Where To Stay In Camotes?

[sandwichmaker]

answers on a postcard please. or just here in the forum  ;)

 

price, under 1,000 pesos where possible. Short trip to a sandy beach is always nice.

Edited May 5, 2014 by sandwichmaker

[Dave Hounddriver]

If you can find a nice place under 1,000 pesos on Camotes then I want to know too :-)  Seems like the prices of nice places have gone up quite a bit there and I am not sure why.

[the_whipster]

there are plenty of places to stay in the Camotes under 1000. As per usual places that are sea facing. i.e. proper resorts as opposed to pension house type places people like travelling reps, promo girls and Mormon missionaries stay in, cost more.

 

-disclaimer- all the information I gathered about the Camotes was pre-typhoon therefore although the Camotes got off quite lightly compared to mainland northern Leyte and also Bantayan and Malapascua islands, it still got a bit messed up. Some of these places may have been damaged.

 

here is a not exhaustive list.

 

PACIJAN ISLAND

 

Sunset Vista Resort just outside Esperanza village has small fan rooms for 800. No beach but good swimming. OK resort, restaurant not bad, and in the best part of the Camotes close by not only to the superb Esperanza beach but also Lake Danao and the snorkelling off Tulang island.

 

right on Esperanza beach is a place called DAS LEIGHT HAUS. When I was last there in January 2013 they were just putting the finishing touches to these basic bungalows in superb location right on probably the best sandy beach there is, anywhere in the Visayas. They said they were 1000 but I am fairly sure they would except 800. And they are worth 800 in a location like that. Das Leight Haus also rents out this house geared for multi generational extended Filipino families, always an important component of the tourism business in the Philippines, 1500 with kitchen, ref. It could probably sleep 20. I took their phone number it is 09394309066

 

hilariously, it seems the well known Santiago and Mangodlong resorts - despite being multi million dollar commercial enterprises - have not paid their web hosting fees and their websites have gone down however last time I looked they were between them selling a small number of fan rooms were 1000. These are proper resorts with pools, restaurants, and amenities however not as good a location as the above two places. It has a big wide spacious beach however water is shallow around here, there is no coral and there is nothing much appealing going on nearby. The resorts are however conveniently quite close by to Consuelo port.

 

PORO ISLAND

 

Big Z Pension House in Poro town has fan rooms with a terrace with shared CR and its own steps where you can swim in the sea for 350. They are a nice family here we had a right laugh. They taught the girl I was with to ride a motorbike on the road outside. There is no beach but despite being right next to Poro port the water is perfectly clean and you can swim right there. Sunshine or Seaside Pension House just out of San Fran town on the 'back road' towards Esperanza, also has fan rooms with shared CR, really quite nice sea facing room too, for an unbelievable 200. These are not on the beach like 'proper' resorts are however if you have your own bike that makes no odds on the Camotes. There are free beaches anybody can visit on both Pacijan and Poro islands.

 

there is also a cheapie place just opposite and up from the Camotes Island Bar & Grill in San Francisco, a kano owned joint. Just up and opposite. Rooms well below 1000 here. Again they have rooms geared for families with bunk beds, etc.

 

Flying Fish resort on Poro deserves a mention even though their fan rooms are 1200 that includes breakfast that is listed on the over-expensive menu at 300. These are nice rooms though on a newly built resort with good snorkelling meters out.

 

although the manager of well known My Little Island hotel well up the mountain in Poro always offers me hefty discounts every time I go there for a meal, he has never gone as far down as 1000 for a room. My Little Island does have a superb penthouse though. If anybody wants to have a big party in Cebu this would be a great place to go. The nightly rate is posted at 6,300 on their website but you could get it for much less. Flying Fish also has a good penthouse.

[sandwichmaker]

Thanks whip. What about transport. How much is motorbike rental per day ?

Are trike rates cheap like Bantayan, or extortionate like siargao?

