Because of the excellent service and superb food they provided us during our stay in Cagbalete island, Dona Choleng Camping Resort definitely deserved a post of its own.

First of all, booking was a breeze. I inquired late February through SMS and not only did Dona Choleng respond quickly, they actually called when I didn’t reply in an hour. After Maybel (Dona Choleng Resort owner) gave me the rates, she was keen on setting up the reservation. I actually had to fess up and say that the vacation plan was still in its earliest stage – meaning that I was just sending out random texts to interesting looking resorts. I didn’t even know who I was going to go with. She was very cool about it and a month later, Maybel sent an SMS, inquiring if we’ve finalized our plans yet (by that time, I’ve already contacted my ex-office mates who were more than game to go). A Dona Choleng Bali hut was booked and deposits were made to the resort bank account.

The room was incredibly basic: a queen sized bed and a double deck, a side table and an electric fan. The Bali hut was advertised to be good for four people but with a little squeeze, you could probably pack six adults in there. Toilet and bath were shared for all the Bali huts (around five I think) in Dona Choleng, which was a bit of a hassle, quite truthfully. The bathrooms were a bit far off from the beach but very near the restaurant. We didn’t mind so much because literally the only time we were in the room was when we were applying sun block and when we were sleeping.

The best part of Dona Choleng’s service probably was the food. Since we wanted to pack as lightly as possible and didn’t really want to risk our friendship by attempting to cook (I speak for myself, of course; I warned my friends that I am absolutely useless in the kitchen), we availed of Dona Choleng’s meal packages for 800PHP per day – inclusive of three meals and two snacks. They were even nice enough to move around the times so that even though our arrival at Cagbalete island didn’t coincide with breakfast and didn’t leave until dinner time, we still had all the meals we paid for. They even packed our last merienda in Cagbalete – hotcakes – so that we’d have something to nibble on the bus home.

The best bit was during our second day (Sunday) we were all out on the lounge chairs on the beach, taking a break from the refreshingly cold sea water when one of Dona Choleng’s staff approached and informed that our merienda was ready. I asked if there was a possibility of them bringing the food out to the beach because we didn’t want any of the other guests to get the loungechairs we hogged none of us were really in the mood to go back to the restaurant. They agreed of course and I thought that they’d just literally bring out the food and plop it onto our laps. We were tough chicks, we could handle that kind of treatment and quite honestly we’ve eaten in worse situations. Imagine our surprise when not only did they bring out the food, they’ve gone and set up a full table just for us.

Truth be told I wasn’t really expecting much from the Dona Choleng food package – I was expecting a cup of rice, a viand and vegetables on the side type of meal. Thankfully, my expectations were surpassed with flying colors. The food was plentiful (they allowed us to get another plate of garlic rice for breakfast, haha) and all ingredients tasted incredibly fresh. We ate mostly seafood, which I’m not really a big fan of, but since the fish tasted extremely fresh, I imbimbed quite a lot.

Here’re the menu of the meals we’ve eaten on Cagbalete island, the calories of which we’re still trying to burn off:

It might come off as pricey, but the meal package definitely saved us the effort of bringing cooking gear to Cagbalete, and who knows how much that’s worth. We were serviced with good food while we lounged on the beach. That in itself is priceless.