A weekend at Crystal Beach

Baby's age: 6 months 

Our trip to Crystal beach in San Narciso, Zambales was actually for an out of town Frisbee tournament that Russ joined. With the two dogs, we left home quite late. This was our third trip so I was already used to packing and had created a packing list to make it easier and faster.

The drive was relatively fast. We entered Subic for a quick lunch stop in Xtremely Xpresso. Because Summer was still on a diet of pureed fruits and vegetables, she was not able to try the food. She was obviously not happy about it.

After a couple more hours, we reached Crystal Beach Resort. The property was big, with so many open spaces. It had a restaurant, airconditioned and non-airconditioned accommodations, tree houses, spaces for tents and bonfire and a very wide shoreline. The whole place had a rustic but very chill vibe. We got an airconditioned room. It was basic, simple and very small. The bathroom was equally small and the water smelled like rust. I was just relieved that I brought enough bottles to last Summer for 3 days because there was no way I’d wash her bottles in that bathroom. The veranda was a better space to hangout. Their restaurant food was quite good and we enjoyed their breakfast buffet spread.

On the first night we went to the beach. Sunset was stunning and the wind was relaxing.

The morning, while Russ was playing and the other dogs were on the sidelines, we stayed in our room. I watched television while tidying up and doing some chores. The baby alternately fed and slept. We went to see Russ at around 10:30am. It was quite a long walk from our room and my arms started to hurt halfway to the beach. Because of the tournament, the beach was full and there were several games going on. I sat Summer on our beach chair so she can watch her Papa play. We returned to the room after an hour. It was so hot and humid that we both got tired staying out even for just a short time. I gave Summer a quick bath. Having my friend to help give her a bath was a huge help because the bathroom was so tiny and not ideal for bathing infants. 

We went out again before sunset to visit Russ and the dogs. It was much cooler and comfortable.

Bedtime was challenging because Summer kept on rolling around the bed and kicking.

We left the resort in early afternoon and were back in our home by 6:00pm.

I can’t say I’d to go back to Crystal Beach again. This was the moment I realized travel for us will be very different from the way we did it in the past. It is such a shame because many of my surfer and mountaineer friends like it so much. Perhaps when Summer is bigger, we can give it another try and go camping there.

The biggest lesson for this trip is to always research thoroughly especially when travelling with babies and infants. By merely checking out the resort website, I thought we were all set. But it is always better to read guest reviews to know what to really expect and to have a better glimpse of what is really waiting for you in your destination.