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Urban Relief
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One great picture of Oceana,and a great poem to go with it!
Oceana Resort
Puerto Galera, Mindoro, Philippines
More than your usual Board Meeting.
With a view of coconut trees instead of skyscrapers.
To meet around a table to discuss "liquid"-ity ratios.
To be more concerned of your tanlines rather than the bottomline.
To have a heated argument and be caught with your pants down.
This aint your usual urban life.
...but you can still swim ...with the sharks.
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MEANWHILE By Michelle Katigbak
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One year of sun, sand, and great diving!
One year of sun, sand, and great diving!
MEANWHILE By Michelle Katigbak
Publish Date: [Friday, January 02, 2004]
Have you ever closed your eyes and imagined a perfect place? For me a perfect place might sound something like this a place far away from the hustle and bustle (and pollution) of the city, a place on a beach with glittering blue waters, a place that constantly serves mouth-watering cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It would be a place where the sun shines and reflects rainbows off the clear waters of a swimming pool, a place where you can strap on your dive gear, a place where you can completely relax and leave all your cares behind you as you lay your head down on a soft bed at the end of the day to succumb to sweet sweet dreams.
I have found this perfect place. Tucked into a secluded beach corner of Puerto Galera and nestled right in the heart of nature is the perfect weekend get-away the Oceana beach resort.
Oceana is far enough from the city to allow you to completely forget your worries yet near enough to not have to plan weeks in advance for your vacation. This villa-esque resort has everything for a perfect holiday destination. Comfortable and diverse rooms, delicious food served either buffet or a la carte, a great view of the magnificent blue ocean, revitalizing massages available in your own room or in the many delightful outdoor cabañas, great company, and (my personal favorite) absolutely wonderful diving!
I actually stumbled across Oceana almost by accident. One of my good friends who taught me kickboxing is one of the people handling the dive shop and dive tours of the resort. I remember frequently mentioning his never-ending tan during training sessions and he would say it was because he was constantly at the beach and diving (tsk, tsk, its a tough job...). I had always been curious about the resort he would mention because I had heard a lot of good things about it from other diver friends as well. Unfortunately, for some reason or another, I never got around to going.
Then a few months ago, after buying all my own dive gear and being eager to try it out, I finally made me way out to Puerto Galera and Oceana for the first time during a good friends checkout dive. Its no exaggeration to say it was one of the best dive weekends Id had in as long as I can remember. Not only was the resort a great place to stay but the dive spots were truly fantastic. Fish of all sizes and colors and turtles and a baby octopus were apparently all part of the norm but nonetheless provided endless entertainment for me. In addition, the very small "wrecks" at the Sabang Wrecks site were equally exciting for me to explore.
Oceana offers the best diving around. Run by Adventure Bound Dive Shop, scuba divers at Oceana can look forward to the best equipment and the best service from highly advanced divers trained by Global Underwater Explorers.
While the diving is fantastic you dont necessarily have to be a diver to enjoy yourself. There are numerous other things to do if you dont want to go underwater. Theres beach volleyball, table tennis, billiards, a foosball table, a pool, and even a KTV set-up for anyone interested in giving their vocal chords some exercise. "We cater to everyone," Oceana proprietor Anthony Balaguer says. "While we love having divers here we also enjoy welcoming anyone who just wants to enjoy a good vacation friends, families, companies. Its an all around great place to stay!"
Last December 13, this haven celebrated its one year anniversary with a wild weekend bash.
Beach bums and dive aficionados alike gathered on the sunny shores of Oceana to celebrate one year of great food, company, relaxation, and diving by enjoying an ongoing party all weekend long. It was a wonderful time for people of all kinds to get together and hang out while enjoying the pleasures of the beach. During the day, while those in love with fish and water spent their time below the sea, another set of beach bums enjoyed games and surprises prepared for the celebration. A beach volleyball tournament ensued while the next day the Oceana Adventure Race had players scrambling around solving clues and putting together puzzles for amazing prizes provided by Nothing But Water and Fitness First.
While the afternoons had everyone dabbling in their own personal pleasure, the night unified everyone in a big celebration party. With a scrumptious buffet and delicious Nestle ice cream everyone enjoyed great conversation and great food. Raw Assembly serenaded the crowd with a diverse plethora of music which had everyone on their feet and dancing while sipping from delicious but deadly red and blue concoctions created by the resident Divemaster turned bartender.
