Making a splash in Aquaria

MANILA, Philippines - It was a great idea for me and a few friends to go to Aquaria, the new leisure resort in Playa Calatagan, Calatagan, Batangas. I heard a lot of good things about it from a friend but I never expected the place to be so cool. When I saw that giant water slide — they told me it was three-storey high — I knew that I had to conquer it.

The trip to Aquaria conveniently took only a short time — in less than three hours, we were already at the entrance. I couldn’t help but get awestruck by Aquaria’s amenities — the place is really first class.

After we settled down with our things in the cabana that we rented — there were several cabanas around the place, usually near the cove pools and the beach — we went around to see Aquaria’s amenities. It turned out that the giant pool slide was located amid several cove pools. There was even a sunken pool bar.

The sun loungers with their yellow, oversized umbrellas shone like giant sunflowers. There were hammocks! I swore that I would enjoy the hammock big time later.

Even though the trip to Aquaria from Metro Manila was short, we had worked up an appetite. So we had a truly delicious lunch of grilled lobsters, prawns and squid. The best place to enjoy seafood is really in a resort like Aquaria. My Filipino-French friend Alex Dieudonne of Line of 7 and I ordered a refreshing frozen margarita. It was perfect for the noon-day heat.

We ended up eating a lot, so we decided to get at least an hour’s rest before hitting the pool and the beach. My manager Chris Cahilig and the rest of the group went back to our cabana but I couldn’t wait to use the hammock. It’s the best way to enjoy the sea breeze blowing through the beach.

I found out that Aquaria is a 1.2-hectare property that is designed to be a world-class leisure destination. It’s both a water park and a beach resort. I think it’s the perfect alternative to Boracay. For only P400 for adults and P200 for kids, one can already enjoy the world-class pool and the white sand, the clean, clear blue sea without having to book a flight or taking a boat to an island. This makes Aquaria a perfect place for day trippers who want to enjoy a resort vacation without spending a lot of money and taking a lot of time.

While resting from the heavy lunch, I watched the Aquaria guests, mostly families and barkadas, enjoying the various activities: Soccer, volleyball and Frisbee, and even water sports like kayaking, wind surfing, boating and jet skiing. At the time we were in the resort, there was even a tutorial on stand-up paddle (SUP) boards.

Finally, it was time to hit the beach and try out that giant slide. We couldn’t wait to get into the water. The giant slide was a rush. Pretty soon we were laughing and enjoying ourselves. It’s great that there’s both a water park and a beach. We felt like we were getting two resort vacations for the price of one. We went boating and wind surfing, too.

For details, call 836-5000.