Burot Beach in Batangas: A Cheap Beach Trip

Dry season in the Philippines can be so stressful. Good thing there are many places near Manila to have a quick splash. One of those is the Burot beach in Calatagan, Batangas. When I heard Calatagan, I immediately thought of Mother Ricky Reyes' resort. Oh well, we don't have much moolah for a stay in that resort but marx organized a cheap and quick beach adventure to Burot beach. 

It was my first time to meet some of the PTB Bagets - marx, chino, joan, and elal plus kenny. The call time was 6 a.m. at the 24 hours branch of McDonald's MRT, Pasay Taft station. This is very convenient because it is very accessible to both MRT and LRT. We had a quick breakfast and headed to the bus terminal at the back of the fast food (just follow the path on the side). 

The queue was long and we were puzzled if this is the line we were supposed to take. And then manong taho told us that it is the only line for all Batangas bound bus. And then the Calatagan bus came, we were lucky to score the last few seats - that was around 8:00 am. There are also vans going to Calatagan at the back of Kabayan hotel on the other side of EDSA (which we took when we went back to Manila). The vans can go as early as 4:00 a.m. or until it is occupied.

We paid 193 pesos each for the aircon bus going straight to Calatagan. After 3 hours of sleep bus ride, we reached Calatagan's public market. We were really hungry so we ate on one of the eateries there. After that, we bought some food stuff and some booze for us to bring in the beach. 

We then scouted the perfect tricycle driver to bring us to ze beach. We found Kuya Cesar (09152244206) and another tricycle driver. The going rate to the beach is 150 pesos per way but we haggled up to 120 pesos. We also asked him to pick us up the next morning. It would be really hard to get out of the beach if we didn't do that.

me no touch it

Going to the beach  was a normal barrio scene up until the heavily guarded area. Apparently, it was the gated area of SM properties. So the rumors are true, SM bought the said property (it's really big) and will be developed very soon. Kuya Cesar told the guards that we were tourists and were there to spend the night on the beach. He let us in. We paid an entrance fee of 120 pesos each for our overnight stay.

perfect spot for emo moments

can we please define rocky beach?

We looked for the perfect spot to pitch our tent and then we bummed the whole day. We had a nipa hut-cabana and a bamboo table and bench - they didn't charge us for using that. We had "neighbors" that day. They were in a big group of I guess 20-ish something. There are no cottages or sleeping areas that you can rent so you can either bring a tent (thanks marx) or sleep on the sand under the blanket of stars. The toilet and bathroom? Are there any? Hahaha. It was the most filthy thing I've ever seen. Bleh. And also, they don't provide electricity. Good thing we had flashlight to clearly see the booze. Hmmmm...

high tide or low tide?

thanks marx

Oh, the beach? It was calm and the sunset was beautiful. There are starfishes and other sea creatures. There were not much rocks on the seabed (only seaweeds). As for me, I didn't wait that long to take a dip in the calm beach. It was very refreshing. We saw how great the potential of the beach when we roamed around it. We looked for the perfect spot to capture the nice sunset. For a minute or so, all of us were just in awe while watching the sun kiss the horizon. Solid moment there. 

ano daw?

mukhang bagets pa naman di ba?! hmmm...

solido

Well I guess the best part was when we boozed up. We were covered with millions of stars and the sweet summer night's cold air. We were sharing random stuff about our lives. I was the oldest one in the bunch and they were the happy-go-lucky youngsters who were just there to party - or so I thought. Little by little (and with no hesitations), we got to know more about each other's lives. After that night, I learned that maturity doesn't really come with age. It is subjective.  I admire those kids (oh I mean those yuppies). Basta what happened in Burot, stays in Burot. 

ha?!

oh eh ano?!

We didn't spend more than a thousand pesos on this trip but really, can you put a price on your experience? Nah...