It takes 6-7hours travel time from manila to san juan, la union. My bus left at 6am, ask the bus ticket guy to drop you off at urbiztondo, san juan, la union. Bus fare was P430 and i arrived around lunchtime in san juan.
Chillin hotel is about a 15minute walk from the highway towards the main surfing beach area in urbiztondo san juan la union. This is the more laidback area from the main surfing strip. Theres a public beach across the road were guests are free to access just ask the reception where it is exactly. The popular Florsan jetsam is less than five minutes away, its a quaint place for travelers who like to rough it up on accomodations renting hammocks and dormitory style rooms. They have a nice resto and lounging areas and the expansive beach has huts with bean bags.
Now heres the reasons why i chose Chill'n Hotel. First its just a small resort with eight rooms accomodations. Each room has a queensize bed, a flatscreen tv with cable, free internet, hot shower with towels, soap, airconditioner, a clothes rack... things that would make your stay pleasant. Outside your room our lounging chairs. The hotel has a small pool with cottages. A stay here would only cost you P1700 as for the resorts in the surf strip will cost you perhaps the same price but you get an old room with no television or your room situated beside the kitchen and it doesnt even include free breakfast. For a nice room in the surfing strip you need to pay more or double for what they charge at Chill'n. The breakfast offered here is OK since u have atleast four choices for your rice meals. The only gripe i have is perhaps why they dont serve brewed coffee.
Since i arrived around noon, i needed to rest after than long 6 hour bus ride. Took a two hour r3st and headed out to the main surfing area to check on the beach and the surfing scene. The waves were not at their best since surfing season starts around october to march but this would probably work for people who are still trying to learn how to surf and catch the waves.
The beach may look dirty for people who "discriminate on sand color" but the sand was fine, there were
After checking out on the surfing scene on a gloomy afternoon i took the time to check out on some of the properties along the beach....
This hotel along the beach has a plane to attract customers. Generally hotels along the beach are more expensive in san juan la union and some are a bit expensive for what they offer. The hotels along the highway generally offer better value at a much cheaper price.
So after my midafternoon strong along the surf beach on a drizzly weather i decided to go back to the hotel, rest for a few hours and go out again to the beach to witness the picturesque sunsets that La Union is famous for.....
Fantastic....after resting for an hour or two i got out of my room before sunset to witness a hazy display of san juan's famed sunset. It was painful to watch im the type who loves watching the sun go down on the horizon with little obstruction except for mountains and cloud cover but rain? Grrrr....btw heres a tip, florsham and jetsam are along the beach and theyre famous for providing cheap hostel type accomodations with communal rooms, hammocks and common areas for socializing. Without hesitation if youre young and or they party crowd type this resort fits like a glove but ....the food and drinks are expensive. So whatever value you get for staying in a cheap hammock at florsham, unless youre willing to spend more, it would be better if you eat and drink somewhere else.
After taking photos of the sunset, i thought of retiring early back to the hotel since it was continuously raining that late afternoon till early evening. I had an early dinner since i get one free meal for my room at their cafe on the roadside. The hotel's small restos sells their own sausages and other homemade processed meat and you can choose your rice meal to go with their sausages, tapa etc. it comes with free 3in1 coffee. The garlic sausage was pretty good, the following morning i tried their tapa meal for P150 with coffee it was carabao meat a bit more salty and less chewy than your conventional beef tapa.
After dinner, i quicky doze off in my room and was awakened by the kid nextdoor who mistakenly knocked in my room. So i was awakened at 10pm and there were no more available jeeps to take me into the busier part of urbiztondo san juan. So i had no choice but to walk it took me around 20mins to reach sebay resort and the surrounding establishments.
I came to san juan la union during the start of the rainy season so some of the establishments closely
earlier than usual. Surf Shack is recommendable for its carefree ambiance, delectable food and good selection of cocktail drinks, all at reasonable prices. The staff were attentive and everyone seems to be havin a good time there. So about 45minutes at surf shack i decided to head back to my resort and hired a trike for 50pesos, quite expensive for the short distance from sebay resort to chillin hotel which only took around a few minutes of travel.
The following morning i decided to take a short jeepney ride to san juan town proper and buy supplies at the only 711 branch in san juan. Compared to san fernando and bauang, san juan la union is very laid back and less progressive. No jollibee or mcdonalds here, the small market near the town's cityhall is half empty with alot of vacant stalls and not much in terms of variety. its just basically a wetmarket to buy vegetables meat and fish. If you need to get supplies outside from urbiztondo san juan which is the beach district of san juan la union, a jeepney ride to town costs 8pesos along the highway you can easily flagdown any jeep with the sign "bacnotan" passes cityhall and the main church in san juan la union. Theres a 711 convenient store on the town center and a few small convenient stores that offer variety than what u can get from the small stores around urbiztondo.
San Juan cityhall
St John the Baptist Parish
a small park outside the church
After checking out san juan town proper i proceeded back to my hotel, had breakfast at their cafe and took a ride a jeepney towards surf beach area and enjoy my last remaining hours in san juan before i catch a bus back to manila. The glorious sun was out time to enjoy the beach!
Since im not into surfing yet i cant give out much info but i was told that as of july 2017 surfing classes one hour costs 400pesos thats one on one tutoring with a pro surfer. not bad right?:
What really took my interests was this beach front resto with an international menu, and friendly personnel. Fatwave surf resort is your best option for a reasnable stay on the beach. Rooms start at P800 for fan rooms and P1000 for aircon 2pax. You can check their website for complete details. I believe this is the best value for your money accomodation if you wish to stay along the beach where the surfing action happens.
I went back to my hotel afterwards, checkout their pool and packed my things, i will surely miss chillin hotel. I liked my room, airconditioning was cold and the hotshower worked fine.
this is the view outside my room, what do you think guys, nice right?
i thought of catching my bus somewhere more convenient since there are no designated areas for a bus stop. Since checkout was 12pm, i decided to have lunch at Olas Banditos its along the road a few meters from sebay resort. It offers delicious mexican favorites such as burritos, street style tacos, etc. The place is self service so be mindful of the garbage you leave on your table learn to clean up! BTW the food here is so yummy i ate here twice.
After my brief lunch, i flagged down my bus outside this mexican resto and i was lucky to get a Florida bus superdeluxe, which has its own urinals and what i like most about this bus is that the seats are arranged that it doesnt feel cramped inside and the bus windows provide an unobstructive view of the outside. The bus i got is bound for its sampaloc terminal but if youre headed for cubao you can tranfer to another bus thats bound for cubao during its half an hour stop at its bus terminal past the town of urdaneta city.
The newest bus fleet of Florida are pink in color unless that would be an issue im sure you would thoroughly enjoy riding this bus i think travel time this long (7hours) deserve a transpo that wont stress you out :)
Till then enjoy your trip to san juan la union and feel free to leave comments or messages at the bottom....thanks! =)
