The island of Lakawon is one of the reasons why Filipinos should be proud of their tourist spots. A highly photogenic place, this banana-shaped island resort is located in Cadiz, Negros Occidental, a convenient place for domestic and foreign tourists alike who would be coming from Guimaras island and other fringe islands within the Visayas.
I consider visiting Lakawon Island a blessing even though my experience was limited to a day tour, especially because I was with my relatives, consisting of 4 families in all. It was fine, considering that the limited hotel accommodation facilities at the time of our visit, and construction of additional rooms was ongoing.
For a minimal entrance fee of PhP250 per person, one could already enjoy sight-seeing while sipping a complementary welcome drink. It’s a steal when you realize that this place has been dubbed as the “Maldives of the Philippines.
More Lakawon Island Resort here
Guests pay only for what they use at varying prices, depending on what they will rent. For instance, prices could go as low as PhP600 for availing of an umbrella hut that can shade up to 6 persons, to as high as PhP1,000 for a canopy tent that could be occupied by 10 persons.
The best route to appreciating what Lakawon Island has to offer would be to head straight to Tawhai Floating Bar. For me, this is the island’s unique and winning feature, and I just found out that it is also Asia’s biggest floating bar. There’s something about this place that makes you forget every single worry you had in the city that you could have otherwise brought. Once in Tawhai, you’d instantly feel a relaxed and cozy feeling (no wonder it’s called tawhai, which is how we’d call an easy disposition in the Visayan vernacular), especially with another welcome drink in sight. The view was simply breathtaking as to behold while lying on floating beds for friends and family. For those who’d rather dine after swimming, Tawhai bar offers an array of delicious snacks and drinks. Guest service was also much better than what we had experienced at the resort where we registered.
More Tawhai Bar Photos here
But then, there were no short-cuts during the time that we visited, and everyone had to land at the resort first, and then register there before they could head off to Tawhai.
Back to the resort, the beautiful place has a huge room for improvement especially in terms of guest service, in order to match its picture-perfect feature. If it were more professionally run and had the staff been attentive to the needs of the guests who were not back-packers, especially for meals and drinks, Lakawon would stand a higher chance to become an international getaway for people who put a premium on superb service amidst an unforgettable place.
Lakawon Island Resort:
Contact Number: Call 0917 502 2625
Website: here
How to get there:
