#LakbayTinay Goes to Crystal Beach

DISCLAIMER: This is a blog about my overnight stay at Crystal Beach and also a no-holds-barred review. No sugar-coating of anything, just pure expression of how I felt about my stay. My comments are not hateful comments, I do not intend to bash, I am just being honest.

The photos here are not mine but from my officemates: Ma'am Sha, Ma'am Cess, and Jo :)

My officemates and I had planned our Crystal Beach outing since, what, last December.  One of my officemates saw a shared album on Facebook and the place looked promising. So, we inquired and decided to go to Crystal Beach on February 25, since it is a holiday here in the Philippines that day (EDSA Revolution Commemoration*).

There were supposed to be five of us, just like when we were in Tanay. But then one of my officemates got sick last Christmas and had to be operated on, so she could not join us in our lakwatsa. The four of us were supposed to sleep in the staffhouse, so that we could all go to the bus terminal together. But then one of my officemates could not make it to the staffhouse for some personal reasons ;) and my other officemate said that she would be nearer the bus terminal if she's from her house, so I decided too that I will not sleep at the staffhouse and just go to the bus terminal from my house early morning of February 25 (it would be less hassle for me since I will not need to bring extra clothes and the ride would be easier).

Check in at Crystal Beach is at 2 PM, so we decided to meet at Victory Liner in Caloocan at 8 AM and, since there is an hourly bus going to Iba, Zambales, leave at 9 AM. I came up with a challenge of sorts that whoever comes after 8 AM, she will treat us with breakfast. Unfortunately, no one came late :( Good thing I had breakfast at home, so did one of my officemates, and the other two ate at McDonald's near Victory Liner.

Day 1

A ticket going to San Narciso, Zambales costs PhP 277.00 (PhP 272.00 is the actual ticket, PhP 5.00 is for the travel insurance worth PhP 25,000.00). We thought we'd have to wait until 10 AM for our bus since there were quite a number of people waiting in the terminal. However, upon purchase of the tickets, when we asked a bus driver when our bus will be leaving, he said that we could already board the Iba-bound bus (yas!) The bus left at 8:22 AM (I texted my mom when we left so I know the exact time :)).

The bus we rode was via NLEX-San Fernando-Dinalupihan-Olongapo-Gapan route (I'm not sure if there is an Iba-bound via SCTEX bus). We arrived in San Fernando, Pampanga at 9:53 AM, but the first and only real stop over that we had was at Double Happiness in Lubao, Pampanga at 11:03 AM. Double Happiness is solely for Victory Liner buses, but it also caters for private vehicles. There is a pasalubong shop there, which sells Kapampangan specialty food like Sasmoan (pronounced as sas-mo-wan) polvoron, sapmpaguita-shaped puto seko, chicharon, etc. There is also two eateries there, but they sell the same stuff. Their barbecue tastes sooo good and a stick only costs PhP 35.00! I remember my grandmother would buy several sticks of  barbecue when she would visit us #memories. There is also a stall which sells other local delicacies - bibingka, puto, kutsinta, silvanas, etc.

We finally arrived in San Narciso at around 1:48 PM. The landmark is San Sebastian church. Upon getting off the bus, we rode a tricycle going to Crystal Beach. The fare is PhP 15.00 per person and the ride is quite far. According to the driver, the distance was about 2 and half kilometers.

Outside the resort, there are two houses which is also a carinderia and offers tents for rent. At the reception area, we paid for our remaining balance (we had our own tent, so we paid PhP 550.00 per person, 50% of which was deposited). After paying, we went to the campsite where we setup the tent. The place was big! There are three campsites (we stayed at Campsite 3) but the communal shower and restrooms was located in Campsite 1, behind the bonfire area. The only downside was the campsites are a bit of a walk to the beach. I imagined sleeping really near the shore, but noooo. :( However, on our second day, I saw a lone tent set up near the shore, which made us regret not setting up nearer to the beach.

I wanted to hit the waves the moment we get there, but my officemates wanted to rest for a bit. It was my first time to use a tent, and I was shocked at how hot it is inside. I wondered how people in Crystal Beach were able to sleep inside with their tents closed.

It was cloudy when we got there, which was okay since I won't (and didn't) get tanned much.

It was a bit of walk to get to the beach. I have to admit it was my stupidity, but we stayed at the no-go area of the beach (#facepalm) There was a notice board stating which flags signifies to swim, surf, and no-go areas. I did not understand correctly which part was the swim area and we ended up swimming in the no-go (shunga much, Tinay?)

