There are two great places to visit a couple of hours’ drive South-West of Manila: Tagaytay (about an hour’s drive) and Matabungkay (about 2 hours’ drive)
Tagaytay is easily doable in a day from Manila.
It sits on the Northern edge of Lake Taal, and inside the lake sits the Taal Volcano. The volcano is an island that sits in the middle of the lake, and the island itself contains another lake. And inside the inner lake is one of the volcano’s 23 craters. It’s pretty amazing – just like Russian dolls!
The volcano is officially active, although the last eruption was in 1977. (Depending on your outlook, that may mean one’s just about due!).
Driving south west from Manila, past Cavite, the road climbs steadily up to Tagaytay, which sits at around 2,000 feet above sea level.
Although it’s not as high as Baguio (around 5,000 feet), the altitude means that the climate is a lot cooler here.
That makes Tagaytay a popular tourist destination as well as home to new developments (sub-divisions) catering to ex-pat retirees – especially as it’s so close to Manila.
The Aguinaldo Highway (going from Manila past Tagaytay and on south to Batangas) passes along Tagaytay ridge and past the Tagaytay Picnic Grove.
The Picnic Grove is a series of restaurants that sit along the ridge above the Taal Lake and give magnificent views of the lake itself (which lies around 1,000 feet below) and the volcano.
Come here on a weekend and it will be pretty crowded, but make the trip on a weekday and you can have a great meal (the local Filipino food is a must) and a peaceful couple of hours soaking in the view.
If you’re looking for a day trip from Manila, Tagaytay is great. Even allowing for Philippine traffic, it’s within easy reach, affords you a relaxing few hours (lots of kid-friendly facilities) and you can be home in time for evening drinks.
About another hour past Tagaytay is Matabungkay, near Batangas.
I didn’t go into Batangas itself because I was staying at the Matabungkay Beach Resort, about 20 minutes before reaching the city. So the resort I can vouch for, the city I can’t!
And the resort was great. Sitting on the beach and away from the city, it was peaceful and relaxing.
Because the sea in the bay is generally calm, the resort is able to operate a number of floating rafts, which you can hire. They have covered seating and can take anywhere from 2 to around 15 people.
The seabed is very shallow in the bay, so you climb aboard your raft and one of the resort staff will wade out into the bay, towing your raft, to anchor it for you. From there you can swim, chill out, listen to music or whatever.
Tell the resort staff what time you’ve hired the raft until and, at the appointed time, they’ll wade out and tow you back.
You can take your own food, or you can wait until someone from one of the local restaurants wades out and offers to take your order. That’s what we did, and I recommend it.
Let them know when you want to eat and they’ll go away, prepare your meal and return with it later (in our case a couple of hours later).
The resort also has motor boats you can hire (with a driver) on which you can take a tour of the bay. There’s not an enormous amount to see, though – it’s nothing like 100 Islands. But it’s fun to go out and cruise around for an hour.
Most resorts in the Batangas area offer transportation to and from Manila (ours did, and so did the others I researched before going), so if you don’t fancy the drive down there simply book in advance and arrange for the transportation.
If you’re at a loose end over a long weekend in Manila, Matabungkay is definitely a trip to consider. Well worth it!
Cheers,
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