A Subic Adventure

Thinking of a worry-free vacation? Think Subic Bay in Olongapo, a leisurely three-hour drive from Metro Manila, a perfect recreation place for the family. Going to Subic is almost like visiting another country.

Most visitors to Subic stay at Forest Hills Village Resort with 132 fully-furnished homes available for daily rentals. The adjacent Village at Forest Hills has 76 fully-furnished homes on long-term lease. Both are part of the completed projects operated by Financial Building (Subic Bay) Corporation of Subic Bay Freeport.

The newest project is the Eastgate Village Resort located at the El Kabayo Housing Complex. Set against a backdrop of a protected rain forest, the resort has 52 fully-furnished apartments each with three bedrooms, two baths and a spacious living room that can easily convert into additional sleeping space. Dining, kitchen and laundry facilities are provided, in addition to 24-hour centralized air-conditioning.

"By becoming a vacation owner at Eastgate Village Resort, your family can spend dream vacations here in Subic for seven days a year for the next 40 years," reveals Cherry Laxamana, marketing officer of Eastgate Village Resort. But Eastgate does not confine its members to picturesque Subic Bay. Being a triple-A member of Interval International–the quality vacation exchange network–the vacation owner can exchange their seven days at Subic for a week’s stay in any of the 1,800 affiliated resorts in 66 countries: play golf in Scotland, ski in Colorado, scuba dive in the Bahamas or simply laze along the Riviera. In the Philippines, the other accredited resort is Fairways and Bluewater Resort Golf & Country Club in Boracay.

But before you think of going anywhere else, there’s more than enough to explore and discover in Subic. The resort clubhouse offers a host of leisure activities comparable to the best in the world, as well as sports (tennis, golf, basketball, go-karting and target shooting) and water activities like jet skiing, kayaking, sailing, coral and shipwreck diving, windsurfing and fishing. Subic is also the place to get a taste of the jungle life in its ecology and jungle tours in Subic’s virgin tropical forest.

Add to all that Subic’s newest attraction–Ocean Adventure, the first and only Southeast Asian open water marine park that offers sea lion and whale shows, attractions and an exhibit. Guests are also given the opportunity to play, swim, feed, pat and even dance with the whales through the whale encounter program.

Subic also offers other equally "wild" activities like shopping at the zone’s various duty-free stores, trying your luck at the casino and bingo tables and dancing all night at the hottest discos. There’s also good eating in Subic, with a wide range of choices from burgers and steaks to seafood grills.

For those who have to work, Eastgate Village Resort has a complete business center with conference hall for 120 persons, making it a suitable venue for corporate planning sessions, team building seminars or even small board meetings.

As Cherry discloses, "We’ve made Eastgate a most unique venue where business and pleasure can harmoniously exist."

So who says you have to go abroad for adventure?