Batanes Resort

One day from out of the blue my friend Vivian called and asked if I wanted to go to Batanes. My first thought was “Why do we need to fly to Bataan?”

Silly me I didn’t even know where Batanes was. Now I know it’s the northern most island in the Philippines. There’s only one way to go there and it’s through Seair. Since they have the monopoly on flights they charge an astounding P15,327 (as of today) for a round trip flight. Vivian was able to buy our tickets at a recent travel fare for significantly less so that’s why we decided to visit Batanes last April.

There were only 2 flights a day to Basco, Batanes and my friend told me that the flights are often delayed on cancelled if they need to use the planes on more popular routes like Boracay.

Seair shared the old domestic airport with Zest Air. It was a nice and clean airport with really strong aircons. They had decent food selections from Goldilocks, Cinnabon and local eateries. As expected the prices were higher too.

The first frame below showed a lot of people from different flights waiting. The last frame was when the place was almost deserted except for the passengers waiting for the Basco flight which was delayed by 1 hour and 20 minutes. We were lucky it was just delayed. There was a group of 3 women who told us that they were supposed to fly the day before and the flight was canceled. And the bad thing was they waited in the airport from 5:00 am until 2:00 pm when the flight was finally canceled. They were given hope that another plane would arrive.

This was our group who went to Batanes.

The small plane had a 2-1 seating lay-out. Our flight got delayed because the aircon on our original plane was busted. This plane had super duper freezing aircon.

The first glimpse of Batanes from the plane.

The airport had the typical stone cladding popular among old Ivatan houses in Batanes.

Basco Airport

inside the airport

I thought this was to be our ride during our tour. We did inquire with Batanes cultural travel agency but their package was more expensive.

Batanes cultural travel agency vehicle

Vivian and I searched all the possible accommodations in Batanes and there wasn’t too many choices. My only choice was Fundacion Pacita but it was fully booked and the price was really over our budget. We settled on Batanes Resort, a government owned facility. (that’s my pre-diet body :D)

Batanes Resort was the only hotel located on a big open lot surrounded by hills and beautiful foliage. It also had a really nice view of the sea. True it’s the farthest from the city but we didn’t mind since we had a van to take us everywhere.

Batanes Resort

This was our van for the duration of the trip. It fit our group of 5 adults and 3 kids just fine. I appreciated it’s aircon and wouldn’t trade it for the cute open air lavander vehicle anytime.

our tour van

This cottage served as the check-in area and it extended to the dining rooms and public bathrooms. The whole place was very clean and well maintained.

check-in area

We had breakfast here every morning. Breakfast was P100 per plate of rice with your choice of viand and eggs.

dining room

outdoor dining room

The outdoor dining area was our favorite part of Batanes Resort. We had our welcome lunch here as well as a couple of dinners. We also enjoyed sitting here and simply chatting and enjoying the cool breeze.

This is the view from the dining area.

There were 10 stone cottages on the property. Each cottage was divided into two rooms with two double beds each. My roommate Jennifer and I chose the Sabtang cottage which had a direct view of the sea. This cottage was just next to the outdoor dining area.

stone cottages

Unfortunately our room was one of the older un-renovated rooms. The bed was firm and comfy though. The window type aircon was quite cool too. Our neighbor Vivian had a renovated room but their aircon was really loud and not cold at all.

Sabtang cottage

The water pressure wasn’t really strong but at least there was a water heater. I took a bath wearing my Crocs sandals.

This was the view from our room.

The next night we all moved to another cottage. This was at the back area of the property so there wasn’t any view and it’s farther to the dining room but at least the room looked much nicer and cleaner.

The wooden flooring was changed to tiles. They still kept the annoying red-orange curtains though.

The biggest welcome was the bathroom with new tiles and fixtures.

Batanes Resort is located at Kaychanarianan, Basco, Batanes
Rates are P1,000 per person a night.

For inquiries and reservations you may contact Batanes Resort directly at:
Cellphone No: (+63 927) 582-9078
Batanes telephone: (+63 78) 533-3444/ (+63 78) 533-3456
Manila Office telephone: (+63 2) 927-2393