The Beauty that is Puerto Del Sol
I almost didn’t go. I honestly didn’t want to because of the major adjustment the family had to make to let me go on a 3-day team building trip at Puerto Del Sol with Spiralytics, a digital marketing company I write for on a freelance basis. But it was my husband who encouraged me to go and have my first ever “me time” away from my children and the family in years.
Those who know me really well understand exactly how big of a challenge this was for me…..
But there are a lot of good things I would rather focus on in this blog. After all, I’m forty. When you’ve gone through so many things in your life, you learn to eliminate the juvenile and open your eyes to the blessings in every experience.
Puerto Del Sol was a beauty
It was a six-hour bus trip which was hell for a Claustrophobic like me, but having lunch with the view of a gently rippling sea made the hours of fidgeting and shifting positions, and trying to keep yourself from throwing up on the bus worth it.
The rooms were very comfortable. I, with two other fellow freelance writers (who are also work-at-home moms like me), was assigned the lower room of a two-storey unit. I didn’t really get to see the rest of the rooms, but ours had two comfortable medium-sized beds with two plump pillows each.
Since one of our fellow writers, our good friend Millie, wasn’t able to join us because of health problems in the family, and Van opted to sleep with her family in a room they paid for, Janice and I ended up having the room all to ourselves at night.
The units had glass doors. You can pull down the curtains if you’d like more privacy, but we pulled them back whenever we would have a few minutes to hang out in the room.
The members of the staff were very nice and accommodating. They greeted you every single time and smiled even towards the end of the day and they were already tired. We weren’t the only people in the resort.
The menu was very Filipino. We were served buffet for all our meals. I ate a lot of Pinakbet and fish. I just wish that they served us more shellfishes but they were probably more costly to include in the package, so if you want them, you order them separately.
Since my family wasn’t with me, I chose not to spend while I was there and feasted on the vegetables. There were many other types of food included in the menu like sliced meat and chicken dishes.
The swimming pools were large enough. There were two of them for each group of units. The water wasn’t cold so it was nice to take a dip even when it was raining. I tried to do a few laps and succeeded with a couple, hahaha. I’m so out of shape, so it was a quite a miracle to complete even a lap.
Hundred Islands, Alaminos
I’ve been to Hundred Islands before. We were newly married and one of our friends celebrated her birthday by treating a group of people, us included, to an overnight stay at one of smaller hotels in Alaminos and a tour of the islands. It’s been ten years and I didn’t mind seeing the place again.
One of the scheduled activities for the team building trip, aside from the games they’ve lined up, was a half a day tour to the Hundred Islands in Alaminos (where the yummy longganisas are!).
Alaminos was an hour trip from Puerto Del Sol and we left in good weather.
Puerto Del Sol has a beach, but I wouldn’t recommend that you go swimming in it. It’s a great view and a great spot to hang out and relax, but not for swimming. You have to include Hundred Islands in your itinerary if you want to swim in the sea.
There were twenty-six of us so we took two boats. The tour package only included three islands. The tour guide asked us to add an additional Php 700 if we would like to add more islands and rent the boat for the entire day, so we can do some snorkeling and enjoy swimming in one of the islands.
The activities you can do are climbing up a hundred steps at the Governor’s island so you can have your photo taken with the spectacular view of the islands behind you and jumping off an 8-foot cliff. There’s also a zipline where you zip down from the island to the next one. Looked fun but the line was too long.
We were also shown the crocodile and turtle-shaped islands, the bat island with a lot of sleeping bats hanging upside down the way they do when they sleep, an island with a cave and many others.
I saw the Children’s island from the distance. According to Janice, the beach in that one is the best one for kids, hence, the name.
No snorkeling happened, but we stayed on an island for a while to let the others enjoy the beach and hang out by the clear waters. We WAHMs took the time to enjoy each other’s company in one of the sheds.