Perhaps because we were there in the afternoon, or maybe because we were in the no-go area, but the waves were literally crashing around us. They were big and quite angry, but they were not as big and as angry as the waves in Sariaya, Quezon. The sand bed was quite rocky in in this no-go area and it was quite scary to go far into the sea because of the uneven sand bed.

To make the long story short, I did not enjoy much the beach on our first day. But it could be because of many factors: we staying at the no-go area, my period was due and I was ups and downs, the waves were to big to be enjoyed, blah, blah, blah. So, after having my fill with the sea, I left my officemates and showered off. About an hour later, they showered off, too and we were hungry and ready to devour our dinner.

There is a PhP 250.00 consumable included in the PhP 550.00 payment. At the reception, we were informed that we could consume that at the restaurant, bar, or snack bar. But we could also choose to add PhP 35.00 to the consumable voucher so that we could avail their buffer breakfast. We decided to spend the consumable voucher for the next day and just use our own pocket money for our dinner.

Now this is the major glitch in Crystal Beach. We went to their restaurant at around 7:00 PM, where we selected sinigang (PhP 220.00) and sisig (PhP  205.00), plus rice for our dinner. We were informed that it would take 20 to 25 minutes for the food to be served to us. But the food arrive at 8:03 PM. ONE FREAKIN' HOUR! For a regular person, this is not good. But for a hungry person, this is unacceptable. Can you just imagine how four hungry persons would react to this! My gulay, words are not enough to express our frustration.

To add insult to the injury of getting our food late, the tastes of our food were meh. The sisig was NOT CRISPY AT ALL! But the taste was kinda okay. But the sinigang! My gulay! There were only four chunks of pork meat, four half thin slices of eggplant, several stalks of kangkong, no kamatis, no gabi, and watery and warm soup. The soup tasted as if it was made of pure sinigang mix only. Carinderia sinigang tastes better, carinderia sinigang have gabi, and carinderia sinigang only cost no more than PhP 50.00 per order. For PhP 220.00, I expect more acceptable taste.

In the end, our hungers were satisfied (I was full, to be honest), but our palates extremely disappointed. We wished we just had our dinner outside the resort and ate at the carinderia where the tinola had many sili leaves and seemed to be newly cooked and we were sure that we'd have more than a piece of chicken.

Disappointed, we head back to our tent but we heard the live "band" so we went there. Did you notice the quotation marks on the word band? Well, it was because it was not really a band. When you imagine a band, you would think of a lead singer, two guitars, a drum set, sometimes, even an organ, right? Not in Crystal Beach! It was just a two-man show! There is this guy who plays the guitar and sings, and there is another guy who plays the beat box (at one point the beat box guy played the guitar and sang, but the other guy did not play the beat box). The guitar guy sang well, but I was expecting a BAND, not a jamming session, so, disappointment kicked in again. Oh, there was a fireworks display during the first set.

After two sets, the fire dancers did their thing. When I heard that there will be a fire dance, I immediately thought of Boracay. Nope, I haven't been there, but I've seen videos of fire dances made their, so I was expecting the same thing... and perhaps the audience were too. The fire dance was okay, but it was not a 'WOW' performance. The fire dancers were also the employees of Crystal Beach and well, they were not professional fire dancers.

So, we went back to the tent, with me brimming with disappointment. #sadnu

Day 2

The following day, I set my alarm at 5:30 AM because I planned on shooting a video for my Youtube channel. However, there was no light yet at 5:30 AM, so I slept for a while again. I think I fully woke up at around 6:15 AM or something, but there was still not enough light. I left the tent already so that I could clean my face, brush my teeth, change clothes, and prepare for my shoot. That was actually a good move, since after getting ready, the sun was already up and light was good enough for my video. (TEASER: my video is a workout video #feelingera)

I finished shooting early, I think it was even before 7 AM, since we went to the restaurant at 7 AM. That was when another waiting game happened. We first had to go to a line to pay for the additional PhP 35.00, which was slooow, before we get our plates. Good thing it was not as tedious as the previous night (we only waited for 30 minutes). Breakfast buffet was open from 6 to 9 AM.

There were green salad bar (though no ceasar salad dressing), mini pancakes, bread, cereals (their Fruit Loops kinda cereal was not crispy), room temperature milk (which one guest poured in her cup for a morning milk), fried rice, uber salty chicken adobo, super sweet tocino, fried bangus, tasteless scrambled egg, pancit, and lugaw (which I did not try). They have a coffee and tea station, but I did not try them, either. I was not completely disappointed with my breakfast.

