Staying in Manila for a couple of days and planning a day trip to the outskirts of Mania? There are plenty of things to do around Manila. A popular day trip spot is Subic Bay which is located 160 KM north of Manila. The driving distance between Manila and Subic Bay is 2.5 hours. Subic and Olangapao region has plenty to offer for solo travellers and families. Here are my trip notes from an interesting trip to Subic Bay.
Manila to Subic Bay and Angeles City
Driving from Manila to Subic Bay
I booked a private car with local tour operator Carlos who is very well informed about the local places of interest. We left Makati at 5 am in the morning to beat the morning traffic. The freeway condition is great once you step out of Manila and it is very enjoyable to drive with plenty of open agricultural land on both sides of the road. You can see the Mountains from the distance.
Subic Bay has plenty of waterfront resorts. Public beaches, however, are limited. The way to enjoy a day in Subic is to book the resort for a day. This includes access to the room, private beach area and other facilities like bars and restaurants on-premises. On a hot and sunny day, it will not be possible to spend all day at a beach. There it is highly recommended to book a resort in advance.
I decided to spend a day at Buloy beach. Access to Baloy Beach costs around 50 Pesos. If you plan to book a resort, it costs around 1500 pesos per day. Finding a place to park a car is a bit of a challenge if you have not booked a resort. I decided to spend a couple of hours, therefore, paid 50 Pesos to a local person to park my car in front of their property.
What can I do at Baloy Beach?
I explored the beachfront of Wild Orchid Barefeet Resort, with a nice waterfront private beach and covered bar and dining area. It is a great spot to enjoy cold drinks on a hot day while enjoying the activity on the beach. The local tour operators will approach you with a 1-hour boat tour with snorkelling 1500 Pesos.
You can also rent a bloating bar and enjoy some cool drinks while floating the bay. Concerts and live music performances are held at night time over the weekends. Other Resorts include:
- Blue Rock Resort
- 1010 Accommodation
- Embassy Beach Resort
- Kokomo Hotel
- Subic Waterfront Resort
The beachfront area is quite long and there are plenty of things to do including water scooters, snorkelling, swimming and boating tours. Keep an eye on the weather as it can get very hot in the middle of the day. The beach area gets very lively over the weekend where families congregate in the bamboo huts while enjoying bbq seafood and cold beer.
Note: Do not forget to carry sunscreen, hats, water and swimming wear to the beach.
What are the other places of interest in Subic Bay?
Another interesting find in the area was Samba Bluewater Resort. This resort lies on the way from Subic City to Buloy Beach and cannot be missed because of large Billboards and Blue painted entrance. You can buy a ticket to enter the resort which offers a play area for kids, cottages, wooden shacks, a sitting area on the beach and a floating Island.
The entry fee is 250 Pesos for adults and children. I highly recommend this location for a day excursion with kids. Here are some interesting pictures from the visit to the resort:
Travelling from Subic Bay to Angeles City
I always wanted to explore some local food and nightlife of Angeles city after watching a documentary by Anthony Bourdain. The driving time from Subic to Angeles is approximately an hour. Angeles is a mid-size city and very famous for Sisig (pork dish on a hot plate).
By the time we reached Angeles, it was around 2 pm and we decided to have dinner at a popular local restaurant "Susie's Cuisine". I ordered some of the most popular dishes including Chicken adobo and chicken Tocino. The food was quite affordable and the taste was great. The restaurant offers a wide range of desserts made with rice and coconut milk. I tried two very nice desserts and packed one for the way.
The local shopping malls are full of people, but the quality of wares are average catering to local people. We decided to explore some local attractions in Angeles including some old cathedrals.
Nightlife and Clubs in Angeles City
Fields Avenue is in the heart of nightlife with plenty of nightclubs, bars and strip clubs. This a great place to explore if you are into adult entertainment as the whole street lights up after the sunset.
Some of the most popular bars on Fields Ave are Fantasy, Dolls House and Camelot.
International Class clubs includes SkyTrex Disco, The Mansion and Hacienda SuperClub.
Most popular hotels in Fields Avenue includes
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