LIAN, BATANGAS, picturesque town with magnificent sunsets

Dreamy Lian Batangas.... i place it number one as the place to see the most spectacular sunsets in the Philippines. SORRY manila bay's sunset cant compare with Lian's. The view from matabungkay, the seaside part Lian gives you sunsets that looks like some expensive art work in a museum. 

OK umay factor tells us to get out of the city when we feel like drowning in our very routinary boring existence. We live too much in a box in urban metro manila that we sometimes forget that theres a picture pretty world outside smog choked metro manila. Not too far from the Philippine capital are beautiful rural towns waiting to be explored...and revisited again and again until your next UMAY feeling happens.

Arrgghhh... those bonfire wood setups and those balsas may not be your vision of a dreamy tropical island beach...BUT limited logistics considered we dont need to hop on a plane or ride a perilous ferry boat to reach paradise. Umay blog thinks we can do better our chances of survival than contemplate suicide. WTF point of course hehe The Town of Lian in Batangas has gained popularity in the 70s as one of those seaside towns closer to metro manila with a pretty decent long beach hence a magnet for holiday makers. Matabungkay resort in Lian was one of those resorts to have captured the fancy of city dwellers long before people in manila even thought of going to boracay, palawan, caramoan etc... and though im no big fan of tourist trap places, Lian batangas still does offer a quieter side of the place.

Lian is a four hour leisure drive from manila with two routes to consider, both scenic too. Theres the breathtaking ternate nasugbu highway passing thru lush mountains,roadside beaches and you even get to see bataan from across cavite. And the second alternative is the usual route when you pass tagaytay going to nasugbu batangas resorts. Turn left towards Lian and calatagan when you reach the nasugbu-lian juncture. its advisable to take the ternate-nasugbu route to avoid heavy traffic in tagaytay during holidays and weekends.

Lian is a second class municipality, great but i wonder why do they have to ask people to pay an environmental entrance fee for every visitor to matabungkay every time a car tries to enter matabungkay where most of the resorts are located. With a population of 44 thousand it gives you the conclusion that one, theres no jollibee and no SM mall. Yah something people in the city should learn to live without HMMMP! And second point, since UMAY factor has prevented people from going to either calatagan and Lian, chances of bumping to the same ugly creepy people in your office or workplace would be slim. they would all be doing the same vacation plans. They will all be crammed in an overpriced resort in boracay as promoted by overhyped celebrities like boy abunda. LOL

As for attractions, there are enough to keep you stay for a few days. Their patron saint is st john the baptist and their church is worth a stop. Aside from the obvious popularity of matabungkay resorts, the surrounding countryside is beautiful. The town has rolling hills, friendly locals and the town hosts the annual balsahan festival held around May. Oh if those resort websites tell you that it takes two hours from makati to Lian, theyre probably riding secret service UFOs to reach Lian LOL. Accomodations? well i can only vouch for the ones ive seen so far. We had dinner at Coral beach club. Pricey but servings are generous. I often travel with my dad whos on a wheel chair so its important that the place has to be comfortable for a PWD tourist. In fact, i like to believe that any resort or hotel to be worth your money has to be clean, convenient, comfortable and reasonable price and it should be PWD tailored. i think we found the right place for my dad.

TIDEWATER RESORT, baranggay ligtasin, lian batangas.

The resort has an incredible sunset view. the pool is shaded by a large tree and its a small place with few rooms and a big one for large groups. They have a nice dining area, you can rent out karaoke and theres a decent beach where you can do a bit of strolling. The airconditioner worked fine and wasnt noisy. you can fit four people in the small room which opens to the infinity pool outside. The downside here is theres no television, it doesnt have a restaurant and the bathroom is communal. Outside the resort theres a well stocked grocery nearby and a few carinderias. You can also freely use their kitchen it has a fridge, microwave oven and a rice cooker.

Checking the pictures in the tidewater resort website. I thought the property though it was beachfront, it gave the impression that theyre hiding the beach hehe. Well to my relief, it wasnt as bad as some blog reviews would paint it.

Lian has sandy beaches but the seabottom here is quite rocky like most of the beaches in calatagan, since a large part of the coastline in this side of batangas is teeming with corals. But unlike the ones in anilao, the beaches in lian and calatagan have decent sandy coastlines but not too swimmable. And its not comparable with boracay or bohol beaches but its good enough for sunworshippers who dont mind the gray-brown quality of the sand in this area. Its close proximity with metro manila makes it a good and cheaper quick fix for beach lovers.

Heres one tip you may find useful. When choosing a resort in the matabungkay area, choose one thats farther away from the rows of popular beach resorts in the area where you will encounter lots of vendors doing their trade. You wouldnt enjoy the place much cause people will always be in your face selling you everything from a necklace, wrist bands, to offers of using their "balsa" which is a flotaing hut anchored on the coralbed where families do their picnics, snorkel, swim etc. The resorts outside baranggay matabungkay specifically in baranggay ligtasin and matuod beach which is much farther away from matabungkay provide a much more tranquil and laidback ambiance for the weary traveller.

And dont forget to mingle with locals, theyre very malambing and their distinct tagalog accents will always put a smile on your face.