Lakeside Living Club Balai Isabel
ByONE special summer weekend worth looking back to was my visit to 10-hectare Club Balay Isabel in Barangay Banga in Talisay, Batangas. This spur-of-the-moment day trip, with events organizer Bernard Supetran, his son and his niece, again brought me face-to-face with Taal Volcano, the world’s smallest and deadliest volcano, and Club Balai Isabel, opened in 2007, was to be our jump-off point.
We left Manila early in the morning, got tied up in South Luzon Expressway (Slex) traffic. We took the Santa Rosa Exit, drove along the Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Road, turned left along Aguinaldo Highway and drove down Ligaya Drive. We still managed to get to the resort in time for a Filipino breakfast at its full-service restaurant within the clubhouse, with its magnificent view of Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. It also has a business center and a novelty shop.
We were welcomed by resort owner and Talisay native Nelson Terrible and his wife Cecille. After breakfast, I still had time to explore the resort’s accommodations and facilities, which include residential houses and two boutique-style clusters: the Sampaguita Manor, with its six hotel-type rooms with minirefs, hot and cold shower and balcony, all nestled on a garden of different trees and ornamental plants; and the Ylang-Ylang Villa, which offers six two-story, kitchen-furnished studio units, all ideal for families.
Club Balai Isabel Talisay Batangas
Since the long lake shoreline is not recommended for swimming (because of the murky and deep water), the resort has put up, aside from its free-form swimming pool, the Mobideep, an inflatable swimming pool with separate pools of different depths. Its deepest pool, measuring 21 feet, is even used for scuba-diving training. The challenging Balikatan Course, consisting of five different obstacles, is mostly used for company team-building. Apart from its swimming pools, the resort also has tennis, badminton and basketball courts, and guests can also rent a kayak to go around the lake.
Then, it was time to go. Aside from the other resort guests, we were with distinguished company, as joining our trek to the volcano were the three Filipino women who conquered Mount Everest just a year ago. This was to be my third visit to the volcano and my second to the viewpoint (the other was a trek to the crater lake itself). To get to Volcano Island, we used a number of the resort’s 32 accredited motorized bancas.
After a 30-minute trip that took us around the island, past the 311-meter high (the island’s highest point) Mount Binintiang Malaki (seemingly featured on most Taal Volcano postcards like an island but actually connected to the real Volcano Island), we arrived at the Welcome Center. From there, it was all 45 minutes of hiking, first along the beach, then into a shady forest and, on our last leg, up a steep, dusty and treeless trail up to the viewpoint. The viewpoint was a cool welcome relief for its shade and its magnificent bird’s-eye view of the beautifully azure and seemingly peaceful crater lake with its small island. The trek back to the Welcome Center and our boats was faster but very slippery.
Once back at the resort, we all proceeded to Kasay-Kasay Hall, one of the resort’s two function rooms (the other is Kasili Hall) for a buffet lunch. After lunch, a press conference was held centering on the three Pinay Mount Everest Team members—Janet Belarmino-Serdenia, Carina Dayondon and Noelle Wenceslao—who narrated their trials and tribulations before and during their conquest of Mount Everest. During the presscon, Mr. Terrible also expressed his concerns regarding the environment. To encourage environment protection and conservation from the community, the resort has started a Solid-Waste Management project wherein Talisay residents can avail themselves of support from the resort in the form of loans or financial backing for community projects on the condition that they turn in a certain amount of recyclable waste materials to the resort. According to Terrible, this concerted effort will make people realize that nature and Taal Lake should be protected to be able to retain their livelihood, especially fishing and tourism. The resort, on the other hand, also addresses the water shortage problem (one of the biggest environmental problems that the country has to face in the coming years) by using filtered lake water for the swimming pool as well as for Mobideep. They also make sure that they are using low energy-consumption equipment in the resort.
Club Balai Isabel Resort Talisay Batangas
In the near future, Club Balai Isabel will be adding more facilities, including a recreation center equipped with videoke, a movie room, billiard tables, Wi-Fi and Playstation 3 rooms, an Internet shop, a tea lounge and a library. Wi-Fi will also be made available in the public areas. The resort will also be building facilities for skim and wake boarding. A wellness center, offering medical spa and traditional medical facility as well as noninvasive therapies and executive checkups for tourists and guests, will also be opened. Terrible is particularly excited about the opening of the Spa Suites, eight roomy huts which will have a queen-sized bed, private bathroom and a private Jacuzzi in a lush garden setting. Club Balai Isabel will soon offer the Taal Lake Cruise using their 20-person Cancun that is equipped with washroom and minibar.
To also get to the resort from the Slex, you can also take the Greenfield/Asia Brewery exit and head toward Tagaytay City. Turn left at Calamba Road, then turn right at Ligaya Drive and head toward Talisay. Turn left at the junction of Talisay National Road and look for the entrance of Club Balai Isabel, which will be at the right side of the road.