Affordable White Beach Resort: Isla

This is a  story of our experience last January on my daughter’s birthday celebration. We ended up in an affordable white beach resort in Samal Island, where we never expected, the Isla Beach Resort.

The Plan

Our plan was to celebrate my daughter’s 2nd birthday in a beach resort in Samal Island. A month before the big day, I did research about affordable and beautiful resorts on the island. Names of all beaches came across my search.

I scanned them all and filter the names with my kind of budget and appearance according to pictures. I had two options: Ilihan and El Magic Beach Resort. But, for further evaluation, I dropped my first option because of the site which is very far from the port. Although the second option is good, I’ve also seen pictures which are really good in my eyes and the rates were in my budget. The site is near the port which is what I am looking for.

The Commuting Adventure

Because my family doesn’t have a car or a vehicle to drive to the place, we just rented a multicab for us to fetch and drop in the Sasa barge port and vice-versa. At around 6:00 AM, we started to put our food packs and bags in the vehicle. The rate costs Php450 because the distance is between 7.6 km or 4.7 miles from home to the sea port. The vehicle’s fee in the barge cost around Php600 two-way, and that would cost too much of the budget. We arrived at the port at around 7:00 AM.

In the barge, each of us pays Php10 except for my two-year-old daughter which is free. We are thirteen in the group. So, we just carried our backpacks and food. The ferry-boat or the barge was quite large and very much open. The smell of the sea touches every inch of your hair as it goes around. I can see the excitement in my family and I won’t deny I was in the same feet either.

The Sea Trip

The sea trip took about 7 minutes only. From the barge to the corner where the tricycle awaits for commuters was quite far. Or maybe because we had a lot to carry that’s why I thought it was really far. Anyways, in the tricycle terminal, two of them offered us Php75 each for the fee bringing us to the resort.

Here comes the El Magic Resort. My father jumps out in the tricycle to ask first the fees in the resort. The caretaker told us that the entrance fee is Php50 each and the cottage would cost Php800 plus the corkage. That would be around Php1450 plus the corkage. This is not our budget, this is not what the internet told us.

My father decided not to go with it. He told the tricycle driver to bring us to a resort which is much affordable. And this is where we meet the Isla beach resort.

The Affordable White Beach Resort: Isla

The ambiance was really simple. This place could be categorized as an affordable white beach resort in Samal. The place was really big, maybe about 2 hectares from the road to the beach. In the middle is the way to the beach. The cottages size from small to bigger ones. There are also benches and tables in front of the cottages. There are close cottages as well on both ends of the resort which cost Php400 each.

We choose the bigger one with a karaoke which cost only Php350, the entrance fee is Php15 each plus corkage. My mom paid Php635 all in. There is a corkage fee for soft drinks and the tent we brought. I just don’t know the exact prices for it.

How does it look?

 

The sand was white but not as white as the fine sands in Boracay. But the expectations were only enough with what we paid for it, right? There is a downside with the resort. I hate to say this but I have to anyway.

Downside:

As much as I was very happy with the place because it was not very crowded even during on a Saturday that we went there, there are things I am quite unimpressed.

1. The Beach Line – Along with the white sands is the waste from the sea and scraps like woods, sea grass, tree branches and even plastic bottles. These wastes make me sad that it came from the city itself. Moments later, a clean-up drive done by the utility people of the resort. They were about 20 people helping each other cleaning the area.
2. The Bathrooms – They are placed on both ends of the resort. Our cottage is in the middle of the resort, so I have to walk a hundred steps just to get there. The washrooms were not quite safe because of the way it is constructed with low doors and unsecured door locks. The water is also salty. It’s like there is no difference between the tap water and the sea water.

Other than its downsides, I could give a rate of 3.9 stars out of 5 as the perfect to this affordable white beach resort in Samal Island. To no compare to the higher-paying resorts along with it, the common denominator between them is that they all share the same beach line with different resort’s name, right?

My conclusions:

Because we were looking for a place which is really inexpensive, we ended with this resort without even checking it on the internet. I had fun that day and I know that my family and relatives were also happy on that day. There are a lot of space we used for there are vacant cottages, we were able to roam around. We were busy singing in the karaoke, enjoying our food, swimming around the beach and we adore the presence of our relatives who came by to celebrate with us.

The experience was quite satisfying in all. If you are looking for a place with lower rates here in Samal, the Isla resort is quite possible for one. I even heard in my Aunt that the adjacent resort is even cheaper than this. Well, that’s for the next time.

If you plan to have a swimming in an affordable white beach resort, take the time to do a research first, read the comments and reviews about it. Don’t hesitate to ask or call for inquiries on the resorts contact number so that when the time comes, you choose the best resort along with your budget and without regret at the end of the day.

If you have questions running through your mind, don’t hesitate to ask me. I am much willing to answer it with all my might. Enjoy everyone!

On my next post is also about our experience in a beach resort here in Davao and I will be sharing it soon.