Stokedtraveler has featured Camayan Beach Resort a
number of times now. Lately however, he hasn’t booked a stay in that resort.
For one, the booking rates have gone absurdly high. An overnight stay for 2
during their peak months goes as high as Php 7,700.00. Extra person charge of
Php 1,000.00/head to a max of 3 adults per room. Just imagine how much that
would add up for an extended family beach outing. Recent talks with some locals
also revealed that an armed eviction of the previous employees also happened
when the new owner/management decided to forcibly take over. Looks like new
management have their own idea of what Camayan Beach Resort will be in the
future. Whatever it will be, with the absurd rates they currently have, Camayan
Beach Resort will not be in the stokedtraveler’s beach destinations for now.
This is where All Hands Beach Resort comes in. The first time we
stayed here was on a Labor Day weekend. The place was jam-packed and there was
even an ongoing company outing that booked the venue. The venue wasn’t very
pleasing and the beach itself looked like it could use some rest of its own.
This year, we went on a Holy Tuesday (Holy Week), the place
looked so much nicer and the beach so much cleaner. In fact, it reminded of
Camayan Beach Resort minus the budget busting rates.
A word of caution though, as I’ve been stressing the booking
rates for Camayan so far, All hands beach resort does not really come very
cheap. They have limited rooms and they only accept full booking rates per
room. This means even if you are just 2, you’d have to pay for the full room
rate. Family rooms are good for 4-5 persons at a rate of Php 1500 to Php 1600
per head. A family room for 5 persons at Php 1600/head would cost Php 8000.
This is still a lot less than Camayan Beach Resort’s rate for the same number
of guests.
A
standard family room (Family rooms 18-21) for 4 adults cost Php 6,400.00. This
has 1 queen bed and one double deck (single beds). The CR has a bidet and rain
shower with hot water. The room size is a little smaller than Camayan’s rooms
but it has its own private veranda which is a welcome feature for the room
rate. They don’t provide in-room hangers to hang clothes with and no refrigerator
to keep food fresh. Most of the food we brought ended up spoiled. Check in time
is also late at 4pm and checkout is 2pm. Their check in process isn’t very
quick and takes a while for them to clean rooms but their checkout is super
convenient. We literally got checked out in less than 10 minutes.
The
room rates are also inclusive of free bath towels (low-cost towels) for each
booked guests and a buffet breakfast (simple buffet) in the morning.
All
Hands Beach Resort’s swimming area is full of floaters and buoys that separate
sections of the water for safety. It is also no longer void of marine life.
First time we went there the water was not so blue and there were very few
fishes. This year, the water was bluish green and there were lots of friendly
fishes that did not shy away from the guests. We’ve also used our feet a few
times to pick up items underwater and to our surprise they were live seashells.
They
do not charge corkage for bringing in food and drinks but they do not allow
glass bottles. Their grilling area is free for use and they sell charcoal (Php
20.00/pack).
The place was generally quiet at night (probably because it
was a weekday). The resort facilities are open 24 hours but swimming time is
limited until 10pm only. Late beach goers can still enjoy the ambiance and have
rounds of drinks at the beach side bar for some R&R session. Couples can
lay under the stars and moon for some romantic time by the beach.
Overall, the stay in All Hands Beach is good. It is not
overly trying to please guests with unnecessary features that only add up to
high room rates. No amount of water features or adventure sports can make Subic
the new Boracay. Resorts in the area just need to understand that. All hands
beach also offers many water sports options which can be rented by guests (i.e.
jetskis, flying fish, kayak etc). It is also worth mentioning that they do not
have any of those pesky monkeys that go about in Camayan Beach. The
stokedtravleler recommends All Hands Beach Resort as a new go to destination
for budget travelers looking for a beach getaway within Subic area.
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