience. Poor me that I was not able to witness the beauty of Acquatico, because I have just given birth to our third child this time.

Since I was unable to go with them in Acquatico, pakner4lfy promised me that we will have another trip to San Juan.  Then after few months there was a chance to visit again because of an invitation from our Ninang sa Kasal.  The three children, my older brother, and my parents are with us together with our Ninang Pearl. We went to Kota Keluarga. I loved the view of the sea as we are approaching the bay side. I couldn't remember how large the area was but it was really huge. They are selling portion of lot for housing. The use of facilities are exclusive only for members. You need to be a member or have a sponsor to get in there.  Our ninang is a lot owner (that makes her a Club Member) at the same time an agent of the place.  Through her, we had a chance to have a tour inside.  For this reason, the place not crowded with people. 

After having our day trip at Kota Kaluerga we decided to visit our friend pastor. We were surprised coming at the place. The cottages were doubled in number thus there's only a little space to pass through. Huge crowd were swimming at the beach, thus we decided not to stay longer. That day we had an opportunity to have a day tour also at One Laiya because one of my pakner4lyf's high school classmate is working there. The place is good too. But expect a huge crowd specially during peak seasons. 

What we wanted that time is a quiet place to stay, remember we had a few months old baby with us, so ended up going back to Kota Keluarga. The two children had a chance to swim at the pool. My parents walked at the shore and tried to go to the cave that is situated within the area. I didn't allowed the children to swim at the beach because it has rocks that can cut the soles of their feet. I am unsure if they were able to remove those stones now. During that time they are still constructing more cottages.  I love the ambiance of the place - it's peaceful and quiet that it feels like being so close to nature.  I also love the design of the whole place specially their shower room and the cabanas.  Sorry I that cannot provide you photos from this trip.

I was inspired to make this post because of Ms. Farida the blogger behind In Love With Sunflower.  I am always inspired whenever I had a chance of reading through her blog posts. This is to give more info about San Juan, Batangas and what to expect, to make the most of your visit if you have considered doing so.

Have you been to San Juan, Batangas? I am sure you'll love the place too. If you did have a taste of San Juan, feel free to share your memorable experiences too.

Looking for more places at San Juan?  Click this link.