Summer time in the Philippines is fast approaching. Unlike other countries, Philippines only have 2 Seasons – Wet and Dry. Dry Season starts at the end of March and ends up around May thus we Filipinos call it Summer. During those months are the perfect time to hit the beach, temperature around the Metro hits up to 41 degrees and who wouldn’t wanna like to get away from that? As a part of my #SummerTravel2017, Me and my office-mates went on a early summer escapade and head on to the Surfing Capital of the Northern Philippines – San Juan, La Union. It was my first time in a very long time (I went there when I was a kid) and my first to spent an overnight with my new mates at work.
The Trip
We left Ortigas around 12:30am (Saturday) before we left I had dinner with my husband at SM Megamall and spent the rest of my time waiting at my mates condo. I didn’t realize that the trip would be so long. We arrived at San Juan, La Union at 7:30am. I was sleeping through the whole trip, but from time to time (when I need to stretch my legs) I check on our drivers driving, he was really slow. To the point that one of my mates notice that he was slightly dozing while driving (Yikes!). We had 2 stopover – 1. At 7-11 near TPLEX Rosario exit and at 2. San Juan, Wet The Trip
We left Ortigas around 12:30am (Saturday) before we left I had dinner with my husband at SM Megamall and spent the rest of my time waiting at my mates condo. I didn’t realize that the trip would be so long. We arrived at San Juan, La Union at 7:30am. I was sleeping through the whole trip, but from time to time (when I need to stretch my legs) I check on our drivers driving, he was really slow. To the point that one of my mates notice that he was slightly dozing while driving (Yikes!). We had 2 stopover – 1. At 7-11 near TPLEX Rosario exit and at 2. San Juan, Wet and Dry Market.and Dry Market.
Going Home, it took us again roughly 7 hours. We left La Union around 1:30pm, they dropped me off at NLEX – Meycauayan Exit, Bulacan (Where I live) at 7:10pm. Me made 2 pee breaks during that road trip. Everyone went home safe.
The Stay
The place was clean and obviously new (evidence was the bed with plastic cover).
The power interruption kept turning on and off until 7pm went it all went dead – total blackout for the whole San Juan Shoreline. Some of the hotels have power generators but the place we stayed had none. It took around 30-45 minutes until the power was restored. The owner of the house told us that the supply and demand of power has not been met by the power distributor of their area. Hope that they can fix that problem right away because the influx of people going to La Union will double this season, for sure. Other, than that the whole stay was nice and homey.The only problem (and the whole San Juan, La Union problem) was the power interruptions.
The Beach
From the place we’ve stayed we have to walk across the highway just to reach the shore line. Entrance to the beach was free. We stayed at the shoreline of the famous hotel and surf school – San Juan Beach Resort.
The sand was a little bit rocky but fine, the color was grey to black when wet. The waves was huge for me, for I have not experience a lot of waves.
The previous beaches I have been through was always calm to no movement at all. It was also really hard to swim, I have been always known as a good swimmer because I took swimming lesson when I was a kid. But at San Juan, my swimming knowledge was put to a huge test when I accidentally swim to far from shore. I had a hard time of getting back to the shoreline because of the huge waves that kept pulling me backwards, good thing that one of my mates was pretty tall, he had to pull me until I can reach the ocean floor.
At least I didn’t drown and kept my cool the whole time. After my near death experience, I just kept swimming near the shoreline and took awesome pictures.
Overall, I loved San Juan La Union. It’s fastly becoming an “it” place for the millennials because of it’s hipster appeal, from the surfer lifestyle to hostels and food experience, as we millennials say it – San Juan is definitely lit. Definitely would bring my husband and would stay much longer if possible. I just hope that they would maintain the cleanliness and protect the San Juan shoreline for over population.
Breakdown of My Expenses:
- Transient Home – 400 each
- Van Rental – 1,000 each
- Grocery items and Food (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) – 250 each
Total – 1,650 pesos per person in a group of 8 pax.
Other than that, I also spent 75 pesos for fruit shake and 208 pesos for my brunch the next day.
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