The “Adventure”
On our way back, the engine of the boat we were riding on sputtered out. It would have been okay except that we could see dark clouds up ahead, warning us of strong rains coming.
We laugh about it now, but at that moment, we three mommies understood that there was a remote possibility of trouble for our group. The boat had a little roof above it, but if it rained and we’re stuck there, the boat was going to get filled with water fast.
Janice and I were texting our husbands, I was asking Jay to pray for us. There were islands nearby, but they are still a long swim from where we were. Besides, we would have to figure out how to climb on the rocks.
The other boat came back for us, but it was full so they can’t really do anything but speed back to the shore, get the people off the boat and come back for us.
After several minutes, the engine started running again but again stopped before we reached land. This time, the islands were far behind us and the dock was a pretty long swim ahead of us.
It also started to rain.
On a serious note
I was a little concerned because I knew not everyone in our group were strong swimmers. We weren’t handed life vests, but there were some stashed at the side of the boat which I pointed out to Janice. I guess it’s because we’re moms that it’s instinct for us to start planning far off any circumstances. Van even asked if there were sharks in the area.
I jokingly gave instructions on survival swimming, but in truth, I wasn’t kidding. I wanted to make sure that if there’s anyone who can’t swim well in the group, that they know to go on their backs and float until help comes.
Reality is that when your boat capsizes in the middle of the sea, you need to know how to save yourself somehow and not rely on others to save you. Even when they want to, they will get tired eventually and may need to let you go for a while so they can survive, too.
In fact, they may not even be able to help you as the first rule in this kind of situation is to get away from anything and anyone right away so you won’t get climbed on and pushed down the water by those who don’t know how to swim, or get tangled among the ropes or whatever attached to the sinking boat.
I may seem a little paranoid, but sell me the same argument when you’ve got three little kids waiting for you back home.
Thankfully, the engine worked again long enough to bring us to shore. Whew!
Tourism suggestion
I would suggest that to improve the tourism in the area, the local government must provide proper training for the tour guides so they have more to say about the islands than just one being the location for the shooting for Claudine Barretto’s telenovela or this other island is where Kim Chiu and fellow PBB finalists were housed for a few days.
Tourists don’t care about that, honestly. They don’t even know who these celebrities are.
For instance, explain why among the hundreds of islands in the area, the bats chose to inhabit that one particular island. Seriously, so many interesting information that need to be told.
And for pete’ s sake, please distribute the life vests!
The company of fellow WAHMies
The team building allowed us to meet and say hi to the Who’s who of Spiralytics. We also got to spend some time with those whom we work with only online like our managing editor, Gem whose effort to connect with us I appreciate, the content strategists and other members of the content team.
But we WAHMs mostly spent time with each other throughout the entire event. All three of us belong to the same community of WAHMs, bloggers and homeschoolers on Facebook and Janice is one of my closest friends among them, but it was nice to spend time together in person.
We missed Millie of notyourordinarymum.com, though. It would have been much more fun to have her in the boat with us, hahaha!
Recommendations on Puerto Del Sol and Hundred Islands tour
Puerto Del Sol is really nice to go to as a family. Van’s family paid Php 8,000 for one of the regular units for a three-day, two-night stay. Not bad.
I suggest that you include the Hundred Islands tour, a meal at the floating restaurant, do the cliff jumping and add the zip line in your schedule to make the most of the six-hour trips to Pangasinan and back to Manila.
I believe you can arrange for the tour with the resort.
Don’t forget to pass by the Animal World on your way back, as well, because if you’re going all that way just for the swimming pool, I suggest you just go to La Traviesa in Cavite.
Or book a day tour to Camaya Resort if you want a resort with a beach. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your opportunity.
(Read: Celebrating our son’s 9th birthday at La Traviesa Hotel Resort)
(Read: Camaya Sands: The Beach and the Beautiful)
Also, make sure you’re ready to unplug. Internet access is not really very good at the resort even if you use your own unit. I was only able to check my email on the boat to Hundred Islands.
