Weekend at Island Cove Cavite

Weekend at Island Cove Cavite was a definitely a break from office. It's very near from Manila but you won't feel any sign of the buzz and stress of the metro. I've never been in a place that has very very friendly and accommodating staff(they'd greet you along the way and if you ask questions, you'll surely get coordinated answers). Plus, it's huge resort that offers so many activities, but doesn't include seawater wading. I know, you thought this was a secluded island resort...I thought the same thing when I first heard it from a friend.

You can get there from Makati in about 30 minutes, without traffic, taking Cavitex(Manila-Cavite Expressway) toll. After passing the toll stations, halfway along the long bridge, you'll see the resort on your right, but look for the next left turn right after the bridge that will lead to U-turn road to the resort gates.

From the gates, you won't see the water or the hotel right away, just the entrance bridge to the island. So you'll have a lot of walking to do, or request a free ride from their electric trams. From and to any point in the resort, you can ask any personnel, waiter or receptionist for the tram service to pick you up. We headed to their hotel lobby then to our 2-bedroom cabana. The Cabana is beautifully designed bungalow with 2 bedrooms(1 with queen bed, the other room with 2 single beds), with sala and dining room. Everything's airconditioned within the cabana, complete with a personal fridge, bathroom(shower and toilet - no bathtub), and LCD TV with cable channels. I'm not sure if the management had set the cable in bad reception to encourage outdoor activities, but all I get was antenna-like picture for HBO or any channel. Not something I would really complain about, we were all so eager to go outside.

They have the Oceania water park(shown below). Shot was taken in the morning and we were lucky to have it all alone for the next hour. Apart from this huge pool, we saw another pool near the Cabanas, and 2 more kiddie pools near Oceania.

At night, from the hotel, you can request the tram for a ride to the Fishing Village, a whole network of native cottages standing in bamboo bridges and stilts. We had a sumptuous seafood dinner, and after that, we headed to the Bayside bar overlooking the Cavitex and Manila night skyline. We were early at the bar and there were only few people, but an hour, a live band came(you can request songs from classic to Lady Gaga hits). After a couple hours, we decided to go back our rooms. we just called the waitress and the service tram was there in about five minutes to take us back to the hotel.

In the morning, I woke up early, and spent about 45 minutes at the gym. For hotel guests, they only charge 50php per visit. After that we rented a bike and went around the area, found out that they have Animal Island(mini zoo), an area for paintball, shooting range, billiards, KTV and a lot more activities that you can handle in one day.