Golden Gate Adventure Resorts

Golden Gate Adventure Resort formerly Yellow Gate Adventure Resort is a perfect getaway for summer. Located at Davao-Bukidnon (Buda) National Highway (Langub, Katipunan), which is just a 1.5-2 hour ride from the City. You can have that feeling of summer up the hill.

My friends' officemates opted to spend a mini vacation for this summer. I, despite of the super busy schedule, still hopped-in and join the ride. Well, the ride getting there was quite draining but the ride we had back to Davao was super exciting and my first time ever!!

How to get there:
We ride the L300 PUV via Calinan at the Bangkerohan terminal that cost us Php40 each. The ride took us about 50 mins. Upon arriving at Calinan, we looked for a jeepney to get us to Golden Gate. After haggling the price fro Php60 each, we finally had a ride that took us about 2 hours to our destination. Making us the last passenger of the jeep though. The place was far distant from the boundary of the jeep route, gladly the driver agreed to take us at the main gate of the resort. 

We arrived around 6.30 pm, and its quite dark already. The caretaker of the place received us a warm welcome. After talking to them, we proceed to assembling our tents and prepared for dinner. They have a kitchen where you can cook with a complete kitchen utensils ready to use. Really perfect for a get-away since the necessities you need are all in there. You don't need to carry heavy stuffs to enjoy the vacation.

Here are the photos of our crazy exciting vacay.

Since there's not much to do for the night, we decided to have an early sleep to prepare for tomorrow's activities.

We didn't get much sleep since it was really very freaking cold!!! The wind is so strong and our tents were full of mist. Well, a price to endure for choosing to camp outside though-lol. We just woke up at dawn and have some coffee since we just find it hard to get some sleep. So if you have plans to go here, pls bring thick clothes and socks. Or you can just avail their villas for a much comfortable sleep. Nevertheless, camping was still a great experience, it's part of the adventure anyway.

The signs welcoming you as you enter the place. Very perfect for group pictorials. And whats more amazing is that the entrance is FREE!! You can enter the place anytime and just have sightseeing, chilling or picture taking.

The welcoming dwarfs

The Main house

The Sto. Nino of the Woods.

Our tents

The playground.

The mini pool around 5ft. deep. The water from the pool came from the spring.

My crazy travel buddies.

The back portrait are collage of pictures taken for guests availing activities provided by the resort.

They have these fire place to keep the place warm. It's just very foreign since we can't usually have this on our regular homes.

On our way to caving!

This bamboo bridge almost cracked coz we all stepped into it "sabay-sabay". It should be one person at a time though.

Gearing up before entering "Okloy Cave". The entrance of the cave is very narrow. You have squeezed yourself to get in.

The beautiful nature carved inside the cave. The cave is quite muddy so make sure you have slippers or shoes that can hold your feet on the surface. Professional cavers will guide you all the way.

The cave is just small that you can finish the tour for 30 minutes. But its magnificent stalactite and stalagmite can really catch your attention.

Pictorials inside the cave.

Photo with our guides.

On our way to trekking.

At the top of the hill where there's a statue of Mama Mary.

They also have a canopy walk. The distance is too short thus we didn't tried. But its perfect for kids. They also have a two-way zipline which we haven't tried thus no photo from it.

Crazy pictorials around the area.

On our way back. Jump shot it is!!

Our ride back!! Hitched Ride!! Since we commute to get there, we find it hard to commute back to the City. So while waiting for a jeep or bus to arrive, we tried our best to hitched a ride to save transportation - lol. After so many attempts on so many vehicles, luckily there was a truck on its way to Davao and let us hitched. Thankfully!!! 

Overall, this adventure was super duper crazy one! Such an unforgettable moment. Now looking forward for more adventure ahead of us.

For inquiries and reservation you can call the following numbers:
+63920-304-1722 (Smart)
+63917-627-4008 (Globe)
+63922-876-5798 (Sun)

Hotel Rooms
Suite - Php 1,500
Annex Suites - Php 1,500
Regular Room - Php 750
Attic - Php 300/head
Pavilion - Php 1,000

Outdoor Activities
Ziplines - Php 300
Cathedral Cave - Php 150
Pool - Php 30
Rain Forest - Php 50
Mountain Trekking - Php 100 w/guide
Tent - Php 150/head

Read More

Paradise in SECDEA Beach Resort

My besties and I planned to have our first get-away for the year and decided to dive in to SECDEA Beach Resort. The place is very huge, though they are fully operational, some of the areas are still under development to provide more recreational activities and spectacular spots to guests.

The place is amazing and very beautiful. It's like food for the eyes, we can't just stop taking pictures and do selfies - lol. To get there, you can board a barge from Sasa wharf to cross over Samal Island then ride a motorcycle (habal-habal) for a 20 minute ride to Secdea. The road getting there is quite bumby but manageable. 

Just when we arrived at the main gate, we were escorted by crews and rode a golf cart to be able to get to the reception area. We were amazed by the well maintained surroundings and impressed by the warm accommodation by the staffs. When we entered the swimming area, we just have this expression in our face like "so awesome!!". First we find an area to put our stuffs and we chose the spot near the pool and CR. The tables and cottages are free of use so no worries at all. Afterwards, we just can't wait to have the pictorials and goof all around the area.

Here are some of the photos from our get-away vacay.

The infinity pool. Cool to dive in but its not that deep though, just around 4ft.

The beach where you can do water activities like kayaking, jet skiing and banana boat.

The BEACH!! These white sand are import. You can really feel its larger granules than the natural white sand.

The KAYAKS with its different style and color.

The Lobby

The mangrove walk area.

Picture overload at the mangrove walk.

We just can't help but pose with the huge resort name at the back.

Crazy moments goofing around the area.

One of their Villas. Don't have any photos inside the villa since we didn't checked in. Hopefully some other time.

The place is perfect for events such as wedding, (family/company) anniversaries, outings or just simply vacation for leisure.

Chillin' at the beach side. We didn't opt to dive in the beach since it was really very hot at that time.

It's pool time!!

Funny moments at the pool. We spent most of our time taking pictures though rather than swimming - lol.

The JUMP SHOT!! It took us countless times just to have a perfect and synchronized jump shot. Har har!! 

Special thanks to one of the staff for taking our photos. Gladly we have several photos that we are complete. Definitely buy a tripod someday to avoid inconvenience. Nevertheless, the staffs are very accommodating and coming from them, they are already used to guests requesting them to take photos, making it part of their job though.

Having a vacation here is quite pricey. We paid 650/pax for the day tour inclusive of free use of infinity pool and buffet lunch. Expensive compared to other resorts in the area, but considering the magnificent place and ambiance, plus well trained and accommodating staffs, you really got the perfect vacation you paid for. It's just worth the price.

We will definitely be back here someday!!

You have to make reservation before you get here. 
You can refer to there site at SECDEA

Secdea Beach Resort
San Isidro, Babak, Igacos
(082) 305-2774 or (082) 305-4028

Read More