Puerto Del Sol is located in Bolinao, Pangasinan. Its list of amenities includes an outdoor jacuzzi, a pool bar and a game room.
Thank you to Spiralytics and to Gem Muzones for including us in the team building event. We had fun!
Puerto Del Sol
Website: http://www.puertodelsol.com.ph/
Facebook: @puertodelsol.ph
42 Comments
Jhanis
Jay is a wise man for encouraging you to go! But I can totally relate to not wanting to go on a me-time because we don’t want to disrupt our family’s schedule and routine LOL. Too bad you guys didn’t get to snorkel but looking at the photos, the view itself is a treat already. 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
It’s really a bit more personal than just a disrupted schedule I had to consider. 🙂 But yeah, the place was indeed a treat.
LaineyLovesLife
You’re lucky because you’re blessed with a husband who thinks about your growth and happiness too. 🙂 I love reading travel blogs because I love traveling too.. I just can’t follow tour schedules haha.
Php8000 for a 3 night stay is rather cheap. That’s a steal. 😉
I love that photo of the islands. 🙂
And no, I wouldn’t ride a boat without life vests because although I know basic swimming, I don’t think I can survive that long in open water. I’ll be too scared! I wish this post reaches Pangasinan’s tourism board, amend the regulations, and consider the tourists’ safety.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Yes! I just read about the Coron accident on the news. Sad.
Steph Vergara
Wow! The place looks amazing! 🙂 I’ve been to Pangasinan but I never knew na may gnyang kagandang resort. I love the room po! Ang comfy sa paningin! 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
The rooms were really comfy.:)
Millie
Awwwww…. Yeah, I miss you, ladies! Bawi ako next team building! I am sure mas masaya na!
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Sayang, wala ka sa boat! 🙂 haha! saya lalo sana!
Kris
Hi May!
I’ve never been to Puerto Del Sol / Hundred Islands, but it looks pretty nice! Medyo scary lang yung nangyari sa inyo sa boat, and I think I would’ve panicked if I were in your shoes. I am NOT a good swimmer. 😛
I’m so happy to have “bumped” into you! See you around! 😀
May De Jesus-Palacpac
It would have been okay if we were all wearing life vests somehow. The other boats had their passengers in vests, dun’now why they didn’t give us.
T’was nice to see a familiar “name” pop up in the thread. 🙂
Jem Alvarado (@esupermommy)
Beautiful indeed! I love seeing the beauty of our nature. This place is worth to visit.
Gilian
The adventure part was both scary and funny(now that I’m reading it). I could feel the tension in the boat.:)
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Hahaha, yes, it’s both that.
kareen liez
Very beautiful place indeed! Love the ocean and the pool especially the relaxing surroundings.
jErELLt
The place looks amazing, but the Hundred Islands brouhaha was really scary. Your observations about how tourism works in Hundred Islands are actually the exact same things mentioned by one of the travel bloggers I follow. It seems that safety isn’t their top priority. Ako pa naman, I’m paranoid. I make it a point to wear my life vest as soon as I take my place on a boat. Haha! :p But most of the time, the life vests provided are all worn out. One time when my husband and I were in Bohol, I almost got strangled by the strings of the vest! Kaloka! 😐
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Yes because the local government doesn’t seem to be involved in it. Parang kusa lang ng locals to do it, in cooperation with the resorts around. It shouldn’t be this way. We should have safety standards.
Ivy
I havent been to puerto del sol and hundred islands.
It’s scary that there is no lifevest provided to all of you aboard the boat. I hope the local government would penalize boat operators who doesnt provide lifevest, but first I hope they have regulation that lifevest be provided by boat operators in that area.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Yes, they should really have someone overseeing that at the dock because they can issue an regulation but without anyone to check if this is being followed, may makakalusot pa rin.
And since people take boats to Hundred Islands all the time, they should really make visible lifeguards and coast guards who are actively doing their jobs.
