Travel Review: Lakawon Island Resort, Philippines

RATING: * (1 out of 5 stars, poor)
Phone: +(63) 34 433-0808 / +(63) 34 434-7737 (To dial from U.S., 011-63-34-433-0808)
Web site: N/A
Price: $20/night USD (May 2009)

Review

Pro

The beach. Lakawon's beach is pleasant. During the day time, if you don't mind a couple of stray dogs walking about, the beach itself is enjoyable. Roughly 3 of the 15 hectares on the island is part of the "resort". Volleyball and swimming are common activities. You may find weekend visitors coming in with their own boats and jet skis, though the resort does not offer any rentals. At night, there is no bar scene (perfect for families) and the sky had a clear view of the stars ... a nice and romantic evening ... until the kids from the squatters village blew up fireworks besides us.

Adventure. The drive to the resort from Bacolod City's Lacson St. brings you to towns like Talisay, Silay, Victorias and finally Cadiz. There's a few Spanish era buildings in those towns and each one has their own specific customs and festivals. Restaurants along the route offer fresh sea foods as most of the towns are near the coastline. You could have a few side trips that make the drive worth it!

Con

Air conditioning. Prepare to sweat. There's air conditioning in the lodges but it depends on a generator. Supposedly the schedule starts around 5pm, but due to issues with the generator, it didn't turn on till around 8pm. It abruptly ends around 7am in the morning.1 star off.

Critters. The lodges are surrounded by ant hills, mosquitoes, and spiders. There are no mosquito nets; hence, if you have young children -- do not bring them with you as you will not sleep. You will have to literally kill the bugs off their face. 1 star off.

Room service. No phone system. If you need room service, you have to find someone near the restaurant. Since they do not wear uniforms -- you may be asking a total stranger.1 star off.

Cleanliness. While the island boasts 15 hectares, roughly 12 hectares are filled with squatters. You cannot just simply take a stroll on the beach as you will start seeing small squatter areas with bottles and trash lying around. Plumbing is unorthodox. The sink drips into a hole which drips into a trash bin. 1 star off.

Location/Directions
Lakawon Island is a 20 minute boat ride north of Negros Island. Roughly 15 hectares in size and shaped like a banana, you can walk around the island's entire circumference in a few hours.

To get here, you have to fly to Manila, Philippines (MNL) then to Bacolod, Philippines (BCD), a city located on Negros Island. Taking a taxi or rental car from the airport to this resort and vice versa will cost you $100 USD total for the round trip. Using public transportation like a Ceres bus will cost you less than $20 USD round trip. The time to travel will take roughly 1 hour by private car/taxi, and 2 hours by bus, depending on how many passengers they pickup along the way!

Accomodations/Activities

Beach

Swimming, snorkeling

There are air conditioned lodges from 7pm-7am. (If generator has fuel.)

Please note there is no television or Internet connection on any of these rooms.

Room service available generally up to 10:00 PM.

Bar/picnic area

To note: If you must absolutely have Internet (like me), I have been able to utilize a popular pre-paid Internet service by Smart called SmartBro. It is USB device that connects your laptop to GPRS/3G cell towers. Expect dial-up speeds though they advertise otherwise. Its $45 USD for the device and about $0.50 USD/hour.