DIY: Bolinao

Important: You may find this post unhelpful if you're planning to visit Bolinao, but I tried. Lol. Just putting this up for posterity. :)


Since last year, Pol and I were aching to visit Bolinao, Pangasinan, with our unbelievably stressful lives, we really wanted to spend some time in the beach. We checked a handful of travel blogs, contacted resorts and hotels, planned our itinerary and came up with a very strict budget list — not that we're cheeseparing, but that's how we travel, it works very well for us.

It's a 6-hour road trip to Bolinao so we decided to take the 12am bus trip at Fivestar Cubao. There were 3 stopovers, the first one being Tarlac and the last one Alaminos, Pangasinan. We arrived at Bolinao an hour earlier than planned, of course, traveling at night is gazillion times better than by day. We decided to kill the next hour by just sitting at the terminal, inhaling the at-long-last-we're-here air of Bolinao while drinking coffee. A couple of tricycle guys approached us and asked if we needed a tour service, we politely declined most of them as we're still working our schedule for the day. Pol and I were battling about which tourist spot to visit first when a guy our age told us that the St. James Church isn't really far from where we were and we can just walk. We hugely appreciated his little tip, so, lo and behold! Kuya Joey became our tour service guy, he was kind, polite and even gave us a discount! Plus, he gave us a tour around his mom's resort which was as the Rock Formation beach itself, it was amazeballs.



BOLINAO TOUR & ACTIVITY SCHEDULE: 3 days, 2 nights 
Day 1 (Thursday)

• Visited St. James Church
• Ate breakfast at Adora's of course
• Checked-in at SCL Garden Resort
• Ate lunch at the resort (sisig for the win!)
• Visited Bolinao Falls, where my phone fell off the water, haha
• Went back to the resort because I was pissed like hell and spent the rest of the afternoon dealing with Pol's apologies. I forgave him after he got me some desserts. Lol. We had grilled hotdogs and marinated meat for dinner (the resort lend us the grill for free!), we cooked at the beach as we watched the night-sky befall upon us, sat by the cottage, plugged-in some music, read Haruki Murakami's new short, "Kino", played a couple of kendama tricks, played in the sand, enjoyed the bonfire, drank a few bottles of light alcohol, painted a small "thank you" card for the resort and decided to tuck in for the night. 

Day 2 (Friday) : We we're so excited to jump into the waters of Patar Beach so we decided to skip visiting the Enchanted Cave, haha.

• Visited the Rock Formations (never miss this spot, it was breathtaking)
• Visited Kuya Joey's Mom's Resort, Cool Spot
• Visited Cape Bolinao Lighthouse
• Headed straight to Patar Beach
• Spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the clear waters of the beach, thus, the bad case of sunburn we have now, it was all so worth it though! Haha.

Day 3 (Saturday)

• Walked around the beach-front of the resort where we're staying at while silently wishing that we can extend our stay for a few more days 
• Ate at Adora's (won't be the last time though!)
• Took the 2pm bus trip home

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ABOUT SCL GARDEN RESORT

SCL Garden Resort is approximately 20-30 minutes away from the Fivestar Bus Terminal, well, most of the resorts and hotels were. The vicinity was peaceful, beautiful and their beach-front was stunning. It has the "lost" feel to it that appeals to me so much.

Their beach-front is the Ilog Malino Beach. Every morning, the waves are far back and the tides start to rise around 1pm in the afternoon.

The staff were all friendly, polite and accommodating. They were attentive to our needs and they even introduced us to their dogs, all big mutts and sweet. The suites were clean and comfortable, plus guests have free access to their WIFI connection which was fast considering their location. We didn't fully utilized the internet though — aside from a few photo uploads — because we preferred to be one with nature while we stayed there. 

Their food was delicious, I mean, really good. Not really cheap menu but definitely worth your dough.
 

Here are their details:
SCL Garden Paradise Resort Brgy. Ilog Malino, Bolinao, Pangasinan
+63921-4117938 (Ms. Ruth)
+63906-5878155 (Ms. Beth Libao)
sclgardenparadiseresort@yahoo.com

(We weren't paid to post this for them, it was a good experience, absolutely worth sharing)



ABOUT ADORA'S RESTAURANT

2 words: must-visit. I don't think I need to say more about this simple restaurant at Bolinao, they cater fresh, delicious meals for affordable prices. That's it.

Here are their details:
Adora's Restaurant

Address: Don Alonzo Ponce, Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines

Phone:+63 75 554 2341

And remember, when you travel, EAT LOCAL. ;)

*** 

BUDGET LIST:

• Fair (per head, one way) - P459, P918 round trip
• Tour Service (Kuya Joey) - P1,300 (he will take you to all tourist spots you have to see)
• Accommodation (per night) - P1,500 (with aircon, no heater, no TV)
• Environmental Fees - P50 (Rock Formation), P30 (Bolinao Falls)
• Meals
• Souvenirs

Pol and I had P3,000 each and additional P1,000 just in case.


KUYA JOEY'S DETAILS:
Joey dela Cruz
Phone:  +63936-9986087

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PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!

The tourist spots are for you to discover, I really think Bolinao is a place you should visit at least once in your life, in our case, we're definitely going back. We fell in love with it as much as we did for Boracay.