(All photos in this post belong to Michael Sabido.)
My summer officially kicked-off a few weeks ago with a big trip to the Isla del Fuego (Island of Fire), popularly known as Siquijor. I already posted my travel itinerary as well as the details of my expenses last week. Now, it is time for the review of the resort where we stayed for three nights - the Coral Cay Resort.
The resort is located in the town of San Juan, where many other resorts are located. Before booking this resort, we read a few reviews and we (especially my husband) were kinda apprehensive about this resort due to the mixed reviews online. Some love the resort while some simply don’t like the beach, the ambiance and one tourist even said that the resort’s bar/restaurant is not ideal for family dinners since it is "full of loud and drunk American sex tourists with their Filipino girlfriends hanging on their arms".
Well, different strokes for different folks. As for me, here is my opinion about the resort:
The room is spacious enough for four or even five people. The toilet/bath is okay as well except for the door which was kinda difficult to lock. I think changing the door knob will do the trick. The beds are okay too - not too soft and not hard either, however, the pillows are too thin and soft for my liking. The beds come with mosquito nets too. When we arrived at the resort, the mosquito net is already set up and everyday when we come back from our tours/activities, they are made up again along with the bed and used towels are replaced with new ones. The toilet/bath is cleaned everyday too.
Only one bedside table (placed in between two beds), is provided in this room. There is also one closet (with local version of safety deposit box at the bottom of the closet) and one shelf for everyone in the room to use. For its price, I really have nothing against this room except for one thing, the existence of rat/s. I haven’t actually seen one while we were there but our food supply can attest to it. On our first night, our leftover bread we placed in the shelf was attacked. During the second night, its the tablea (cacao) I bought from the souvenir shop. The tablea is placed in the plastic bag in the floor along with the souvenir shirts we bought. I am just thankful that they didn’t chew the shirts.
Coral Cay in Siquijor is affordable yet peaceful resort with lovely ambiance. If you want to chill by the beach and spend quiet times, be it alone or in a company friends, this resort can be your great choice. Around 15 minutes away from Siquijor Port, it has everything you need from swimming pool to gym, restaurant and transport service.
The beach may not be great in this part of town but a kilometer or so away is the awesome Paliton beach where you can enjoy the blue-green cool water teeming with fishes. You can have the beach all to yourself since it is not developed yet and not all tourists know about this heavenly spot.
Accommodation in Coral Cay may not be as cheap as backpacker’s rate but they have spacious fan rooms at an affordable price. If you are on a very tight budget, this resort may not be for you since foods can be expensive here as well. However if your budget is a bit stretchable, you may want to consider this resort.
Location:
Solangon, San Juan
Siquijor 6227
+63 919-269-1269
+63 908-896-5263
More posts about this trip:
Dumaguete - Siquijor Travel Itinerary and Expenses
My summer officially kicked-off a few weeks ago with a big trip to the Isla del Fuego (Island of Fire), popularly known as Siquijor. I already posted my travel itinerary as well as the details of my expenses last week. Now, it is time for the review of the resort where we stayed for three nights - the Coral Cay Resort.
The resort is located in the town of San Juan, where many other resorts are located. Before booking this resort, we read a few reviews and we (especially my husband) were kinda apprehensive about this resort due to the mixed reviews online. Some love the resort while some simply don’t like the beach, the ambiance and one tourist even said that the resort’s bar/restaurant is not ideal for family dinners since it is "full of loud and drunk American sex tourists with their Filipino girlfriends hanging on their arms".
Rooms
We stayed at Layo during the whole duration of our trip. Layo is a fan room (no air conditioner), with two double beds good for four people but can accommodate extra person for an additional charge. It also has a private toilet and bath with hot and cold shower. It also has a veranda where you can see the beach (although not facing it) and the swimming pool area. One night stay costs Php 1700 and Php 350 for extra person with beddings.The room is spacious enough for four or even five people. The toilet/bath is okay as well except for the door which was kinda difficult to lock. I think changing the door knob will do the trick. The beds are okay too - not too soft and not hard either, however, the pillows are too thin and soft for my liking. The beds come with mosquito nets too. When we arrived at the resort, the mosquito net is already set up and everyday when we come back from our tours/activities, they are made up again along with the bed and used towels are replaced with new ones. The toilet/bath is cleaned everyday too.
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| Beach front cottages |
Amenities and Services
The resort boosts of restaurant and bar, swimming pool and air conditioned and fan rooms. They also have gym as well as recreation area both for adult and kids, all free of charge for resort guests. The use of their kayak equipment is free too. They have a standby generator (power outage happens often in Siquijor, they say, but we didn’t experience any when we were there) and they offer transportation (van or jeepney) for a fee. If you’ve been traveling and need something to soothe your tired body, there is a massage parlor within the resort.Beach
A picture, they say, paints a thousand words. Despite the reviews about the “dirty” beach of the resort, we didn’t took it seriously since it looks really amazing in the pictures. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving. LOL! The beach is indeed “dirty” but not “full-of-trash” kind of dirty. During low tide, which is always in this part of the world, the beach is not ideal for swimming because the sand is too fine/powdery it looks like mud. Who would want to swim in a muddy water? If you really want to swim during low tide, you have to walk further away from the shore to find a perfect spot but I don’t think nobody has ever found the perfect spot yet since I haven’t found a single guest swimming. Maybe that is another reason why the reason has a swimming pool despite its close proximity to the beach.Restaurant/bar
The foods inside the resort taste okay but pricey. Breakfast meals (consisting of rice, eggs, bacon/hotdog/sausage, drink and fruit) are almost Php 300 per serve. Pasta is over Php 200 and main dishes especially fish and meat cost more than Php 350. They have generous serving though. |
| Coral Cay bar |
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| Coral Cay American breakfast (Php 295) |
Ambiance
The ambiance is great! The resort in general is safe and peaceful. Indeed, the bar/restaurant area may not be as quiet as other areas in the resort but there is nothing too loud like what others say in the reviews. Maybe we were lucky enough to be vacationing with some peaceful bunch. :D There are a few “chillaxing” area around the resort and I think it’s enough for everyone since the resort is not overcrowded.Staff
The staff is accommodating and friendly. There are instances when they replied late during the time we were inquiring and placing our reservation but in general, our transaction went smooth-sailing from check in to check out. We even cancelled the other room we already reserved since our friends decided to go back to Dumaguete ahead and they (resort) didn’t charge us even just a single peso.Conclusion
Coral Cay in Siquijor is affordable yet peaceful resort with lovely ambiance. If you want to chill by the beach and spend quiet times, be it alone or in a company friends, this resort can be your great choice. Around 15 minutes away from Siquijor Port, it has everything you need from swimming pool to gym, restaurant and transport service.
The beach may not be great in this part of town but a kilometer or so away is the awesome Paliton beach where you can enjoy the blue-green cool water teeming with fishes. You can have the beach all to yourself since it is not developed yet and not all tourists know about this heavenly spot.
Accommodation in Coral Cay may not be as cheap as backpacker’s rate but they have spacious fan rooms at an affordable price. If you are on a very tight budget, this resort may not be for you since foods can be expensive here as well. However if your budget is a bit stretchable, you may want to consider this resort.
Location:
Solangon, San Juan
Siquijor 6227
+63 919-269-1269
+63 908-896-5263
More posts about this trip:
Dumaguete - Siquijor Travel Itinerary and Expenses
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