Year 2016 in Review

We started the year at Isla Verde having guests from different part of the country, as well as from foreign lands in Europe, balikbayan from Middle East and guests from US.

They came  from Solo travellers to couples, in groups as backpackers, campers and family groups who spent their holidays, celebrating their birthdays, anniversaries and pre nuptials here.

We even had some guests who were stranded from typhoons Karen and Lawin and yet they still enjoyed their 'staycation' in our resort.

During the year there were University students from the University of the Philippines Diliman and Los Baños,  engineering students from Polythenic University of the Philippines, Sta.Mesa, tourism students from National Teacher College,  engineering students from Letran, Los Banos, law students from San Beda, San Sebastian and Arellano Universiy and an exchange student from France who spent their semestral break to chill and relax with friends and classmates on their stay here.

We also have valued return customers who keep coming bringing more friends and groups with them.

We are glad they enjoyed their stays with us and could experience snorkeling, as we are part of the marine sanctuary, boat tours around the island, and taking beautiful photos of Verde Island.  Some guests even went fishing while in a boat tour.

There are guests who climbed up to the top of Mt. Dagit- dagit to enjoy the views across Isla Verde and the Verde Island Passage.  We have the maliit na nalayag a rock formation shaped like a resting camel, which guests always like to climb to take photo of the sunset with them.

As we have a camping site at the back of the resort there were campers and backpackers who spent their overnight stay with a bonfire.

Even when its habagat we cant stop our guests from  coming.  They came to stay as they find our place their second home.  One think about Isla Verde is that it is pretty even if it is raining.

From the management and staff of Isla Verde Tropical Friendly Resort, we give thanks to you all for visiting our place.  We hope we see you back in 2017.

MABUHAY!!!!

Octoberbest

October is our rainy season and yet we still had visitors who came and enjoyed our place.  There are groups who came like Khristian group who celebrated their friends' birthday in their favourite shelter the first kubo which faces the sea.

This group loves snorkelling.  On their stay after having lunch, they rented a boat and took a boat tour around the island to find more place sfor diving and snorkelling.

When they got back  to the resort they were happy as this time they had more fun on their second visit to the island.

They're happier to have explored the marine park and found more different species under the sea and had a chance to capture the sunset

At night they asked me to grill the meat they brought and I made a special sauce for them and prepared a salad for dinner.

The thing I cannot forget from them is how they sang the Happy Birthday song to the tune of Ave Maria to their friends Camille and Marcus.

We also had some walk in French exchange students from Ateneo de Manila, Quezon City, Oscar and his friend, Jean who are studying in U.P. Diliman.

They are taking up Economics.  They stayed for couple of days as its their semestral break.  They enjoyed the snorkelling and enjoyed the Filipino dishes that I prepared to them and kept asking for more with each meal they had.

Because Jean, has a skin problem with the sun, and it began to hurt him a lot, after 3 days he asked Oscar to go home.  But they were both happy and enjoyed their stay in our resort.

As we had so many holidays and typhoons last October, guests keep coming.  Some stay for overnight just to chill, relax and be with their friends for a short period of time for bonding.  Guests say they think of our resort as getaway, their second home as well as their hideaway.

We had some guests stranded from typhoons Karen and Lawin and yet they still had fun snorkelling and when the weather was cold, they enjoyed relaxing with their loved ones in bed.

More guests have celebrated their birthday here.  Just a simple celebration with their partner, food that I prepared and drinks while watching bonfire.

We also had a group of campers who celebrated their anniversaries here in our resort, did some activities and had parties at night.

To all my guests who came and made  month of October best,

Thank you for visiting our place.

Tita Jo.

My European Guests - by Jo

Joan called me one afternoon asking for a reservation for the  following day last Oct 6, and i met them in Tabangao.  She came with her husband and her 2 sons, Vitold and Ilan. 
Joan is a Polish lady married to Frenchman, Orrell.  Travelling with them were their Spanish friend Lola and her 2 kids, Sophia and Pedrito. 

We arrived at the resort before noontime and cooked food for their lunch.  They enjoyed glasses of white wine with their  lunch, and after they finished, the kids played around while their parents prepared themselves for snorkelling and swimming.

The families loved the sea and swimming. Ornell and his son, Ilan swam a lot  on their stay here.  For a change from the rock and pretty corals, they walked to Mahabang Buhangin for the sand bar and swam there too.  

As Pedrito is small and couldn't walk much, Pipoy often carried him and they became good friends.  Pedrito listened to Pipoy more than his mother.

The parents stayed in one of our stone units, but they wanted the kids to experience the fun of sleeping in a tent.  So on their first night I slept with kids, and when Vitold got up in the middle of the night for pee, I was there to show him how to find the toilet in the dark.  

The kids had a good sleep in the tent, but when I woke at 6 am to make their breakfast they noticed I was not with them,  so they all got up and played.  When I had prepared their breakfast, I asked Ilan to wake up their parents for breakfast.

The families enjoyed our food that was served to them.  The parents are fish lovers, but I also cooked chicken and meat for the kids.

The families stayed for 3 days and 2 nights.  On their last day, after their breakfast I sent them in my boat to Sabang, Puerto Gallera, for a side trip before their flight to China.  

Joan and Lola were thankful for accommodating them and told me its their best 'staycation' as they were relaxed because they knew we took good care of their kids.

Pipoy went with them to Sabang and helped to carry their luggage to their cottage.  Before he left, Pedrito called him and gave him a big hug.

We all missed the kids especially Pedrito.

Aira- Another Solo Traveller - by Jo

Aira is a young, tough student from UPLB who came alone last Sept 26 for an overnight stay in our resort.  She arrived on the morning boat before noontime and I served lunch to her in the kubo where she stayed.















After having her lunch she asked me if she can have a boat ride to Cueva, so my workers, Wangyu and Bokyo, took her by boat to Cueva and she took some pictures of the place, then Wangyu climbed with her to the lighthouse.  From high up, she could see the northeast coast of Isla Verde and across the water to part of Batangas.

 On their way back to the resort the sea was a bit rough, but not enough to scare her as she is a diver.  They arrived back at our resort safely and Aira took a rest.

In the late afternoon she took some photos of the surroundings and captured the sunset.  Even though she's alone she enjoyed our place and found herself well relaxed.

Aira said she liked the food I prepared for her as she said it has "a lutong bahay" element which she looked to some places where she eats.  For our friends reading this who are not Filipino, I guess lutong bahay would be 'home style cooking'.

After her dinner I let her rest as she was leaving early to meet the boat for her trip back to Tabangao.

Aira says she loves our place and she will come back again, not alone, but with her friends next time for snorkeling and for free diving.