Spread Some Awesome

Nope. Honda Bay has nothing to do with the car manufacturer Honda. To clear out misconceptions about it, our tour guide said that Honda Bay’s name came from the Spanish phrase hondo agua which means “deep water or channel”. Since we love cutting words short like in text messages and tweets, it became honda. That last statement was from me. I kid but it’s possible, right?

Honda Bay

Honda Bay is composed of13 islands and 6 islets including the luxurious and popular Dos Palmas where Filipino matinee idol of the 1990′s, Rico Yan, passed away. Memories. I wonder what could have he achieved if not for that fateful day..

Honda Bay has a rich ecosystem that is why aside from swimming, snorkeling and fish feeding on some of the well-known activities offered to tourists.

When we toured Honda Bay, we were only able to go to 2 islands and 1 islet. They said you can tour most of the islands in a day but you might not enjoy it because all you can do is go down the island and just take a few snaps then go back to the boat to travel to another island. Though we only saw 3, those were enough for me to say that Honda Bay is truly an amazing feat of nature.

Before going to Honda Bay, we stopped by a snorkeling rental store along the way. If you don’t have your own snorkeling mask, you can rent one for PhP 150. If you don’t have plan to snorkel, don’t rent one and just enjoy the view by the beach. You can also swim on the shallow parts of Honda Bay.

Map of Pandan Island

Our first stop at Honda Bay is Pandan Island. I think it got its name because there are many pandan trees on the island. Not the pandan that we put on rice. These are really trees, high and standing tall. This island has lots of cottages that is why many tourists have their lunch here like we did.

Cottage Rates in Pandan Island

You can swim on the beach and go to a deeper part of the beach to see different fishes. However, fish feeding is not allowed in Pandan Island. There is only one island in Honda Bay where it is allowed to maintain the balance in the ecosystem and prevent pollution in the sea.

No Fish Feeding in Pandan Island

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Tags: adobo, beach, crabs, Honda Bay, mango, Palawan, Pandan Island, Puerto Princesa, snorkel, squids

Duration : overnight (check-in time: 2 PM, check-out time: 12 PM)

Bummers : there are some instances where quality of service is less than expected

Thunderbird Resorts Poro Point

Ever since I started searching for awesome places to visit in and out of the country, the Cyclades in Greece has been one of my dream destinations. I have not made this dream come true yet but that won’t keep me from searching and going nearer places that look like Santorini or Mykonos. Thunderbird Resorts Poro Point is a Santorini-inspired beach resort found in the surfing capital of the Philippines – La Union. It offers a modern Mediterranean setting with its cubical and spherical structures, whitewashed-like finish, and sky blue highlights here and there.

Even at first sight, it’s easy to fall in love with Thunderbird Resorts Poro Point. The matrimony of white and blue walls is perfect sight to see for a summer getaway. Its enticing appeal draws people into it because it perfectly complements the roaring waves in the sea and the clarity of the summer sky.

Side of the Odd Rooms in Thunderbird

One weekend, me, my family, and a couple of friends visited Thunderbird Poro Point. We arrived a couple of minutes before the check-in time of 2 PM. We immediately went to the reception desk to check-in. We got 2 rooms located side by side. We were informed that one of the rooms is not ready yet but we can already go to the other room if we want to and they will just inform us when the other room is ready. They led us to the available room and they carried our bags to our room.

I think all rooms in the resort are connecting rooms. Doors can be opened to go easily from one room to the other. So when the other room became available, we asked them to open the connection between the 2 rooms.

Each room has 2 queen-sized beds. There were 8 of us so we maximized the number of people allowed per room, 2 people sharing a bed. The beds were cozy. The dim lighting made sleeping a lot easier. The beds are pointed towards a large LCD TV that has more that 20 channels. There is an office-like area in case you want to set up your laptop or other mobile devices. The Wi-Fi is really fast. The sockets are universal.

The Beds in Our Room

Complimentary coffee, tea, and water is located on the cabinet top. A complimentary plate of fruits is located on the bedside table – red apple, green apple, and orange.

Complimentary Fruits

The bathroom was really huge. There is a huge space in it where a bath tub could have fit. Yeah, I wished there was tub. The shower area had wood-like floors and it is embellished with stones. The shower area is in a glass enclosure.

The Shower Area

I really liked the bath essentials in Thunderbird especially the hair/body shampoo. It left my head filling really cool, literally. The feeling was like using mint or menthol on your hair and body. It was really relaxing and it seems like all the stress just melted away.

Bathroom Essentials

All rooms have their own balcony, which is a perfect area to stay early in the morning while having a cup of coffee. The balcony offers a copious view of the sea.

Balcony in Our Room

View from Our Balcony

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Tags: beach, hotel, luxury, resort, sunset