The Coco beach resort is located in one of the beautiful coves of Puerto Galera, in the island of Oriental Mindoro. The resort became operational back in November of 1986 & is currently a member of the Hotel & Restaurant Association of the Philippines, a member of the Philippine Convention & Visitors Corporation and is accredited as a Class “AA” Resort by the Philippine Department of Tourism.
There are two ways to reach the resort which boasts of probably being the last true nature paradise on earth, by plane, or by boat. I went there by boat.
It was a glorious morning that 27th of October 2007 when our boat set of from Batangas to the resort.
The Carabao Restaurant picture above shows where the visitors are to land upon arrival at the resort. Mind you, that was approximately a two hour boat ride I endured to get here. I was nervous and excited at the same time, there was the fact that that was like my third boat ride in my whole life being a mountain girl, well, and I wasn’t a good swimmer. That morning though, it was smooth sailing all the way.
We were met by locals who immediately assisted us with our bags and escorted us to the Carabao restaurant. It was also there where admission into the resort is being conducted. As we made our way to the stairs to get into the restaurant, we were met by another set of locals who wore Hawaiian shirts, straw hats, and garlands around their necks and were shaking a tambourine to accompany the local Filipino song welcoming the visitors. As each guest passed the last local singing, he put a necklace made of seashells around our necks (cool bling) and handed us each a buko juice (and I mean the real thing not the ones in a plastic cups), complete with a straw and a tiny tooth pick umbrella. The sort you’d see in a Pina Colada.
They let you know what your options are about available rooms, that is, if you didn’t have a reservation yet. I did so they gave me the keys to the hut, yes hut, I was assigned to, a small guidebook and a local to carry your things to your room, er, hut. For the meantime, I was taking in the bar which was stocked and inhaled the aroma of food cooking from their kitchen. I was starved, but I had to get settled first so I followed the local with my stuff to my hut.
Here we have the cable car – actually that’s a jeepney you see in there. It is a widely used means of transportation even on wheel because of the number of passengers it can hold. Coco Beach uses it to transport visitors to the upper are of the resort where one can find the ‘Silent Pool’.
As it turned out my standard room hut was tucked in the south west side of the resort which was a thirty second walk from the Carabao restaurant. On our way there I realized that upon descending the stairs I cam in from, there was a swimming pool and beside it is the clinic and the dive center. Attached behind the Carabao restaurant was the arcade where you could order personalized tee shirts, have Manang Inda make you custom made dresses with an array of colorful fabric you can choose from, and buy sarongs or their own version of Hawaiian polo’s for men. There were also a lot of accessories being sold. Earrings, necklaces, anklets and arm bands.
Now we understand it that one would go to an island resort to take a break, but then again one can never really completely cut ones self of from the rest of the world. So in the arcade you can find a postal service, a phone and fax machine. They also have a ‘ticket ordering’ service for when one would need reconfirmation of flight schedules. Another service they had in the arcade was an internet café. One could rent a computer for a minimum of 30 minutes. Of course if they have an internet café they also have a library with novels one could choose from, the resort also strives to have the daily paper which arrives at noon time for as long as there are no incidents to stop the boats from coming in. The rooms do not have television; at least I know the huts don’t even the ‘deluxe’ ones so they even have a TV and video room situated in the first floor of the Carabao restaurant building. There they have an information area board with the list of movie titles available. News in English can also be aired on TV at the ‘Barracuda Bar’ (right along the Carabao restaurant) upon request. They also have game sets, aside from the volleyball court and the tennis court like BOCCIA which they offer lessons for free. They also have game boards (can you believe it?) and also a billiard table where one can hang around.
Every morning at the beach, to me, was glorious. I never am a morning person but while I was there on vacation (the irony), I was sure to wake up early so I can catch the first rays of the sun touch the earth.
Above are pictures from the soap making lesson held at the resort. As additional activities, Coco Beach holds soap making lessons, banana baking lessons, swimming lessons, diving lessons, and etcetera. Some of them are even for free.
All in all, it was a good visit. I was able to rest and enjoy what this earth can offer and marvel again at natures beauty that one tends to take for granted. I guess one thing about the resort is that it is for couples, for families and for the onesome. The place has a feel of intimacy around it and you won’t expect loud parties here. And for me then, back in October of 2007, that sort of mood suited me perfectly.
Okay, I know these are not exactly the types of sea creatures one would want to see when talking about a ‘nature paradise’ so I may have to hone up my knowledge on sea creatures some more and bring a camera I can use underwater that is after I have learned to swim. But then again when I saw these I was fascinated. How shallow can I be? I was told these are sea slugs. Ugh.
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