do not underestimate mystic island, siquijor EVER!!!
a couple of friends and i went to siquijor holy week of last year (april 5-8, 2012). we went there without reserving a room to stay. we figured that siquijor isn't as popular as the other beach destination in the country. the mystery and supposed mysticism surrounding this beautiful island has made few people tentative about visiting siquijor.
in fact, i had a hard time convincing people i know to visit the place. with the idea that siquijor isn't a usual travel spot, we figured it would be easy to find a place to stay while there. boy, were we wrong. BIG TIME WRONG as most of the resorts/inns were fully booked!!!
from the siquijor pier, we hailed a tricyle to take us to san juan, siquijor. while we didn't make reservations, i was confident that we could easily find a place to stay in siquijor. top two on my list were coco grove beach resort and coral cay resort. both these resorts were fully booked when we arrived. thus, we asked the driver to take us to any resort he knows of. he took us to a couple more places, until we settled in here:
we settled here, because we were already tired from finding a place to stay. plus, the tricyle driver started grumbling. prior to finding this place, we somehow half-agreed to just settle in the open-cottage in one of the resorts (forgot the name). the woman owner was so accommodating to us. she just regretted that there weren't any more available space in her resort, saved for the open-cottage. we begged her that should we be unable to find a place to stay, we'd go back there and take up her offer to stay at the open cottage and pay 100 pesos per night.
well, we didn't go back as we decided to stay at hambilica resort. most of the resorts in the area were actually cliffside resorts. most don't have beach fronts. while hambilica has its own beach, it's not exactly the white beach you often see advertised. nevertheless, it beats the other resorts and for a non-swimmer like me, it more than suffice. besides, the owner was also very welcoming and warm.
below are a few pictures of the resort. pardon the poor quality, as i still don't have a kick ass camera. i'm too cheapskate to buy the really, really great one.
| from hambilica: road to its left and right |
| left: resort's entrance / right: parking area |
we occupied the second floor of this structure
PhP1,800 per night |
| the room's double bed / fan room / shower / no breakfast |
| the room's two single beds. the door (dark frame beside the beds) opens to a balcony |
| including the benches in the balcony, this room can actually accommodate 6 people |
| arboretum / huts. the whole hambilica compound has several huts with tables and chairs where guests can dine or just chitchat. |
| duyans. the place has several hammocks for guests' use |
overall, the beach in this area isn't that grand. but like i said, in this part of san juan, siquijor - most of the resorts are by the cliffs. so, it's an advantage that hambilica has its own. at the time of visit, the resort was short on staff. thus, they couldn't prepare food immediately. anyhow, you can actually cook your own food here. just below our room, there's a dirty kitchen which guests can use. except for the beach, i don't mind coming back here. the room is very spacious, which should benefit people traveling in groups. also, the place is walking distance to capilay spring park.
NOTE: for white sand beach, head to salagdoong beach in maria and kagusuan beach (southeastern part of island. unfortunately, i haven't been to the latter, but google it and the pictures of this amazing, deserted beach are amazing.)
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