Daily Archives: 3 April, 2015

Munting Buhangin Beach Camp (Nasugbu, Batangas)

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Munting Buhangin Beach

Munting Buhangin Beach

From the very crowded Interlink Beach, we again continued on our quest to find a suitable beach resort for overnight camping.  Canyon Cove was out of the question (PhP800/pax just for a day tour) so we moved on. Then I saw the sign for Munting Buhangin Beach Camp and, remembering my past overnight stay there, decided to check it out.

Munting Buhangin in the evening

Munting Buhangin in the evening

Just past the members only Terrazas de Punta Fuego, we turned left into the gate of the resort and inquired about the rates from the security guards.   From here, it’s a 1-km. and very steep downhill drive.  As it was the peak season, we had to park our car some distance from the resort.  We decided to leave the heavy camping gear inside the car and walk the rest of the way down.  Then we had to go down a very long flight of stairs, with some 100 steps, to get to the reception area.

The long flight of stairs

The long flight of stairs

Reception and information area

Reception and information area

Our total bill for our overnight camping, which we promptly paid, came up to PhP3,400 which included entrance fees, camping fee and breakfast the next day for the 5 of us.  I regretted not bringing our gear with us. Oh well.

Melissa and Almira inside our Coleman tent

Melissa and daughter Almira inside the Coleman tent

Jandy and Albert

My son Jandy and Albert

Anyway, my son Jandy and Melissa’s children Almira and Albert volunteered to return with all our stuff, making the arduous climb up the stairs and the steep driveway to get to the car and then return, this time heavily laden, with all the heavy camping gear, backpacks and provisions.  Thank God for children.

Kainan sa Beach Camp

Kainan sa Beach Camp

The convenience store

The convenience store

The 24-hectare Munting Buhangin Beach Camp is backpacker and camper-friendly and just perfect as I brought along my 5-pax Coleman tent.  This we pitched under a shady tree and beside a convenient long table with benches, all monobloc.  Kainan sa Beach Camp, its restaurant, as well as the information and reception area (with its all-important convenience store where we bought our bottled water, ice cream and snacks) and a common grilling area were nearby.

Airconditioned concrete cottages

Airconditioned concrete cottages

Airconditioned bamboo cottages

Airconditioned bamboo cottages

A treehouse

A treehouse

The resort also has a variety of accommodation choices, from airconditioned cottages, 2 and 4-pax family rooms, the always popular 10-pax treehouses to tents for rent.  They also have conference rooms for seminars and team building activities. Their comfort rooms and shower areas, quite a long walk away, were not well-maintained, with sand all over the floor.

Comfort room and shower area

Comfort room and shower area

We didn’t sleep much inside our tents as our noisy neighbors were up all night and into the wee hours of the morning.  With no sea breeze, it was also uncomfortably hot that night.  Our packed breakfast the next day, ordered the night before, wasn’t much – scrambled egg and a cup of steamed rice with a choice of either tocino, beef tapa or longanisa.

Bamboo and nipa picnic huts

Bamboo and nipa picnic huts

Monobloc picnic table and benches

Monobloc picnic table and benches

A plus for the resort is their clean and wide beach front, on a captivating cove, which has clear and shallow water (not so during the rainy season though) with fine, light brown sand (no shells or sharp rocks) and not much waves, just right for giving lessons to a city dweller like Melissa on how to float. In spite of it being Holy Week and summer, the beach wasn’t overflowing with bodies.  They also offer beach volleyball, tug-of-war, high rope, watersports (kayaking, banana boats, jetskis, aqua glide, speedboats, etc.).

Beach volleyball action

Beach volleyball action

Melissa (third from right) joining the tug-of-war

Melissa (third from right) joining the tug-of-war

The High Rope

The High Rope

There is nothing super special about this resort.  However, if you’re just a backpacker, camper or simply a typical traveler just looking for some relaxation, a nice beach and a family picnic (you can bring your own food) under some shady trees while watching a beautiful sunset, then this is a good choice.

Dusk at Munting Buhangin

Dusk at Munting Buhangin

The author with Almira

The author with Almira

Munting Buhangin Beach Camp: Brgy. Natiunan, Nasugbu, Batangas.  Metro Manila booking office: 7/F Makati Executive Center. 114 L.P. Leviste cor. V.A. Rufino Sts., Salcedo Village, Makati City.  Tel: 818-1975, 818-4798, 812-5448 and 818-2083 local 122. Fax: (632) 892-3649.  Mobile number: (0922) 887-4131.  E-mail: muntingbuhangin@gmail.com and muntingbuhangin@yahoo.com. Website: www.muntingbuhangin.ph.

