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 in 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 storeys 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. Wow, I could not 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 are several cabanas around the place, usually near the cove pools and the beach — we went around to see Aquaria’s amenities. It turns out that the giant pool slide is located amid several cove pools. There’s 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 that 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 at a resort like Aquaria. My Filipino-French friend Alex Dieudonne of band Line of 7 and I ordered a refreshing the frozen margarita: it was perfect for the noonday 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 our group went back to our cabana but I could not wait to use that 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, you can already enjoy the world-class pool and the white sand, the clean, clear blue sea without having to book a flight or take 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 groups of friends, 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. Whoo! We could not 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.
When in such a beautiful place like Aquaria, we just have to take photos. So here I’m sharing some of the shots we took. Hopefully, you’d get an idea how awesome the place looks by looking at the background. These photos are going to be part of my best summer mementos.
Summer will last several more weeks, so I suggest you check out Aquaria for yourself to enjoy this season to the max. It’s going to be worth your while — hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
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For reservations and more information on Aquaria, call Landco Pacific Corp. at 836-5000.