No glass reached half-empty before being refilled and those who opted against the intoxicating sweetness of the red and blue drink pleased their palate with Johnnie Walker scotch instead and kept dancing and singing the night away. Personally, I think theres something to be said about partying at the beach versus partying in the city. Its quite nice to see everyone in their board shorts and slippers dancing the night away. Also, alcohol need not be monitored too closely as your bed is but a mere 10-foot walk away. And lastly, all sense of propriety gets thrown out the window as everyone can just be themselves. Heck, why not? Its all in good fun! As Raw Assembly concluded their set the microphone got passed around and everyone added their own brand of music. Our bartenders incredible rendition of Ice Ice Baby (from memory!) would have made Vanilla Ice proud and even the present contingent of Spaniards offered their vocal talents to the altar of celebration. The party carried on well into the next morning.
For inquiries, call 884-1690, 888-9051, 642-6215, 642-6290 (look for Malyn Saldivar) or check out the website at www.oceanadive.com. For divers interested in lessons or state of the art dive gear, check out Adventure Bound Dive Shop Alfaro Place Salcedo Village. Call 840-4873 or cell number (0917) 811-3483.
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Resort Review: Near Bliss by Lille Bose
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Im staring out at the diamond sea from a cabana on the
beach, rum coke in hand, waiting for the sunset. Its a
quiet day on a deserted beach, and from a distance, I can
see fishing boats passing by. And Im not in Palawan, Boracay
or even Cebu. Oceana is in Dulangan Beach, Puerto Galera.
You get all the luxuries of a Boracay resort (i.e.,
airconditioning, a decent phone signal, cable TV, a clean
beach and an excellent view of the sea) but its all accessible-
three hours away by car and one hour away via a SEAIR
flight to Calapan.)
Oceana is one of the prettiest resorts in Puerto Galera. Its
not in White Beach or Sabang, which means that youre very
far from crowds, girly bars, hawkers following you to the toilet
selling cheap souvenirs, and loudspeakers blaring out
Asereje! every five minutes.
The whole resort is set-up like a mini hacienda: there are a
few beach front cabins, with the other rooms strewn around the
main building overlooking a huge swimming pool. The main building
is where people convergeto eat, watch TV, read books.
My friends and I have been lounging on this cabana for
hours: there are four big ones around the propertyperfect
if youre not in hermit mode, in which case, you can just stay
at your veranda in your beachfront cabin. (The couples especially
like the pink and red pillows you can lie on.) Nights
we spend playing darts, pingpong, or billiards. Daytime, we
dive, kayak around the island or play football or beach volleyball
(everything except the diving is free). There are also
plans to add a rock-climbing wall. Staying in Oceana is pretty
much a no-brainer. If you hate planning and think itinerary is
a four-letter word, the resort also plans tours for their guests.
SCUBA dive
Puerto Galera is one of the best places in the country for
diving. On any given dive, its possible to see huge schools of
tuna, sharks, and even the occasional pawikan (turtle). The
Canyons, which starts from the hole in the wall, have lots
of huge, wild fish like mating jacks. You can also go to Shark
Caves, a series of caves where whitetip sharks breed and
sleep in the dark crevices.
Beach hop
If you need to see more people, you can rent a boat and
go beach hopping. Sabang has good restaurants, while White
Beach has the longest beach on the island. The boatmen can
also take you to deserted, private coves around Puerto Galera.
The boatmen can cook a picnic lunch just for our guests on
different beaches. There are a lot of beautiful, deserted coves,
so if you want to be alone, thats perfect, says Oceana manager
Anthony Balaguer.
Explore
Chauffered vehicles can take you around the island by
land. You can play golf at the Ponderosa Golf Course (30
minutes away) then swim in the Tamaraw Falls. Motorcross
bike rentals are available around the island if youre not into
other people driving you around. Oceana Makati Booking
Office is located at Burgundy Corporate Tower Unit 26 K,
252 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City, tel:02-884-
1690,888-9051 or emailto: info@oceanadive.com WEBSITE
www.oceanadive.com
How to get there
From Manila you can take a bus or rent a car to go to
Batangas pier. From there, take a one-hour ferry to the
Balatero Pier. Oceana can pick you up at Balatero Pier for
free. The last ferry leaves Batangas by 3:30pm.
resort review
Near Bliss
Lilledeshan Bose finds Oceana
the most perfect, accessible
resort from Manila.
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