Beach Fun and So Much More on Balesin Island

Balesin is an exclusive island in Lamon Bay, Quezon Province. My husband and I were fortunate enough to be invited by our friends Jojo and Carina  to go with them when their family vacationed there in October 2013. It was a couple of days after my written comprehensive exam so I was really excited at the thought of relaxing in our villa by the beach. I thought I'd share some of the photos here with you.

View from our villa (Balesin). It felt like we had the island all to ourselves.

Inside the villa where my husband and I stayed with Renee and Keanna, my friend Joy's lovely daughters. I'm missing the CBTL single serve coffee maker!

Shameless selfie inside this luxurious bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers.

Massage, anyone?

So serene

Wood carving: horses. Taken while on a tour of the island.

Back in the saddle again ;-)

What's your poison? Taken at Taverna Thanassis, Mykonos, Balesin. Loving the blue and white.

My hubby and cute KC, my goddaughter

Tasty lunch at Sakura Japanese Restaurant

Afternoon swimming near our villa

Chika time with my good friends Joy, Carina and Jojo

Beautiful Balesin Sunset

Who needs an iPad when you have this?

No one else but us :-)

Yummy chicken gyros

The name of this dish escapes me now, but it might be the mincemeat baklava. Not sure, though.

One of the highlights of my stay on Balesin was exploring the island on a bicycle.

Dinner at L'Escale, St. Tropez, Balesin

Bye bye, Balesin.

How we got there: We rode a small plane from the Alphaland hangar in Pasay to Balesin. (Round trip ticket costs Php7,000 (USD156) per person.

Villa rate: The luxurious villa we stayed in is in the area called Balesin and at the time cost Php10,000 (USD224). But I heard the rates increased soon after that. The island is divided into different areas, Mykonos, Bali, Phuket, St. Tropez, Costa del Sol, and Toscana. So if you feel like eating Greek food, then just go to Mykonos, where you can find Thanassis Taverna. They serve superb Greek food there.

Food prices: Food prices were reasonable enough. But do bring snacks because they tend to charge too much for a bar of chocolate or a bag of chips. ;-)

My favorite restaurants: L'Escale and Thanassis Taverna

Must-try: Pizza with onion and anchovies at L'Escale and mincemeat baklava at Thananis Taverna

Favorite activity: Exploring the island on a bicycle

Activities: There are a lot of free activities like basketball, tennis, gym, table tennis, rock climbing, swimming, badminton, biking etc. There are also paid activities like archery, horseback riding, Segway.

Total cost of this trip for me and my husband: Php42,000 or USD 942.56. This includes everything from the airfare to our share of the villa (which was half) to sports activities, food, drinks, etc.