Sipalay is a small village on the eastern side of the island Negros. There is a beautiful beach called Sugar Beach located in about 15 minutes from the village by boat. Sugar Beach is a secluded and quit place for people to relax, tan and read a book. Sugar Beach would have about 7-10 resorts lined up along the shore, all resorts would have a restaurant and some kind of activity like a pool or volleyball. Also there is a Sugar Rock Bar located on the cliff with an amazing view of the ocean and the beach. The bar is not very popular unless they hold an event. During our stay they celebrated two years anniversary and invited a live band, which gathered a lot of people (especially for their small space). How to get there: You can take a bus either from Dumaguette or Bacolod, it is about the same distance between both cities and takes about 5 hours to get to Sipalay village. The price from Dumaguette is around 180P and the price from Bocolod is 210P. Before hand you can arrange with your resort a boat, it is 300P per trip, and the boatman would meet you at the market (which is right next to the bus station). We got lucky and met few people from the bus who were going to the beach and didn’t have anything lined up so we shared a ride. The boat can fit about 6-8 people. Where to stay: During our visit we stayed at the Big Bam Boo Resort, however we went to the other two resorts to eat and hang out with people we met there. I will write an overview of these three resorts and will provide my opinion for each of them. Big Bam Boo Resort (BBBR) We met two Swedish girls who stayed at this resort and recommended it to us, and since the other two resorts that were on our Lonely Planet guide book were fully booked we went with the BBBR. We picked the cheapest private room which is a nipa hut – a little house made of the natural materials by native Philippino techniques. The price was 700P per night, however we asked for a discount since we planned to stay 6 nights. The final price we paid was 550P per night. Always negotiate if you know you will be staying few nights. The hut was small, there were nothing but a bed and little bit of the space around it, and it had a terrace with a bench. We were provided a net and a fan. Overall we had a good sleep, mosquitos didn’t bother us. We can hear all the sounds of nature and a lot of gecko’s talks. The only inconvenience is not having a shelf or a drawer to put your stuff on. The food at the restaurant was good, Philippino dishes were about 215P. Beer costs the same price across all the resorts. Resort looked nice, had beach chairs and lounge, but all of the resorts provide this. Wifi wasn’t the greatest - few times it was down or very slow, and you can use it only in the common area. A lot of times toilets didn’t have a toilet paper or were not working at all. Pool was very costly compared to the other places – 100P per hour. Driftwood Village Driftwood Village was one of the resorts recommended by Lonely Planet. We called to inquire about the rooms and they had one room only for two nights at 900P. Driftwood seems like a party place out of all the resorts we have been to. People were loud, playing pool, drinking, chatting, and staying up late. The game of pool is only 10P. The food was good, they offer Thai dishes as well as traditional Philipino meals, which are little bit more expensive compared to the other places – around 230P. Sulu Sunset Resort Sulu was the second resort recommended by our guidebook so we tried to book there a room a day before arrival, and it was all booked up. However it didn’t stop us from going there to eat. We really liked the music there and the atmosphere. It feels alive and chill. The food was good, they serve huge sandwiches for 120-125P that were great for a light lunch or breakfast for two, or you can have it all to yourself if you are very hungry. They make their own bread in house, yummy! They also have a wood fire stove to prepare delicious pizzas (195P). Pizzas are not too big, perfect for one person or a snack for two. Pilipino dishes were the cheapest here – around 190P. Buko juice was only 40P. The pool is free for the residents, as well as the Wi-Fi. We were upset that they didn’t share the password with us after eating there almost every day. The owner of the resort was living there at the time, we saw him engaging with the guests and even had a chat ourselves. Room rate is the cheapest here as well – 600P. Next time I would book a room with Sulu Sunset resort, it had a great atmosphere, delicious and affordable food and low room rates.

• published: 17 May 2015
• views: 7