Interlink Beach (Nasugbu, Batangas)

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When I was still a young man, a lot of our Holy Week family vacations were held at Interlink Resort where my father bought some shares (Check out a past Interlink Resort promotional video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD3mf7LkrJw).  The resort was located on a hilltop within a private peninsula which could only be accessed by boat from Wawa Port.

Interlink Beach with Fortune Island seen from afar

Interlink Beach with Fortune Island seen from afar

The suicide cliff with a sea-sculpted cave below

The suicide cliff with a sea-sculpted cave below

Back then, the resort had non-airconditioned duplex cottages with airy verandas, a restaurant, small swimming pool, tennis court and a putting green.  From the resort, a regular shuttle would transport guests down to the brown sand beach.  The nearby cliff was said to have been the site where desperate Japanese soldiers jumped to their death during World War II.  I remember that a shrine was installed to mark the event.

Posing beside one of Interlink Resort's duplex cottages

Posing beside one of Interlink Resort’s duplex cottages

Posing with my Mom and siblingswith the cliff in the background

Posing with my Mom and siblings with the peninsula and cliff in the background. On the far left is Wawa Port

Author (right) with sisters Tellie and Salve. In the background is Payong-Payong Point

Author (right) with sisters Tellie and Salve. In the background is Payong-Payong Point

The beach, though nothing like Boracay, with more coral reef than sand, was still a sight to behold as, a short distance from the beach, one could behold the well known Payong-Payong Point, a towering, offshore rock formation carved by wind, rain and the smashing waves.

Camping at Interlink Beach

Camping at Interlink Beach

Sunset at the beach

Sunset at the beach

This place is also very familiar to some landscape photographers who love taking photographs of the beautiful sunset with Payong-Payong Point as backdrop. This scenery was also featured in the 2000 movie Pedrong Palad (Starring Joonee Gamboa, Chin Chin Gutierrez and Jaclyn Jose) and the January to May 2011 fantateleserye Mutya.

Wawa Port

Wawa Port

The beach was somehow created when the developer bulldozed some of the coral away during low tide. During low tide, one could even walk, among the coral, all the way up to the rock formation, climb it and watch the fiery sunset from there.  Here, the coral reef drops dramatically into the dark depths.  From afar, you can also make out Fortune Island, 14 kms. away. My last visit to the still operating resort was sometime in 1982 or 1983.  Some years later, the resort closed down.

Waiting for our banca at Wawa Port

Waiting for our banca at Wawa Port

I next visited the place on March 29-30, 2002, another long Holy Week end, camping on the hilltop with my son Jandy, daughter Cheska and Jandy’s Jesu-Mariae School teachers Erwin Vizcarra, Joel Fatlaunag and Vener Trillo.  The resort back then was already abandoned and in ruins.  The evening was very cold and, during the night, we woke up to cows grazing around us.  Thoughts of Japanese ghosts in our midst were always in my mind.  Some evening it turned out to be.

Crossing over to Interlink Beach

Crossing over to Interlink Beach

Holy Week of 2015 again brought me and Jandy there, with friend Melissa Tinonas and her children Almira and Albert.   After a 1.5-hour trip via SLEX from Shell Magallanes, we arrived at Wawa Port by 11 AM.  There were many cars parked at the port and, from the looks of it, there were many beachcombers also coming for a visit. We all boarded a banca to take us to the other side (PhP10 per person).  From the breakwater, you could already see the great number of people who went there for a free swim.

Payong-Payong Point seen from Interlink Beach

Payong-Payong Point seen from Interlink Beach

Part of the beach now had some nipa picnic cottages said to be owned by a certain Nanay Precy Morales whose family lives near the Payong-Payong Point.  Half of the beach was now cordoned off, off limits to beachcombers as it was now private property. Going up the hill, I talked to the security guard on duty.  The hill was now cleared of the ruins of the now defunct Interlink Resort as well as the resident coconut trees and new villas were being built in their place.  Well, so much for camping here in the future.

The new villas being built

The new villas being built

Whatever becomes of the place, memories of Holy Weeks past in the former Interlink Resort will forever live in my mind.