Cintai Corito's Garden: Bali in Batangas

One thing about Cintai Corito's Garden is that they don't have a beach, only swimming pools. So I had to convince hubby quite a bit before booking since he prefers going to the beach when taking out of town trips. However, I noticed that we spend most of the time in the pool anyways since the kids enjoy it there more. And since the place had 4 swimming pools, I was sure they would have fun. Another thing that really made me want to go is that they have animals such as a pony, peacocks, geese, deer, and many more which I wanted the kids to see. Plus, it is only about an hour away from the city so it would be a great place to just relax and unwind.

reception area / parking

The place is definitely huge and sprawling. Expect to get lost and a out of breath when walking from one place to another, especially when climbing steps. But the place is beautiful and you really feel like you're in Bali with all the decors, carvings and structures. Everything also looks and feels new, probably since they've just been open for under 3 years. And there are so many nice spots to take pictures! I swear, if I knew about this place when I was getting married, I would have loved to have my pre-nup pictorial here. :) They also have 2 pavilions for special events (in fact, there was a wedding reception in the outdoor pavilion when we were there). Again, if this place was available back then, I would have seriously considered this as our wedding venue! ;p

feeling fashion blogger lang ang peg lol! ;p

so many areas with tables and chairs scattered all over where you can just lounge around

the outdoor pavilion where events are held

even their outdoor restrooms/changing rooms are so nice

check out the inside!

love all the Balinese-inspired details & decors

And now, the swimming pools! I'm not sure many people know about this place yet because we seem to be the only ones there during our first day so we had all the pools to ourselves (although there was a big company outing the next day). We first checked out the kiddie pool which had a little bit of a shallow area, then mostly deep at about 4ft. So you still had to watch the kids closely or keep them in floaters. I just wished they would have made it evenly shallow so that the kids could splash around more. I mean, there are 3 other pools anyway...

After, we moved to the biggest pool. The kiddie playground is located just a few steps away so the kids played here after they grew tired of the pool. There was an incident that happened though which is completely GROSS. I wasn't there since my sister and I wanted to check out the other pools, but according to hubby, a RAT suddenly jumped into the pool while they were swimming! The staff quickly got it out and killed it but everybody was pretty grossed out after (and of course, nobody wanted to get back in the pool anymore). The thing is, I also read in an online review that a snake got in the pool when they were there. Here's the review from Agoda.com:

I was relaxed all the way until our last swim on our last day. A snake (small.. but sheesh, still scary)... got in the pool (and quickly got out also).. came from the man made "waterfall" beside the pool. And I had my 4-year old son with me! I understand that the place.. being almost 5 hectare filled with trees, plants... may house some free roaming animals/insects... but seeing a snake in the pool just trumps all positive and relaxing vibes I got from the place. (Kristine C.)

I was actually on the look out for snakes while we were there so I really didn't expect the rat attack! I don't know which one is worse (probably the snake? but I'd probably be FREAKING OUT either way). Since the place is so huge and full of shrubs and trees, for sure there are really all kinds of animals all over. These are probably isolated incidents so just be careful and know that you've been warned!

Since nobody wanted to stay in the big pool already, we transferred to the other pools across the resort. These were much smaller but also deep, so the kids still had to be in floaters.

Another thing, there are ants all over the place. And not just normal ants, HUGE ones. There's also lots of mosquitoes so be sure to keep your kids in pajamas and slather lots of insect-repellent!

Overall, we had a good time since it was something different from our usual beach trips. Meanwhile, you can check out our Garden Villa HERE and the activities we did & animals we saw HERE. :)

Cintai Corito’s Garden

 Sitio Pandayan, Malabanan Balete, Batangas | View Map
 Mobile: +63917.833.1508 / +63917.833.1728
 coritosgarden@gmail.com