Vacation | Manuel Uy Beach, Calatagan, Batangas

If you are looking for a short getaway to just chill and relax this summer, then Manuel Uy Beach is one of the answer.

With just 2-3 hours commute-away from Manila, you can have a relaxing experience in the beach by pitching your own tent or renting one and just do whatever. Lol!


But, I won't be helpful on giving information on how to commute as we took a different route.

This getaway has passed through so many rough times and plans kept on changing until 2 days before the date.

Our final itinerary:

We rode Grab from Santolan, Pasig city past 3:00 AM to Pasay terminal of vans bound to Balayan.

It is located behind Kabayan hotel. There are 2 lines of commuters there, one for Balayan and one for Calatagan and a lot has been lining up for Calatagan while vans are plenty for Balayan. The first trip was supposed to be at 4:00 AM but it arrived late. We were able to ride the second van and we departed at 4:54 AM. The fare is Php 180 per person.

We got off in Tuy around 7:05 AM where Clarisse's family lives.

Random photo along the way.

We left some of our belongings at their house and we drove to Calatagan na with some baon na nakulimbat sa bahay nila. (Teka, ngayon ko naalala hindi ko napapak yung share ko sa Milo!)

We stopped by the Calatagan market where we bought disposable spoons and forks and plates, charcoal, matchsticks, some snacks and Lechon manok, 5L water + ice cubes, soda.

They've got almost everything you need so if you want to travel light, you can just buy those things there.

Manuel Uy beach seemed to be partly hidden because all I see as we drove are mass of land. I didn't see any bodies of water.

Medyo malayo din siya from the entrance so it is not advisable to walk from there.

As we reached the post, we paid for the entrance fee, environmental fee and tent pitching fee at the counter. May kasama kaming isang bata, and she's free of charge.

It's already past 9:00 AM when we arrived and it's scorching hot!

Naglipat pa kami ng tent twice (mala-bayanihan sa pagbuhat) because the first spot we found was puro mga lalaking nag-iinuman na makukulit at madadaldal ang katabi namin and the second one naman ay hindi kami masyadong nalililiman ng puno.

This was our second spot. Photo taken from our final place's point of view.

Fortunately there's a group na nagpapack-up na on our left side so we took their spot where we finally settled.

Ngiting tagumpay! May mapagsasabitan din ng duyan!

I can describe our experience in Manuel Uy in one word: CHILL.

As in pure relaxation where all you do is eat while sound-tripping,

or just look at the beach and feel the breeze (we swam later on),

or take photos as you wait for the heat to cool a little bit,

or magkulitan muna to let out that stored energy

FLABS, YES! LET OUT THOSE FLABS AS WELL!!

OR JUST SLEEP.

DUYAN IS LIFE.

And man, I can say, the time is chill as well. Hahaha!

We've done so many things already and yet it haven't reached lunch time!

We swam past 12nn, este walk pala at tampisaw because the water is so shallow at walang ka-alon alon. Hahaha

We walked farther until water is chest-deep.

Yung feeling na parang ang tagal na namin sa dagat but as I checked the time, wala pang 12:30PM. Lol!

Tapos kain ulit after!

MGA BASANG SISIW. HAHAHA
ANO? KAYA PA? LUNCH TIME PA LANG. MAY HALF DAY PA KAYO. HAHAHA

WE RENTED THE TABLE+CHAIR AS WELL FOR PHP 250. IT'S MORE CONVENIENT THAN TO EAT
ON THE SAND.

Point to remember though, mag-ihaw na agad siguro kayo ng pagkain niyo. 😅

Kasi nasayang yung effort naming magpabaga ng uling because as we were about to grill the liempo, sira na yung karne, mabaho na. 😓

Okay din naman ang facilities nila. Ang pinakaharap is yung grilling station at lakad ka pa paloob ay hilera ang shower room at toilet (magkahiwalay ang male sa female).

So ayun, balik kulitan na lang ulit kami hanggang matapos ang day tour namin.

We were supposed to avail the boat tour, but right after lunch time, nag-umpisa nang mag-low tide.

Since according to reviews, Starfish island at sandbar lang ang pupuntahan, at mukha naman nang sandbar ang paligid, we didn't continue with it.

We just continued with storing memories with photos habang bumababa ang tubig. 😁

We returned to Balayan to have our dinner, enjoy some karaoke session and to wash up na rin and dropped by Tuy to get our things and then we traveled to Cavite to stay for the night.

Oh diba? Kakaiba ang itinerary namin. Haha

But overall, it was a relaxing experience.

With this age where people rush into so many things, moving into fast-paced environment every day, it's good to have that quality time to relax and chill and feel the moment and be aware with the present.

We always feel that time seems to fly fast, but with Manuel Uy where it feels like it slows down, it's a good breather.😄

And in summary, we spent Php 1,000 each for this whole experience.

(I'm gonna contact our treasurer, Jussel for the summary as yet. Lol)

~~~~

P.S.
Additional photos which I can't help but share! 😂