Coco Grove Beach Resort, Siquijor: A Cautionary Tale

Date of travel: June 15-16, 2013 

A cautionary tale has three parts.

Part 1: Someone tells you to do or not to do something


Before leaving for Siquijor, as is customary for me when preparing for trips, I waded through tons and tons of information online from fellow travelers. Not one post said it directly, but what I gathered was that since we were only staying overnight and spending the day touring the island, then staying at Coco Grove wouldn't make sense.

This is the warmest welcome we've received to date, but we don't know who Rosario and Marie Louis are. ;) 

Lois a.k.a. Marie Louis gets cozy with one of the many Bul-ols around the resort.

We were ready to settle the balance, and we anticipated the welcome drinks, but we were not prepared for the 10-minute orientation. I guess it makes sense when you check in to a resort so massive you could get "disoriented" trying to find your way around.   

Part 2: You do otherwise. 


You know I have this travel code I abide by which goes something like, “Thou shall spend as little as you possibly can on lodging because thy time shall be spent out exploring, and shall thus be only using the place to sleep.” There is, however, a provision to this code that goes, “The place shall be deemed livable so long as the toilet passes the Marie Christine Standards of Toilet Cleanliness.” Christine, or Istine (supposedly for short, with still two syllables, I don’t know how that’s supposed to be shorter) is a beer-enthusiast , a close friend, and my college thesis partner (arranged in degree of importance). Before the Negros Oriental trip, we had only traveled once (to Siem Reap), but she managed to establish that, when choosing a place to stay in, she’s only particular with one thing-toilets. She also happens to be a local of Pagadian City, and I hear that the people of Pagadian are toilet-cleanliness connoisseurs,  so  of course I give Istine’s opinion of toilets a high regard. In case you don’t detect the cheekiness here (what the heck is wrong with you?), then I have to point out that I am kidding.

Our Coco Grove Beach Resort room was a welcome change after our uber basic accommodations (read: none) in Calaguas. At P4,600 a night with breakfast for four, this is the priciest we've paid so far for a room, but it was worth it. The Frangipani II/ Family Deluxe room has a veranda with a table and lounge chairs. It also has technically two rooms and a spacious toilet that's accessible from both rooms. 

Matrimonial bed, flat-screen TV, and small fridge. 

Double-deck bed in the children's room. 

Okay, now, where was I? Right. I had to tell you that back story to point out that I could have chosen a cheaper alternative (with toilet cleanliness guarantee), but didn’t, because online sources say that Coco Grove Beach Resort is hands down the best in the area. And we’re not talking just a notch better than its competitors; we’re talking leaps and bounds ahead of others.  Also, if you consider that its rooms are only a few hundred bucks more expensive than those of other well-known, other strategically-located resorts, then there’s really no reason to not stay in Coco Grove.

Be warned that mobile phone signal is spotty at the resort. Free wi-fi is also only available in an area called ... the Wi-Fi Zone. 

Part 3: You suffer the consequences of your action and realize that you should have heeded the advice. 


I was wrong.

Once we were ushered in, we realized we shouldn't have checked into the resort only to spend the day touring the island because the place is … awesome. So awesome, you’d seriously think about just calling off the island tour you’d arranged with a tricycle driver cum tour guide extraordinaire (a.k.a. Kuya Joam).  So awesome, you’d seriously consider extending your stay at the resort one more night and ditching the whole plan of and spending the other night in Dumaguete City. So awesome, it’s almost okay not to catch up with a friend you haven’t seen in years.

Free breakfast. 


The girls having breakfast at Sunset Restaurant. 
Sunset Restaurant is aptly named because it has a deck perfect for viewing the famous San Juan beach sunsets. 

Let me tell you why you’d be bummed too if you check in at this resort but not spend a lot of time there:

1. The resort spans 2.5 hectares and has:
Salamandas Restaurant at the other side of the resort specializes in seafood. 

2. You can use their kayaks and canoes for free.
3. The resort has a long stretch of beach that ranks as one of the best beaches in Siquijor.
4. There's a marine sanctuary right in front of the resort if you're up for some snorkeling. This will set you back P310 if you don't have your own gear (P50.00 for the sanctuary fee and P260 for equipment rental for the entire day).  

If you missed my previous post, I'll say it again here. The waters of Siquijor are the turquoise-st I've seen. They are, however, not the best for swimming because "there's too much going on" (that's Project Runway judge Nina Garcia to a contestant on an episode I saw a long, long time ago) on its seabed, which makes the beach feel "raw" (that's me in a previous post) and ideal for sea-life exploration. 

This means that, if you choose not to, you won’t have any downtime at the resort. Or if you prefer to be less active, you can always curl up with a book in one of the beach huts. Or if you want something even more poetic, lie idly by the beach and marvel at the turquoise-ness of the sea.

As people say, with awesomeness comes a downside (people don't really say that, do they?). Coco Grove supposedly has an 800-meter long beach, but it's broken by a wall. If my map reading is correct, this wall separates one part of the resort from a fishermen's village. Also, though the resort obviously tries hard to maintain the beachfront, be warned that Siquijor waters tend to be algae-infested from May till the end of the year (according to Kuya Joam, our tour guide). If you're going to Siquijor to beach hop, then the best months are from February to April.

So, anyhoo, there’s a level of awesome that works best when you want to spend your time exploring a place. Coco Grove far and away exceeds that - stay away.

Check out Coco Grove's website. E-mail them for inquiries at cocogroveresort@yahoo.com. They respond quite promptly.

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