Maan
Scary! And I’m doubly scared because I can’t swim! On another note, I can relate so much to this because we’re also going on a team trip this weekend, and I’m torn between taking Yuri with me and leaving him behind. Such is the life of a WAHM. Funny thing is my WOHM friends don’t seem to have this kind of anxiety. It’s only Tuesday and I’m already having sepanx!
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Hayyy yes, I had separation anxiety. But more than just being away from the kids, I really do calculate the risks I take esp now that my brother is gone in tragic circumstances in the middle of the sea just December last year. All that was running through my head when it was all happening was that I can’t have my parents go through that pain again and that my 3 kids are waiting for me back home. That’s why I was already checking how to get out of the boat just in case and weighing my possibilities.
Roxi Santiago
Ang gandaaaaa! I want to go! It’s so hard to plan with the kids in mind! Parang gusto ko staycation na lang lagi sa dami ng kailangang dalhin! Will put this in our go to list!
Janice
I’m so happy you came, May. It wouldn’t have been the same without you. It’s certainly one trip I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
🙂 I’m happy you came, too! It’s your company that make me consider doing it again.
tina
It looks nice in here. Mahirap ba dalhin ang 2 year old? Thanks for sharing mommy. This one’s bookmarked
May De Jesus-Palacpac
It would be more manageable if you drive instead of taking a 6-hour bus ride. 🙂 But the place is nice for kids. If you’re going to Hundred Islands, would be wise to invest on reliable life vests instead of using the ones the boatmen have available.
Tweenselmom
Wow! Puerto del Sol is really nice. I wish I can go there too.
Maria Teresa Figuerres
Glad to hear that you enjoyed your visit to Puerto del Sol! Next time, I’m sure you’d be bringing your entire family to this beautiful place.
sef tiburcio (@seftiburcio)
I have never been to Puerto del Sol. The accommodation looked nice and I love the ambiance. Envied you a lot! HAHAHA! 🙂
Franc Ramon
I love visiting Hundred Islands because it’s just awesome seeing the cluster of islands. Puerto del Sol looks like a really nice resort.
Daniel Sitoabasi
What a beautiful island. I love every bit of the view, i want to be there one day.
Mark
Wow! This place looks very relaxing. I would love to visit Hundred Islands too it looks amazing in photos.
Channel Imperial
Puerto del Sol is very beautiful! The beach scenery is enough to keep me entertained for a week! ^_^
Arge
I love going to team buildings because it fosters camaraderie among workmates and it feeds the athlete wannabe in me 🙂
Thank you also for writing about Puerto Del Sol. I will consider it in planning our family getaways 🙂
Patty | MrsC
Nice! I’ve been wanting to check out Puerto del Sol! Yay for me-time! And would you believe that I’ve never seen the hundred islands???
Ayi
It’s great to spend some alone time once in a while. It allows us to focus on ourselves and give us a break from mommy duties. It was a great place, by the way 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
That’s true. Ideally, for me, that would be something outside team building, hehe.
Patty | MrsC
Do you see yourself coming back here with your family? Is it a kid-friendly place? 🙂
May De Jesus-Palacpac
As a matter of fact, yes, I see my family with me in this place. But I may have to wait it out a bit as my youngest may not be able to take the 6-hour bus ride just yet.
Peachy @ The Peach Kitchen
Puerto del sol is one of the resorts that I want to visit! Next summer.
jared's mum
looks like you had a grand time. good thing you decide to go. mums do need to take time away from the family and the chaos from time to time. I have always wanted to visit Hundred Islands, I hope I can go there with my boys very soon.
Liz A
So I was trying to search for reviews on Puerto Del Sol only to find this post in the first few results. LOL! I’m trying to book a room or villa for the family getaway this April and I am crossing my fingers that they can give me a room because their site says all rooms are booked at the dates I want.
May De Jesus-Palacpac
Haha! Hello friend! It’s a really nice place. Would love come come back with family.