Pier One 39 (Sagnay, Camarines Sur)

[Bicol Trip - Day 1 (and a little of Day 2), Part 4 of 4]

From Sabang we headed further south to Sagnay, Camarines Sur (actually the arc to the municipal entrance says "Sagňay"). My brother's friend suggested that we stay in a place called Pier One 39 there in the town of Santo Niňo. It was past midnight but we were lucky that there were still plenty of people around to ask so we got there easily.

The price was quite high (2,000 pesos/night for a cottage for 2) for a provincial area, it's really too much compared to what you can get from a Boracay resort for the same amount, on the other hand they had it developed to have a swimming pool, cottages, small huts near the water, volleyball and billiards. We were already too tired to search for another place and it was way past midnight so we had to take this one.

I still had plenty of things to complain about... 1) Karaoke is a major issue in resorts, they should turn it off by 10 so other guests can sleep. 2) Complimentary toiletries should be served right when the room is ready, they didn't do it until we asked for it. 3) There were 2 cockroaches in the bathroom. 4) There was no water from the faucet and shower at times. I would say they should have charged half the price, thanks to their trusty aircons.

The next morning, we took a short dip at the beach (Nato Beach). The waves were moderate, and we were able to keep balance to some extent on shallow waters. It was quite peaceful because there were only few guests at that time, and the colored flags around the area were somewhat soothing to the eyes. Later we tried their pool which was supposedly chlorine free (the water came from the mountains). It was half full at that time so we were swimming in 3ft of water in a 6ft pool.

At the front entrance of the resort there's a nice view of the mighty Mt. Isarog (I think this is visible for most parts of the Camarines Sur area) from the fields. Last night we just went up 1,800 feet of of this mountain to Consocep and standing from this place shows just how much we drove up that mountain. I also tried to cross the fields to the other side to buy prepaid credits for my phone.

Before leaving we checked if we could get a boat to reach Atulayan Island. It was priced above 2,000 so we didn't go for it (come on, is this how much a boat ride costs?). Oh well, we left somewhat disappointed, maybe we were the wrong type of guests for this resort. For the owners... there's plenty of potential for this site, I just hope that you spend more time working on expectations of more seasonsed travelers.

Next Stop: Joroan (Tiwi, Albay)