Overnight Stay at Kaliraya Surf Kamp

Weeks ahead, Jem and I had been planning on going to Potipot Island in Zambales for an overnight stay. We were supposed to do this during the super long weekend but since we no longer had the budget and time, we decided on roughing it out on nearby provinces instead.

I was wearing shorts, I swear :))

Hours before our departure, we were planning on leaving on a Sunday night, we scoured the internet for resorts and beaches we can visit for the night. We called various resorts ranging from Batangas to Bataan, and even considered Pangasinan! However they were all fully booked :(

A bit disappointed, we took a break and thought of another plan. Instead of beaches, why not go for other places who offers camping grounds? We immediately looked for places in Antipolo and Rizal but still not one resort can accommodate our immediate trip.

LUCKILY! I remembered this place I sent to Jem months ago which is just located in Laguna. After minutes of searching, I finally found the blog I was looking for and immediately looked for the official Facebook page of Surf Kamp.

One side of the grounds of Surf Kamp

I called the number posted on their page and was immediately answered by Kuya Marco. He was very kind and accommodating, answering all of my questions and even provided instructions on how to get to their place by commuting.

After happily confirming that we'll be dropping by the next morning, I immediately told Jem of the great news! We decided that since Laguna is just 2-3 hours away from Manila, we'll just be leaving at 4:00 AM.

GOING THERE

As instructed, and read on various websites, we went to HM Transport Terminal in Cubao to catch the Sta. Cruz, Laguna bound bus.

HM Transport Cubao Terminal (image grabbed from here)

We told the konduktor to drop us off at Pagsawitan and paid PHP 140 for the fare (it's actually PHP 140.25 but the konduktor no longer asked for the change hehe).

We slept for the most part of our trip so I wasn't sure how long was the ride (plus, I forgot my watch at home #sad). Once we heard the driver shout "Pagsawitan", we immediately got off the bus and asked help to get our ice box from the storage area.

We were approached by two kind tricycle drivers and asked us where we were going. We told them we need to get on a jeep bound to Lumot. They informed us that jeeps plying that route are scarce so it's better to wait at the market instead. We agreed to be brought to the market since we still need to buy a couple of things and because they were very insistent HAHA (they also offered to take us directly to Surf Kamp but the rate was PHP 300, if you haggle they can lower it down to PHP 250; you can consider this too if you're hurrying).

We paid PHP 50 for the ride and was dropped off at the jeepney terminal. Jem then took off to buy some ice for our beer :> Unfortunately though, we missed the first jeep since Jem took long. We waited for another 20 minutes before the next jeepney arrived.

We boarded the jeep along with the other passengers who brought a lot, and I mean A LOT, of stuff and told the driver to drop us off Surf Kamp. The fare was PHP 34.

THE PLACE

The place is a bit easy to miss since their signage is small but nevertheless, almost all the locals know where it is. If you're going to visit Surf Kamp, simply keep a lookout for the Japanese Garden. It's 1 Km away from that place (they're on the left side of the road).

After getting off of the jeep, you'll just need to walk a short 200-300 meters to get to their entrance.

When we arrived, we were immediately greeted by Kuya Marco who was standing by the mini sari-sari store by the entrance. He simply told us to choose where we want to set-up our tent and went off to tend for the other campers.

Their grounds were vast and you can pitch your tent anywhere. You can even pitch it beside your car! Dogs and other pets are also allowed in Surf Kamp so we saw cute little furry fellows enjoying themselves too.

Since we weren't really planning on doing some water activities, we decided to head out to check the Japanese Garden we passed by on the way to Surf Kamp. Before that, we were approached once again by Kuya Marco to settle our bill and he also invited us to use some of their for-rent kayaks (PHP 500/hour). We paid a total of PHP 500 for the PHP 200/person entrance fee and PHP 100 tent pitching fee.

After that, we were out of Surf Kamp to test our stamina!

On the way to Japanese Garden! (I ran to the side immediately since there was an approaching car!)

The 1 Km walk seemed to take forever because of the heat and the winding road. Nevertheless, we trudged on until we reached the Japanese Garden.

We paid PHP 20 each for the entrance fee and on we went on our adventure! We immediately noticed that we were the only people who came in without a car so there was that :))

Here are some of the pictures we took:

The place was HUGE! We honestly weren't able to finish going around because of the heat and how tired and hungry we were. We left the place sometime around 12 in the afternoon and dreaded the fact that we still have to walk back to Surf Kamp under the blazing heat of the sun. Luckily, a tricycle driver offered us a ride for only PHP 30 hehe.

We asked to be dropped off along the main road since we saw a carinderia (typical pricing, PHP 60 or less per meal) nearby. We ate our lunch before heading back to camp.

We decided to clean up before lazying for the rest of the afternoon. The CR and shower are clean but there are times that water dries out, so better time your showers early so as to not line up with other campers!

Jem and I decided to remove the roof of our tent during our siesta so as to let the strong, cool winds enter our tent.

#SELFIE

By late afternoon, we headed out again to roam around the grounds of Kuya Marco.

When it got dark, we asked Kuya Marco if we could use one of the cottages while we eat our dinner. He gladly agreed and simply instructed us to clean after ourselves. After dinner, we had a few shot before calling it a night. Too bad the skies were very cloudy during the night of our stay, we weren't able to get to see some stars.

FYI: there is little to no light during the night so make sure to bring your flashlights or emergency lights!

We woke up around 6 in the morning (we had a total of 9 hours of sleep, the most we had for the past couple of weeks, or even months) and lazed some more while sitting at one of the unoccupied cottages.

Other campers swimming on the lake; they were pretty far from the shore but still the water was a bit shallow

By 11:00 AM, we fixed our stuff and hit the road by 12 in the afternoon. We were instructed that there are jeeps along the main road going back to Sta. Cruz. Unfortunately though, they were very few that we waited for more than 30 minutes! When a jeep finally stopped in front of us, Jem had to hang on for his dear life while I squat inside the jeep HAHA.

We thought that we will be dropping off at Sta. Cruz market so we paid PHP 34 each, little did we know that HM Transport Terminal is simply along the way of the main road before the town market.

We boarded the Cubao-bound bus and it immediately left while waiting for not more than 10 minutes. This time we paid PHP 140.50 each, I guess because we had a .25 balance on our previous ride HAHA

-------------------------------------------------

TRAVEL EXPENSES

Bus from Cubao to Pagsawitan - PHP 140.25/each

Tricycle to Sta. Cruz market - PHP 50/2 = PHP 25/each

Jeep from Sta. Cruz to Surf Kamp - PHP 34/each

Entrance Fee - PHP 200/each

Tent Pitching Fee - PHP 100/2 = PHP 50/each

Food Expenses (depends on how much you eat and drink hehe) = PHP 500/2 = PHP 250/each

Japanese Garden Entrance (side trip) - PHP 20

Tricycle back to Surf Kamp (from Japanese Garden) - PHP 30/2 = PHP 15/each

Jeep from Surf Kamp to Pagsawitan (could go lower, ask the driver to drop you off at HM Terminal) - PHP 34/each

Bus from Sta. Cruz to Cubao - PHP 140.25/each

Total Expenses = PHP 908.50/person!!!

All that for an overnight stay!

So if you're looking for nearby places just so you could relax and unwind, why not visit Surf Kamp at Laguna! I'm sure you'll enjoy the water activities the place offers and the calmness of Lake Caliraya!

You can contact Kuya Marco via

09266462362

09213521742