After eating, we returned to our tent to rest for a bit and start packing up (our checkout is at 12 NN, extensions would cost us PhP 300.00 per hour). Then we went to the beach, this time, we went to the correct swimming area.

The sea was calmer (maybe because we were at the right area) and I had the chance to go farther into the sea. I did not brave going very far, but I went chest deep, where there are also other people swimming. The sky was cloudy, so even if it was 9 AM, it was not hot.

I was enjoying the sea when 10 AM came and we had to prepare for our check out. It was sad for me because I wanted to stay for a bit longer... oh well.

There was a man selling souvenir and I bought a surf board magnet with the worlds Crystal Beach, Zambales. By 11:30 AM, we already checked out and headed back to Manila. There were no buses going straight to Manila from San Narciso, so we rode a bus (Victory Liner, incidentally) going to Olongapo City, where we went our separate ways. One rode a bus to Baguio, one rode a bus back to Caloocan, and the two of us rode a bus to Pasay.

We made a stop over (again) at Double Happiness, where I bought my mom barbecue and Sasmoan polvoron. Then off to EDSA we went.

FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT CRYSTAL BEACH:

To be frank, I think Crystal Beach was just okay. I do not think it was special, I mean, I've been in a few beaches, and Crystal Beach looked just like those beaches. It was not white sand, the water was not crystal clear (I thought it would be because of its name)... Maybe the reason why it is a tourist destination is because of the organized camping.

Would I return, well, I'd like to give it another chance. There are cottages for rent, should you not like camping out. Also, Crystal Beach offers other activities like island hoping to Capones and Camara Island, Anawangin Cove, waterfalls tour, kayaking, and of course, surfing lessons. Should I return, I'd like to try these activities. Though I'm wary about the island hopping because the boats parked by the shore, which I am not should whether these will be used for the island hoping, seemed small. I'd also like to try their food and shake on the snack bar.

It would be advisable to go to Crystal Beach using a private car, so you could bring more stuff like grill or butane stove, portable electric fan with light, and other camping stuff. Also, it would be more enjoyable to go to Crystal Beach with a bigger group of friends so you could play volleyball, basketball, billards, and pingpong. You could also bring a guitar to make your own jamming sessions.

Night swimming is practically impossible for Crystal Beach because there are no lights by the shore, so it is completely dark at night.

Would I recommend Crystal Beach, yes, why not. This was my experience, which could be a lot different than yours.

So, did I enjoy my stay at Crystal Beach... I enjoyed my second day more than the first. I wish I had more time and cash to explore whatever Crystal Beach had to offer. But in my overnight stay, I got the chance to travel, see a new place, feast my eyes on the beauty of nature, enjoy the sea (especially on my second day), and just relax.

Budget Breakdown (My Budget: Php 2,000.00)

My LRT fare was not in cash because I had stored value card

Things to Bring (kinda what I brought)

• tent (if you don't want to rent from Crystal Beach or if they said that they have no tents available)
• beddings (sleeping bag or comforter, anything to sleep on because the sand is not a comfortable place to sleep on, pillow is optional since you could lay your head on your bag or clothes, blanket is optional)
• personal toiletries (soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.)
• swim wear
• change of clothes (bring jacket, socks, and jogging pants/pajama bottoms just in case it is cold or you chose to sleep by the shore)
• slippers (or you could just be in your flipflops or waterproof sandals when you travel to Crystal Beach)
• waterproof pouch for your phone
• power bank (you could leave your phones to charge at the reception, I just don't know if how much)
• camera
• selfie stick
• pocket money (2k is a tight budget, but you could manage. If you want to splurge a bit, 3k to 3.5k would be okay)
• food and water (if you don't want to cook, snack food would be okay - like biscuits, chips, etc.)
• fan (hand fan or those small battery operated ones)
• camping stuff (these are only recommended when you have a car or if there are many of you who could bring the stuff) like portable fan, flash light (though most smartphones and power banks have one), grill, food to grill, rice, kitchen stuff (plates, cups, forks, spoons, cooking stuff)

Day 1 of our stay at Crystal Beach!!

Day 2 of our stay at Crystal Beach!!

Let's be in one big happy family!

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*I know, given my participation in the #MarcosNOTaHero rallies, I should have participated in the rally for the #EDSA31. But then desire to travel came, so...