[the_whipster]

no or next to no trikes on the Camotes and no jeepneys either. The few jeepneys there are are for ferrying agricultural workers about, not passenger transport. Only motorbikes. You can also try asking the guys on arrival at the port about renting motorbikes. If you go, call in at the Sunset Vista. The owner, Mike, is a friend with whom I have lost touch, the resort as described is really quite nice. Though the price of the rooms at 800-900 is quite high, you do have to expect to pay more for sea facing rooms with good security and so on. A lot more than the cheaper rooms in Poro town and San Francisco. Although that 200 peso Seaside (or Sunshine I am not sure of the exact name) Pension House just outside San Fransisco is excellent value if you can handle the shared CR.

 

have only seen one business on the Camotes renting motorbikes, that is the Bella Vista Mare resort, right next door to the Santiago, at least they seemed to be making a pitch for business and were offering the keen price of 800 for a fan room (though i didn't see the room) including Filipino breakfast - they were doing motorbikes for 350. However this is well over a year ago pre-typhoon. Maybe you had better head there your first night, it is quite close (10km) to the Consuelo port where you will arrive, from Danao.

[the_whipster]

and if you get a motorbike, you will need a map of the Camotes which you should keep waterproof. You may be able to print out a good one from the web, but if you can't don't rely on the maps they were giving out for free on the ferry when I last went, if they are stil doing it. It was a terrible, inaccurate map that missed out whole bits of perfectly good roads, not mudtracks or anything. American owned Cindy's bar/resto in San Fran which is the island's burger and fries joint, was selling much better, accurate maps of the Camotes than the ferry company was giving away for free.

[sandwichmaker]

I paid 150 for a motorbike to sunset vista. It's 12km.

Rooms for 800 are brick, sea view from the window, pretty garden outside the room, then the ocean. Stunning. Staff are very average. Room is clean, cr is good. What's the best thing to do for activities?

Zero visible damage anywhere so far.

Ferry.

Well above average. New hospitality room serves decent little microwaved beef curry for 55. Avoid the chicken adobo unless you love salt. Professional coffee machine and blender too. It feels like a sort of Starbucks in a ferry. Very nice place to sit. Fare is 180/ 200. I never buy first class but most ferries will let you upgrade.

I would love an air con room now. It's pretty hot these days. Hardly November any more buddy ;)

Edited May 7, 2014 by sandwichmaker

[the_whipster]

yes. It is the hot season now. So maybe even on a place like the Camotes aircon might be a bit more desirable now than before, however how much more are the average daily temps now, than November. 2 degrees at most.

 

you have been complaining about the staff by text, I agree the owner's partner (he is back in the UK for now) is lacking in hospitality skills. Although i have become quite fond of her having been going there years, she is just not suited to welcoming and serving guests.

 

but, stay put. Don't transfer to the Big Z pension like you were texting earlier. Because you are right there in the best part of the island. In the next village (turn left out of the Sunset gate) you can hire a boat to take you on a snorkelling trip to Tulang island for 200-300 pesos for a three hour tour. I heard the islet did suffer big damage in the typhoon.

 

and you are within walking distance of Esperanza beach. That is right turn at Sunset;s gate, through the village, and you are there in 10 minutes. Superb powdery white sand. Look over Das Leight Haus. If you are going to move anywhere today or tomorrow, move there. I am surprised they have no fan rooms like you said. They told me they would have some when they completed the construction.

 

there is also the Lake quite close by, that is a bit further away though.

 

get a motorbike and when you do, that is when you should move to the Big Z in Poro. Because you will definitely need a bike to look round Poro.

[the_whipster]

and 150 for 12km motor ride is a high price. I always have a bike on the Camotes. I bring one over from Cebu. Except the first time I went, in 2007, when I used a motor and driver. It cost 200 pesos PER DAY, plus gas and a meal for the driver.

[sandwichmaker]

Whippy you always talk smart when you got a better deal.  I wasnt going to burst a blood vessel to save 60p. This is lesuire time remember? 

 

0984 380 782

0929 2733 414 

Published numbers for sunset vista. First one seems to be missing a digit.