Planning a Long-Weekend Bolinao Getaway

A long weekend is the natural length for a Bolinao getaway. The road trip from Manila takes five to six hours each way, which is exactly why Veue asks for a two-night minimum. Leave early on day one and you are swimming by mid-afternoon. On a regular two-day weekend the drive takes too big a share of the trip, so most Manila guests come on long weekends and holidays.

Here is the plan most guests settle into.

Day One. The Drive Up

Leave Manila by 7:00 to 8:00 AM. Take NLEX, then SCTEX, then TPLEX, and exit at Paniqui or Gerona. Stop for lunch and a grocery run on the way in, Alaminos is about an hour from Veue and has the biggest supermarkets, Bolinao town is thirty-five minutes out and has the wet market for fresh seafood. See Getting to Veue from Manila and Groceries and Supplies on the Way In for the full route and shopping notes.

Check-in is at 2:00 PM. Drop your bags, change, and get in the water. The rest of day one is the beach, the pool, and sunset from your porch. Patar faces due west, so the sun sets straight into the sea in front of you.

Day Two. The Cabin and the Beach

The day with no driving. Morning swim, a slow breakfast from your kitchen, the beach when the light is good, the pool when the sand gets hot. If you want one small outing, the Cape Bolinao Lighthouse is four minutes away and the three spring-fed caves are ten to seventeen minutes out, all easy to fold around lunch at the cabin.

For a longer excursion, Bolinao Falls is about thirty minutes inland, and a bamboo raft lunch on the Balingasay River is twenty-five minutes away. Pick one, not all, this is the day you came here for.

Day Three. One Stop, Then Home

Check-out is at 11:00 AM. If you have the time and the energy, the classic move is one stop on the way out, the lighthouse if you missed it, or the wet market in Bolinao town for dried fish and binungey to take home. Guests heading south sometimes make the Hundred Islands day trip work by leaving Veue at check-out and boating from Lucap Wharf in Alaminos before the drive back.

The drive home runs the same five to six hours, so aim to be through Alaminos by mid afternoon and you are back in Manila for a late dinner.

Booking a Long Weekend

Long weekends and holidays are the busiest dates on the calendar, and eight cabins go quickly. Book as early as you can, and note that long stays and select dates get promo rates at booking. Check availability on the booking page.