grande island, philippines

I must say that january 25-28 is one of our best weekend for 2008. Gino & I spent it with the whole family, all expenses paid by ate Bom, in Grande Island Resort in Subic. It was also a time to catch up on each other's lives, me & my brother. Oh, how we missed each other!

From the Subic port, it took us about 30-40 minutes to get to the island via the Grande Island ferry. Day tour costs Php250 per pax (ferry leaves for the island at 10am, comes back from the island at 4pm).

This is how the waiting area/dock looks like.

We stayed at the island's hotel rooms (Php2200++). Each room can accomodate 4 pax inclusive of free breakfast for 2 and ferry transfer for 4. Guests are not allowed to bring food since the island has 2 restaurants, and both charge really high. Imagine the smallest mineral water bottle costing Php40 plus 8% vat! Butas sa bulsa!

This is one of Grande Island's restaurants.

The island is relaxing, hands down on that. There are a lot of activities to choose from. There are ATVs (Php650 30mins), banana boat (Php250 per pax 30mins), 2hrs trekking (Php50). You can also go fishing or play beach volleyball.

"Pimp my ride!", says the birthday girl, ate Bom.

My sisters tried the ATV and the trekking. On the other hand, my hubby & I, with my nephews, niece & brother, enjoyed the sun! We swam in the beach. We tried the pool. We goofed around the numerous trees. We isolated ourselves & trekked on our own at the rocky side of the island! 100% fun! The next day, we left the island and went straight to Subic Homes for another day of fun. We spent most our time in the playground. Even mama & her siblings, despite their senior-citizen age, tried the monkey bars! Here are some of my favorite photos!

Quick! Click this link to view the rest of our pictures & see how crazy we all were!