Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Esoy Hot Spring at Catmon Cebu

  I got invited by Ronald's dad last Saturday, April 24, 2010 to a hot spring located at Catmon Cebu. The resort is called Esoy hot spring. It is about an hour and a half ride from Mandaue City, of course depending on how the traffic is. You can ride a mini bus from Mandaue or North Bus Terminal which would cost about P40.00 - 50.00. You can ask the driver to drop you at corner ("skina") Duyan, Catmon, Cebu. From there you can  pay around  P 30.00 for a 5 km ride on a motorcycle ("habal-habal").

  By the way, entrance fee is P 100.00 per head and you need to call the number (032) 4309250 and look for Esoy or Menein for a reservation because the place is small and they wont accommodate you specially if the place is already reserved or occupied.

  I was able to talk to the caretaker and she said that Esoy Hot Spring is owned by a  local town councilor Esoy Bustamante. Also, there are caves in the area that you can go to and a waterfall just a few meters away. You won't be able to see it from the pool though because of a big hill. Also, she said that since it is summer, the hot water spring coming out of the small cave is very slow, that is why the pool is not that hot anymore. But during other days, when the water flow is a bit faster, the temperature of the water inside the pool gets hotter and you could even see smoke from the pool because of the hot temperature of the water. You  could also smell the strong scent of sulfur.
 We will try to visit the place again soon when it's not El Niño anymore so that we can experience bathing there when the water is hotter and more relaxing. Hope you enjoy the scraps Ronald took.




This is the parking area.



And this is our ride.


This is the path going down to the pool.





 View of the pool from above.



stairway to the pool


going up?!






cooking area


CooL..


 The pOOL..



12 comments:

  1. these springs are rubbish. The water is cold and the rate of 100 peso is not so depending on the colour of your skin. If you are white you get charged 3 times as much. Racist greedy owners dont survive in business and i look forward to a nice Red Horse on the day this spring shuts shop, dries up or changes owners. Good riddance.

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  2. Sorry to hear your inconveniences..
    I hate it when they do that..
    They should treat everyone the same..

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  3. This place is really good because I am from Catmon also but I was kinda shocked knowing about the difference in rates.

    But well, owners for sure didn't mean to be greedy or racists but maybe they are just thinking of their investments. The property costs hundreds of thousands to construct. In business perspective, it is good to market foreigners but so that our fellow countrymen can have this experience they had decided to give a different rate.


    That I understand. Whatever it is, I will go there to enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think locals and foreigners' rates should differ. Isn't this being practised in other countries as well?

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  5. what a beautiful paradise I was there recently at Esoy Hot Spring and I was able to talked personally with the owners. I learned from them that the big pool dried up last year due to long drought that lasts for 7 months. Last Jan. 2011 the hot H2O flows back again wherein the big pool can be filled up in just 3 hrs. and continuously overflowing. 3 pools with hot water has been constructed in the area already then I was able to cross to the waterfalls using their newly installed hanging bridge. This is a democratic country we have the right to air our grievances so thus the owner has the right to impose their own policy we have to respect it....:)

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  6. wow.. so Esoy HotSpring has been improved since Ive been there last year.. Hmm.. Another place to go to on my list..

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  7. @Anonymous:
    No. In all european countries i traveled so far all foreigners (including Filippinos) pay the same price like locals for everything.
    Why are some Filippinos so unfair and charge foreigners more?
    That's simply racist, not ok and for sure i wont visit places that are doing that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous? the owners are the best.. they are not racist.. how sure are you that we are not charge more than the rate when we go to other countries? as for me, we were properly accommodated in the place.. the price was all worth it..

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  9. and when we went there, the water is super hot.. in fact you can boil the eggs there..

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  10. The place is something to look forward to, but if you really want to promote tourism here, we should treat everyone equally... no racism please!

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  11. Don't go to this place please!! Its not worth your money. They have extremely bad

    management. We went there the other day and we were informed through the phone that

    their entrance fees are 100 pesos for filipinos and 300 for foreigners. The cottage is

    500 and there is also 300. When we got there, we were surprised to find out that their

    rates have changed. They asked ask for 600 pesos!!! WHAT THE HELL?!!!! I asked for some

    sort of explanation and they told us that the 500 pesos already included the cottage,

    the entrance fees and the river trekking. We told them that we don't need to rent the

    cottage. You know what they said? They said "NO"!! They said that we should pay 500

    pesos!! If you won't pay, you're not allowed to go inside. WHAT THE HELL? Why would we

    pay for the cottage as well when we don't want to use it...and they were only two of us.

    Renting a cottage would just be a waste of our money. We tried to asked why won't they

    let us go inside without renting a cottage. You know what they answered? They told us

    that it would be bothering other customers.

    WHAT THE HELL?!!! I don't even understand what that supposed to mean. and the woman was

    kinda stammering when she tried to explain. Her reason was nonsensical. I was sure she

    was just trying to make a poor reason just to get more money. When we also told them

    that we would rather go to the river, not the hotspring. So it means that we don't need

    to rent a cottage. You know what they told us? They told us that we need to still pay

    the 600 pesos. Even though we're not going to use hot spring and the cottage. She talked

    to the manager about our complaints and you know what they did? They won't let us go

    inside if we don't pay the exact amount. Thinking about it again, really pisses me off.

    We went their expecting a good service and you know what we got? A terrible service.

    Really horrible.

    Also, we wasted our money for the transportation going to the hot spring and without

    even going inside. It was a terrible day. Their rates there are only suited for

    foreigners. NEVER GO THERE. They are just using GOD'S land and making money out of it.

    The HOT SPRING is not really theirs. If they didn't built the property around the HOT

    SPRING. All of the people will enjoy it freely.

    If you want to go to a nice place, to place with NATURAL BEAUTY? Please go to TUMALOG

    FALLS!! Its the best. Its still untouched and hasn't been developed yet. And don't

    forget that its for FREE!!! NO ENTRANCE FEES unlike some PLACES!! >:(

    ESOY HOT SPRING IS NOT WORTH YOUR MONEY!!! I've also heard and read some reviews in the

    internet from other people who went there. They said that their Hot Spring is WARM. ITS

    NOT HOT!!!

    Also, their river there is getting dirtier. We went their on our own with the help with

    some locals who pointed the direction to us. Pictures will be shown. Its muddy and

    dirty. DON'T EVEN CONSIDER GOING THERE.

    You know why their not showing the rates in their webpage? It's because their rates are

    always subject to change. It just changes without even you realizing it. WHAT THE

    F***?!!

    WHAT A BUNCH OF GREEDY, MISLEADING and HUNGRY DOGS.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Did you try river trekking when you went to Esoy Hot Spring?

    ReplyDelete

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