If you're looking for a quick beach getaway near Metro Manila, the province of Zambales is one of the best options. Some towns of Zambales offers really nice beaches and I've been to several of them, namely San Narciso and San Felipe. Looking for something kind of new, I decided to book an overnight stay at one of the new resorts in the town of Cabangan.
We booked a pool villa in secretspotph. The resort seems quite new but kind of hard to find so I highly suggest that you use Google Maps or Waze while driving. Drive from Manila to Cabangan will take around 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Upon arrival at the resort, we were immediately assisted by the staff. Since we booked a room for a Friday overnight despite being a summer season, coincidentally we were the only guests booked in the place since other guests will arrive at around Saturday noon. We really had the whole place for ourselves! Which is actually a good thing since the pandemic is still ongoing.
The pool villa is surprisingly big and can accommodate around 6 people so it's really good for a group of friends or a family. I actually like the design of their villas for it's not typical and they all look modern. Inside, you'll find a double bed, sofa bed with pull out, a TV with cable, split type aircon, your own toilet & bath and there's even an upper loft area where the other people can sleep as well.
That's my aunt there
The villa is really spacious. In the resort, they also have a kitchen area outside with cooking utensils which you can use for a small fee. They also have purified cold and hot water available there where guests can refill their water bottles which are provided per villa. Since it's been around two years since I last saw a beach, I couldn't wait to take a few pictures almost upon arrival.
I can't explain that feeling of dipping my toes again in saltwater and powdery sand. What I really like about the beach of Cabangan is that is not crowded, as compared to the beaches in the towns of San Narciso and San Felipe. So if you want to avoid the crowd for total relaxation, you may highly consider this town for your vacation. Come night time, the resort still looks really nice.
When the morning of next day arrived, my mother and I checked out the beach again. The waves seems calmer compared to the afternoon so I highly suggest swimming at the beach during mornings.
My mom
To really enjoy the view of the beach, I had a cup of coffee while munching on my favorite Chips Ahoy Chewy Choco Chip cookies. It felt so serene just looking at the vast blue ocean partnered with a blue sky.
Then, my mother and I decided to take more pictures around the resort.
Trying to hide my face from the sun
Later on, I decided to take swim at the beach also for awhile before lunch time.
Then lunch is served! The resort actually offers all day breakfast that you may order but this depends upon availability. They will actually inform you while you're there of their available menu and asked you if you would like to order. Instead of eating at the patio at our villa, we asked them if we can eat nearer the beach instead. By the way, the resort doesn't really have its own in-house restaurant, so I highly suggest that you bring your own food or you may buy ingredients at the nearby market then make use of the resort's kitchen facilities.
Come after lunch, it's now time to check out and start the travel back home. We really enjoyed this quick beach vacation and we really felt safe during our stay at the resort. Since the pandemic is still here, it's really hard to plan a vacation nowadays but I'm glad that we were able to travel especially this summer of 2022. For those who are interested to book a villa in secretspotph resort, you may check out their facebook page and you may contact them there directly for booking.
Hope you all had your summer getaways safely!
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