I’ve been racing and traveling so much that the months really feel like they’ve flown away — and now we’re almost at the end of summer!
Last year I went to Boracay in February, then went with some friends to Baler to surf in April. So this year, I planned my own beach getaway but decided to keep it close to home with a land trip.
Actually, all I really wanted to do was laze on the seashore at Sol Arena Beach Resort in Caba, La Union, but I’m always up for an adventure — and so my friends Sarah, Bettina, and I also hit up the famous San Juan in Urbiztondo, La Union on our overnighter trip last Saturday and Sunday.
Caba is five hours away from Metro Manila via NLEX-SCTEX-TPLEX. It’s a quieter seaside town both in scene as well as sea because there really isn’t much surf to be had. But Sol Arena’s wide private beachfront and family-friendly (and pet-friendly!) vibe made it the perfect place to chill out and finally get rid of my one-piece swimsuit tanlines (for now). The calm waters were great to splash around in when the sun got too hot.
The next day, we headed to Urbiztondo to catch the early afternoon waves in San Juan. It’s an hour-long drive further north, but it went by pretty quickly. Soon we were grabbing dirty horchatas and smores at El Union Coffee and hanging out at Makai Bowls in the same complex.
The waves were all in front of Kahuna but I couldn’t walk through the resort with my dog Calvin, so we passed a narrow alleyway instead leading to the public beachfront. While Sarah and Bettina took their one-hour surf lesson, I stayed in the surfing association’s beach hut and took photos. We then ate some empanadas (don’t miss them in the Ilocos Region!) before making the six-hour drive back to Manila.
It was 48 hours well spent. My only regret is I couldn’t have stayed longer, but we all had to vote on Monday.
Here’s my very short travel vlog:
https://youtu.be/Z_QSnQzINzk
