Out of all the places we have visited since we have been in
the Philippines, Calatagan is probably my favorite. We stayed at a resort called the Stilts. It was a three hour drive with no flight
needed. There are cottages actually on
stilts over the water but they were booked for the weekend, so we stayed in a
beach cottage. This cottage, it was more
like a cute, little hut, was right on the beach. At high tide, our door was literally maybe
six steps to the water.
The beach is really nice.
At high tide it is a great swimming beach, and at low tide we explored
for starfish, sea urchins and all kinds of little sea creatures. The owners have a huge plot of land – they
are almost self- sustaining with their own garden and their own animals. The restaurant which is called The Sweet Spot
serves fresh vegetables from the garden and fresh eggs from their
chickens. Every meal we had was
delicious. One evening we even felt like we were on The Bachelor. They had our table set when we got
there. It had lanterns and a beautiful
place setting with our yummy food. Of
course being right by the sea was a plus.
There is a floating beach cabana that we swam / walked out
to and just hung out enjoying the view and doing a little reading. Edi even did a little snorkeling out to the
reef. Sadly, the reef was damaged, but
it is slowly growing back, and Edi saw some life. It was funny because at low tide the floating
cabana was no longer floating. We went
exploring one afternoon and just trekked around the property. There are actually three beaches – I like
Harmony Beach (the one we were on) the best.
On one of the beaches they have built a tree house. A couple was staying there for the
weekend. We saw the garden, horses, oxen
and the beautiful mountains walking back toward the main road. There were people riding four wheelers, but
we did not take the proper clothing, so we didn’t get to do that.
It was a little cloudy during our trip, but we still got a
nice sunset mixed in with the clouds and what great happy hours we had. I really felt like I was on a spiritual
retreat as there are literary quotes painted on these driftwood like signs all
over the property. They are all positive
in nature and thought provoking making me appreciate and just feel content and
happy.
The people there are really nice and friendly, and the
service was great. I would definitely
recommend this place and would love to go back!
