Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
It's my mother's 57th birthday last 10th of August so it was just timely that we go out to somewhere we can celebrate her birthday. However, we have to delay it a bit because I was still in Cebu on the tenth. She was very patient about it though and on Saturday, August 12, 2017, we finally got the chance to go out.
Anda is just a few minutes away from our town and it is our main option because this town has been top together with Panglao as swimming destination in the province. Ever since I was small, we had been going to the different beaches of Anda both from the public and the private resorts. This time, we had a hard time deciding where to go because we have somehow visited almost all the available resorts in the area and thought it would be best to go to a place which is not crowded and has a good beach offer.
The tendency of going to the public beaches though is that there are lots of people so as much as possible, we have to avoid those. So after thinking about it, we decided to go to Flower Beach Resort instead.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
☼ GOING TO ANDA ☼
I have featured Anda a few times in bitLanders and had also blogged about a few couple of beach resorts such as the public Anda long beach including Quinale Beach, there was a feature about East Coast Beach resort as well. So it is very redundant perhaps to tell you about this process of going to Anda and all so for today, I'd like to be more helpful in terms of the available means of transportation you can do so when going to Anda.
From Tagbilaran City which is the capital of Bohol, it would take around two and half hours to get to Anda. Most passengers will drop by Guindulman if they had taken a bus which don't include Anda as a destination.
Private Cars
The best way to go to Anda and which I always recommend because going home back to Guindulman or different areas would not be a problem. There's a huge chance that when you go to Anda, you'll start enjoying the beach that you forgot about the time and without noticing, it was already dark and no more public vehicles available.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Habal habal
Habl habal is a local term for those motorcyle for hire. You'll easily notice them when you drop by Guindulman town because these drivers were these long sleeves top shirts and they'd be offering their services to the locals and strangers too!
This is a cheap and easy option though specially if you are traveling solo. With riding a habal habal, you'll have to consider the fact that these drivers may have the tendency of becoming sweaty and sweaty means getting fungi and bad body odor. So may try to select the right habal-habal driver for you.
Speaking of traveling, kindly check on the Querlo chat bot below:
Public Bus/V-hires
Because of the many tourists coming over to Anda, some bus companies had made bus routes to cater this demand. So the Ceres bus liner and other local bus companies now have schedules of bus coming from Tagbilaran City to Anda.
This is also a win for students coming from this town as bus fares are more cheaper than vans and other private cars.
Tricycle
Tricycle is a motorcycle with additional cab-like vehicle attached to it. It is very popular in the Philippines, more of like a Tuk-tuk in other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia.
So some tricycle drivers would allow going to Anda for a specific amount. Beware of these ones because some may take advantage and charge you higher than the normal fare.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
☼ FLOWER BEACH RESORT ☼
This was my first time coming to Flower Beach Resort. My favorite resort in Anda is actually East Coast but we can't go there at that time because it was already three in the afternoon and they would only allow walk in visitors until six in the evening, it would not be a good idea to stay there for only three hours.
When traveling to Anda, one will notice that the beach resorts are just sitting right next to each other. There are signs, names and tarpaulins of these resorts from the high way. Most resorts would be around few minutes ride from the highway going to the shoreline so the signs were made so that the guests would know that this intersection is going to that specific resort.
After passing by a few resorts, we found Flower Beach and my brother made a right turn maneuver. Here's my review on the said resort:
☼ AMBIANCE ☼
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Coming inside, we found a few heads of visitors who were still wet and were on their way out of the resort. Trees, coconuts and other plants were visible from here that it looks like we were in paradise. I admit it reminded me of the Norwegian Dream Beach Resort in Siquijor and just like it, it also lacks maintenance.
Moving to the other part of the resort, we realized it is a huge land made into a resort. In their website, they mentioned that they have peaceful tranquil gardens. On site is a large restaurant and bar with terrace, a smaller outdoors bar, a tennis court and massage area. And their restaurant serves Filipino and western food.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
However, it seems the garden was not a garden anymore, there were less flowers seen, I spotted a few Hibiscus or Gumamela plants blooming too but again, they were not beautifully arranged. Their beach outdoor bars are already dilapidated and obviously, was not used for months or perhaps years I guess.
There's a mini park too but the slides had already rusted and destroyed. There's a seesaw too which my husband and I tried using but unfortunately, it has rusty edges which might hurt kids and adult alike. Their swing has only one seat left but also not balanced which might result to falling from the swing itself.
Overall, the place would have been nice if it was properly maintained.
☼ CLEANLINESS ☼
As mentioned earlier, the resort seemed not pretty maintained. There were lots of dried fallen leaves in the ground which I believe should have been swept and should be kept clean but then I don't know if they are undermanned or they just didn't care much about the cleanliness.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
The major concern was the swimming pool which was really dirty. There were certain dirt floating in it specially the infinity pool. It was a sad thing that it was not appealing to us, we decided not to swim at the pool. Our little companion, Samantha had somehow find a smaller pool which was a bit cleaner.
These were not plastic or sort of garbage though, just some fallen tree items or perhaps some dead insects or etc but it was obviously floating there for days! I don't know why they were not cleaning it and we also mentioned it to the customer service personnel who didn't bother telling their staff to clean it. They just let it be like that so we didn't take the pool instead, focused at the beach.
☼ BEACH ☼
I must admit that this is the best part of the resort. Their tropical native cottages were just perfectly situated to the shoreline. The waters were clean and clear and it was super inviting that the little Samantha swam right away into the sea.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Good thing that there were also other kids around but it didn't feel like crowded at all. We were the only ones at the shore then some visitors came after awhile but also left.
The sand was super fine just like other beach shores here in Anda. Truly this town is blessed with white sand beaches! It is a wonder why our town which is just a few minutes away from this town has black sand! Anyways, we enjoyed the view of the beach and the water as well as the fine white sand!
Video credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
☼ RATING ☼
My preferences for a pool and beach resort is to have clean environment. Facilities should be well maintained such as the pool specially. It was a sad thing to note as well that they don't have proper staff to ask to if you have concerns or things needed. Like when we were looking for their grilling place, no one was visible so we can ask for it, instead it took us time to find a spot and there were no grilling plates! So we have to be resourceful and find ways for ourselves.
Image credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
Worse case was well was that in the cottage, there were no seats given to us. When we arrived there, we were the ones who looked for chairs all around the resort so we can sit. That was definitely a downside.
I also prefer good customer service but for this instance, they were not accommodating opposite to what they have mentioned on their website. So that's a bad thing.
I am rating it 3 over 10.
I won't really suggest it to any of my friends. The three points goes to the beach because it was nice and appealing but aside from that, there were no other good point that I would be mentioning for the resort. I believe the Quinale Public Beach in the main Anda town was better since they have chairs available for every guest who wants one.
Video credits: Jean Beltran-Figues via bitLanders.com
More information about Flower Beach Resort:
Virgen, Anda 6311 Bohol, Philippines
+63 918 579 6166
requests@flower-beach.com
Flower Beach Resort
Best regards,
Jean Beltran-Figues
