our La Luz getaway

 pre’s panoramic shot of the resort

We’re blessed with clear skies that Sunday morning on our way to our destination. My best p’re and I had our beach getaway at La Luz Beach Resort for an overnight stay. It’s been two years since we’ve been together so we’re very excited. It’s not our usual hang-outs- malling or spending the night talking along Baywalk and cozing around the bars in Malate.

Since we’re commuting, we’ve chosen the route from Lipa City. From the jeepney terminal at Poblacion, we rode a jeep bound for San Juan. It took us almost an hour of travel until we got to the town proper. We dropped off near the jeep terminal again, this time bound for Hugom. The trip’s kinda uncomfortable because it’s packed with goods the locals bought. And it took us an hour which should only take 40  mins. because apparently since La Luz is the end point, we had to take re-routing for those passengers who live in the barangays before Hugom. By the time we’re on our drop-off point, we’re tired already.  Needless to say, we’re surprised to be informed that we still had to walk to reach La Luz. And walking we did, passing through a neighborhood. And alas, we reached the gate and finally felt relieved when the guard ushered us in. After registration, we’ve met by a resort staff (wasn’t able to ask his name!) and he briefed us of the resort rules and other pertinent information about the place. And the great thing was, though we reserved and paid for the annex room, they will have us stay at one of the premiere rooms! That’s because there were small no. of guests on that day (our accommodation was Sunday and Monday) and to have our utmost convenience, we’ve been offered a room upgrade without any additional charge!

Premiere Room

After taking our late lunch and paying our 50% balance at the resort’s office, we were accompanied to our room. It’s nice! Not only because we’ve been upgraded but it’s roomy. The room is actually good for up to 4 persons. We settled for a while and arranged our things. Afterwards, we’re off to the beach with both our cameras to capture the place. But pre’s gadget is a DSLR so I let him do almost all the clicking! (But the pics below are shots from my digicam! :p) The place is picture-perfect!

the rocks at the end of Hugom stretch

the sea during high tide

the resort, shot was taken at the rock point

The whole afternoon on our first day, p're and I practically took shots of the place while appreciating it much and had meaningful conversations aside from him giving me tips on how a DSLR camera works. By the time we waited for the sunset (which we were not able to see, sigh!),and get disappointed a bit, we decided to go back to our room and freshened up for dinner. The set-up of the buffet was nice and they serve really good food.

The resort provides a bonfire at night which makes the ambiance all the more relaxing. I was contented lying on one of the beach beds just stargazing while p’re took shots of the bonfire applying effects on the camera. The sound of the waves was inviting so we decided to take a dip after but hesitated and just walked along the shore. The sand in the Laiya and Hugom stretch is coarse but it didn’t matter. The coastline is beautiful for me to begin with so walking on it barefoot was no big deal.

We ended the night with closing our conversation for the day. We never ran out of things to talk about! And agreed that we’d go kayaking in the morning.  The one we forgot was agreeing of seeing the sunrise!  Anyhow, after breakfast the following day, we headed to the kayaking area to rent one. The rent for an hour is P200 but the staff assigned told us that we can use the kayak for as long as we want to for us to enjoy it fully! Off we went to the sea, while I was so excited I can’t help but giggle at first. After a few minutes, I got into my senses and seriously paddle. We had FUN! It’s actually my first time to kayak and it’s pretty amazing seeing those fishes and paddling through the waves. But while we enjoy kayaking, we decided to swim and see the fishes closer. We’re wearing our life-vests actually since the beach at San Juan is quite deep and unpredictable. So it’s safe to wear one. We swam for almost two hours (my darker skin was proof of that) and the reason why we decided to stop was the bites we got from we don’t know what. But still we immensely enjoyed being at sea!

Our check-out time is 11am and we’re still on time. We took pictures again after packing our things, somehow trying to capture the place with our hearts for the last time because we both knew it has already become special. La Luz made our getaway possible. And it sure was kind to us, because of:

• room upgrade
  
• accommodating and friendly staff
  
• extended use of kayak
  
• the place itself being peaceful and clean
  
• the calmness it brought us
  
• good service in general 

P’re and I left the resort light and happy! Considering it’s our first adventure, travel-wise, it has been successful and we promised each other it’s only the beginning of yet another!

 Thank you La Luz! :)