Club Manila East is a resort located at Km. 24 Manila East Road Taytay, Rizal. The resort opened in 1999 with an attraction dubbed as the "Funtasy Lagoon". The Lagoon features a falls, kayaking, a 30 ft. high water slide and a kiddie pool. The attractions was in fact such a success that the management gradually added more and more attractions to the resort.
In 2007, Club Manila East, also known as CME, introduced "Beach Waves". It mimicked the waves of the ocean generating just enough for one to surf. The pool however was not huge enough to accommodate the growing number of surfers in the city.
Thus, in 2009 CME broke records with the launching of "Ocean Waves", which is currently the biggest wave pool in the country. On top of having a pool area of more than 10 basketball courts combined, Ocean Waves has also made its mark being the first surfing pool in the country with the most powerful waves of up to 1.5 meters high.
After a number of fruitful years of CME in Taytay, the resort has apparently been plagued with management issues which has greatly affected the resort's standing as a premiere attraction. Today Some amenities are poorly maintained such as broken kayak paddles and rusted knobs and locks for their cabanas. I would even have to say that from the time, the resort started, CME Taytay has already cut a good deal of employees since the entrance to the main office building has since been closed off, and only about half of the office building is now being utilized for resort management, customer service and payments. The old cashier windows has been closed and unused, same with some other amenities.
Surfing at Club Manila East
The surfing attraction is co-managed by PSA (Philippine Surfing Academy) and it is one of the most visited attractions in the resort. The trainers, apart from being a professional surfer of PSA are surprisingly well-trained as well in dealing with people of different ages, skill and, of nationality (I was with an American citizen at the time of my visit). They were very friendly and accommodating all through out.The Ocean Wave, the pool area for surfing was huge enough to accommodate a large number of surfers. It is a very good place for people who would like to learn how to surf, and even for advanced surfers who are looking to hone their skills. As the pool is in a controlled environment, you get to have consistent waves and get to surf as much as you can within the 2 hour period.
One thing to consider is the cost of surfing at CME. Surfing with an instructor costs P1500 for 2 hours which is already inclusive of the entrance fee, while surfing without one is for P1000. However, if you are going to look at it, it is still a cost effective investment in learning how to surf since you will not have to drive out of the city for a minimum of 3 hours, check in at a hostel, and pay for meals at different intervals of the day all for just learning how to surf. In 2 hours at CME, that's enough to get you exhausted simply by just paddling out! After that, you simply get to go home and eat at your own place at your convenience.
Surfing Hours are split into two sessions:
10 AM to 12 NN and 2 PM to 4PM
How To Get There
Private Transport:- From Ortigas extension ride on until Tikling. This is the junction that goes to either Antipolo or Taytay.
- From Tikling, turn right going to Taytay which is the Taytay Diversion Rd.
- Go all the way past SM City Taytay, and you should be about 2 km. away to Don Hilario Cruz St.
- Continuing on Taytay Diversion Rd., Don Hilario Cruz St. is on the right. The entrance to the street has an arc with the signage of Club Manila East written boldly.
- Now plying Don Hilario Cruz, simply drive all the way past the Rizal municipal hall. Club Manila East is to your left.
Disclaimer: I drove my way from San Juan City to CME, hence I am not a hundred percent sure of how one can get there to the venue itself. The information for this commute may have lapses, but never the less, will get you close to Club Manila East.
- From Edsa-Ortigas, take the G-liner or RRCG bus lines going to Taytay. Ask the driver to drop you off at Club Manila East.
- If the bus will not reach the entrance to CME compound, get off at SM Taytay or at any point along the Taytay Diversion Rd.
- From here take the jeepney that goes to Binangonan or Angono
- Get off at the compound entrance of CME
- Going inside the compound of CME maybe tricky as I do not remember seeing any public vehicles plying Don Hilario Cruz St.
- From here take a cab.
- Take the trike if there's one plying this route.
Club Manila East's Address is stated in their website as "Km. 24 Manila East Road Taytay, Rizal", however I found out that the address gets pinned at a different location therefore I have uploaded the exact coordinates of the the resort's location below:
Surfing: P1500 with Instructor inclusive of entrance fee / P1000 without Instructor exclusive of entrance fee.
*Optional Cabana: P1500 (Gives you a private place to stay, leave your belongings and a personal shower for you to wash up. Otherwise, you can just use the public shower.)
*For non surfers: Entrance is P375
Special Concerns
- With a approximately 7 hectares of land area, there are only a handful of employees around to assist.
- All attractions that are exclusive of the entrance fee are paid at the visitor's area so if you already have plans on what to do inside the resort (e.g.: hut rentals, surfing and zip line) you should go pay for them since it's going to be a long walk back to the entrance for these paid features.
- Bringing in food is not allowed.
- Theft and supposed inside job thievery (Particularly for locked huts) have been reported in the recent years, therefore keep an eye of your belongings at all times.
- Do not expect first class service in the area.
- If you are commuting, public transportation is a bit scarce in the area.
- Due to Lack of security, I personally do not recommend an overnight stay.
Contact Club Manila East
284-4740284-4741
660-2801
660-2802
284-4754
You can also visit their Facebook page for more details and promotions at: https://www.facebook.com/clubmanilaeast.
0 comments:
Post a Comment