If you want to travel to the Philippines and are looking for a place that’s accessible to the airport, family-friendly, and secure for you and anyone you are traveling with then you should look at Tambuli Resort and Spa. Tambuli is a 5-star resort on Mactan Island just off the island of Cebu and is adjacent to the airport so it’s incredibly accessible to anyone who wants to stop by. In this blog, we will be going over, from start to finish, our experiences and the features of this pristine location. We will start with our experience with the drive, security checkpoints, and parking area of this resort.
The drive over wasn’t too bad. We came from Cebu Island which meant we had to cross one of the two bridges that connect Mactan Island to Cebu Island (that is until the giant new bridge is complete in a few years). We made our way through the init (hot in Bisaya) Philippine sun and were accompanied by the ever-present Cebu traffic, towards the Marcelo Fernan Bridge. The Marcelo Fernan Bridge first opened in August 1999 and served as a much-needed connection point from the mainland towards the airport. The bridge has a total length of 1,237 meters or 4058 feet with a center span of 185 meters or 607 feet. The bridge was constructed with the help of the Japanese government and was named after Senator Marcelo Fernan, a prominent political figure from Cebu City. After crossing the bridge we made our way towards the area known as Mactan Newtown and roads that kept shrinking in width (making it harder to navigate). A short while passed (10 minutes) and we came across the sign for Tambuly Resort and Spa which prompted us to turn on the semi-rough road to get to our destination.
Once we entered the reception area we were greeted with another security checkpoint (less strict) and made our way to the free drinks being offered to all hotel guests. It was an orange drink with a hint of cucumber so it seemed healthy (hopefully). We spoke to the front desk lady and she explained that we needed to put a deposit down on the room (which was PHP 2000) and we would get it back after the stay. So we have her the deposit and got the key. Our first stop was the room.
To get to the room, the resort offered us a free ride in their extended golf cart. The usher was kind enough to pack all of our bags into the cart and met us in the room once he dropped us off at the front of our building. Again, we were met with a security checkpoint to verify who we were and why we were there. All this security is great if you don’t mind it. If you don’t like being watched all the time then it may not be for you. Anyways… We got to the room and were immediately happy as they had a full queen-sized bed, large refrigerator, microwave, stove, pots/pans, plates, a full-sized bathroom with a separate toilet/shower, and a washer/drier. All of this paired with a balcony that overlooked the ocean (if you looked at a certain angle) made for a beautiful room. At this point, Cora (our daughter) was getting restless and wanted desperately to swim in the pools. We got changed and made our way back to the resort reception.
We walked with a purpose on a cobblestone pathway towards one of the pools. We also noticed that Tabuli is completely accessible to handicapped individuals as they have easily navigatable ramps at every turn (which was nice to see). After making our way to the first pool we noticed there were already several families swimming with their kids. We quickly found a spot we found earlier in the day and set up our for Cora to swim. There are several pools, a pool bar, several restaurants, a gym, a volleyball court, and a giant waterslide to enjoy for everyone. This was nice for our family because Cora was never bored and always had something new to enjoy. After swimming for a few hours and trying to teach our daughter to swim a little, we meandered to the beach area to check out what other amenities that Tambuli Resort and Spa had to offer its guests.
The beach was fairly large and didn’t have too much foot traffic as it’s completely exclusive to the resort (did I mention security?). Some of the watersports the resort offers include; paddleboarding, kayaking, snorkeling, mermaid tail swimming, island hopping, and scuba diving. Needless to say, there are a ton of things you can do here. If you’re looking for a short getaway for you and your family or want to celebrate a birthday then this is the place for you! After the beach adventure was all said and done we needed to eat because we were too focused on enjoying our time to remember the food.
our lunch was had at this restaurant called “Cafe Hojas” which is the main restaurant of Tambuli. They have a large selection of foods from across the world and truly live up to their “fusion food” reputation. Cafe Hojas even boasts the “best pizza of 2020” according to SunStar (a local paper dedicated to finding the best foods in Cebu). We had the all-meat pizza. It was delicious and was shared with our whole family. This was Cora’s first time eating pizza because we thought there wouldn’t be a better time to introduce this dish to her as it was the “best of 2020”. She loved the cheese! The price is quite expensive so you’ll need to have some extra money to enjoy this restaurant. The good news is that since the rooms have their own kitchens, you can bring your own food and cook in your rooms (which we love).
Overall we would give Tambuli Resort and Spa our seal of approval and highly recommend you guys visit as well! We love the security, amenities, staff, cleanliness, and food of this hidden gem and think you will too, so if you have some extra spending money and want a great place to spend a few days then feel free to check out Tambuli Resort and Spa!
We have an entire video on this exact story on our YouTube Channel, "Pamilya Abilla" if you want to see the full-detailed story!
We hope you found our stories interesting or helpful in any way as our blog is all about sharing our life with YOU, so be sure to Upvote, follow and comment if you enjoyed reading or watching our content.
Our Social Media
Pamilya Abilla - Facebook
Pamilya Abilla - Instagram
Pamilya Abilla - YouTube
