Bamboo Beach Club in Nasugbu

Those familiar with the western Batangas coast in Nasugbu will tell you that the best swimming beach in the whole coast is Bamboo Beach. 

In decades past, Bamboo Beach was reachable only by sea, so only the townsfolk of Barrio Wawa who had access to bancas, and the more affluent boat owners from neighboring beaches like Tali Beach, Munting Buhangin or White Sands (now Terazzas), Natipuan,  and Maya-maya reef club were the only ones who could reach the place or bring people to Bamboo Beach.

The bancas and speedboats would bring over day-trippers, but the visitors would also leave before sundown leaving the place private and pristine once again.

 That's our boxy house there--lacking in style perhaps, but right on the beach. 1977.

Many many years ago there were only three houses right on the beach: Don Eduardo Roxas' beach house (yes, Don Eduardo of Roxaco land, Central Azucarera Don Pedro and Punta Fuego), Jay and Bettina Pou's nipa house, and ours--a simple wood and steel-roofed beach house. Our house was the closest to the shore among the three houses so it had to be able withstand the typhoons during the monsoon season.

Masterfully planned and subdivided

Today the beach is easily accessible by land because the area surrounding Bamboo Beach has been developed into the exclusive seaside subdivision called Kawayan Cove.  Lot sizes that range from 500 to 1200 square meters are available for sale to beach enthusiasts who put a premium on privacy and whose values include preservation of the environment.

Most of the lots of the first and second phases have been sold to low-profile individuals. A third phase has recently opened. All the lots in the property have beautiful views because of the tiered lay of the land.

 The view from a house on a Ridge lot.

Each property owner at Kawayan Cove is assigned a share to the Bamboo Beach Club. The club includes the Beach Pavilion, the Bamboo Beach Bar and bathhouses down at the beach, and the Clubhouse up the cliff, its infinity pool, the great hall with a full restaurant,  function rooms and locker rooms.

the view from the clubhouse infinity pool

Unlike other membership clubs, one can't purchase a proprietary club share at the BBC. One must be a property owner at Kawayan (or a guest of a property owner) to be able to use the club. This ensures minimal impact on the environment and maximum exclusivity for the property owner. For the homeowners, it's truly an escape not only from work but also the social demands of city life.

 and from the Great Hall

 A sneak preview of the Clubhouse Great Hall

Down at the beach, the Beach Pavilion serves a Filipino menu. Nothing pretentious--just delicious comfort food  that you'd love to chow down when you're at the beach!

at the Beach Pavilion

my favorite--crisp noodles with veggies

The original private homes on the beach have since given way to the Beach Pavilion, 

The Bamboo Bar and the bathhouses

 view from the Beach Pavilion

Bamboo Beach is the closest white-sand beach to Manila-- Kawayan Cove being only 2 hours and 15 minutes away by car via the South Luzon Expressway through Santa Rosa and Tagaytay.  But when you are here, you feel like you are much farther away than that, making it the perfect place for a weekend home. It's far enough to get rejuvenated, yet close enough to drive back quickly if needed.

 Amihan winds makes the sea almost glass-like.

Beach season starts from October to the last week of April. During this time, the wind comes from the northeast and blows against the sea, making the sea flat and the waves small. This northeasterly wind is called amihan. The opposite of amihan is habagat, when the wind comes from the other direction. The wind usually changes direction end of April. By this time, the southwest monsoon winds blows from the sea towards the shore, creating big waves that pound onto the beach.

Habagat in Bamboo Beach

We actually enjoy Bamboo Beach all year round--whether amihan or habagat.  When it's habagat season, the beach is enticing in a different way. The waves crash heavily on the shore, it's overcast, misty and actually quite romantic.

One of the downsides of habagat is that on some habagat months, big waves bring trash in from the open sea. It's terrible to see what people carelessly toss into the water! It's good to show the kids where irresponsibly thrown trash ends up--in the shores of otherwise clean beaches.  But beach-lovers know the cycle. When the wind changes again in October, the cool and dry winds of amihan calm the sea and the beach looks wonderful again.

The beach is paradise for kids. There are no discussions about electronic gadgets, there's no "can I watch TV?" and never,  the most irritating,  "I'm bored!"   The girls stay out on the beach from early morning to late afternoon and it's very difficult to call them in even for meals.

So I don't even bother. I let them stay out the whole day, just watching them from afar. It reminds me of when we were kids and we were left to roam the whole expanse of the beach too.

 

 

And just when you think a glorious day at the beach can't possibly get any better, you get a sunset like this. I have a hard time coming in from the beach too.

Life in Bamboo Beach is good.

Note: Don Eduardo's beach hut is still standing on Bamboo Beach (since it's tucked into one side of the beach and didn't get in the way of any new structure) where it was originally built in the 1950's. It's a link to what life was like in Bamboo Beach during those days.

Kawayan Cove

Nasugbu, Batangas

info@kawayancove.com