Weekend in Real, Quezon

My wanderlust friends and I haven't been able to do any traveling these past few months, thus the reason why this blog became sort of semi-abandoned. A month ago we decided that it was time to satisfy our itching feet, but we needed a place that was near Manila that wasn't crowded and affordable since we could only afford a weekend off. So after some researching, we decided to go to Real in Quezon.

Real is a quiet sea-side town that is slowly gaining popularity for surfers. Travel time through the scenic route of the Marikina-Infanta road will take two to three hours by private car. If by public transportation, the Raymond bus line to Infanta will pass through Real and the resorts along the main highway.

After checking the resorts along the road, we settled at Janely Resort. For P3500 we were able to get an air-conditioned unit with two beds and an extra mattress, own bathroom, a TV and our own porch that also serves as our dining area and place where we can leave our cooler and foodstuffs. The caretaker, Rose, was very helpful and accommodating. I wasn't able to get the name of the nice lady who cooked our rice for us and even lent the kaldero for the duration of our stay. 

Buying food isn't a problem since there is a wet market or palengke near the resort where you can buy fish, vegetables, ice, charcoal and slippers. There is also a restaurant in the market offering paluto, and it doesn't cost much. For lunch before we left Real, we had sinigang na hipon and fish sarciado good for five people with five cups of rice and big bottle of cola. It cost us P300. I don't have pics of our food since we were so hungry after our white water tubing adventure that taking pictures was the last thing on our minds.

Real offers a lot of activities that are really a lot cheaper in comparison to other provinces that offer the same kind of activity. You can learn to surf at the PARK (Pacific Recreational Kamp). One good thing about the waves in Real is that it is good for beginner surfers since the waves aren't that high. Real also offer white water tubing at the Tignaoan river for P350.

I recommend this place if you want to relax, learn to surf and get your adrenaline fix without having to travel too far or spending too much. For this trip, we spent P2000 each with the breakdown as follows:

Gas/transpo = P600 (my friend brought her car and we split the gas bill between five people)
Accomodation = P700 (P3500 split by five. But the room is big enough to accommodate six people. And the biggest plus here is that the resort is well maintained and really clean)
Food = P300 per person
White water tubing = P350 each

One thing I also love about Real is that it isn't crowded. My friends and I try as much as we can to avoid super touristy places because that is where the crowd is and chances are you don't get to relax much.

So if you're looking for a place to go this weekend, try Real in Quezon. You will definitely fall in love with this quiet town and want to come back again.