Liwliwa

Hi there! 👋 I’m @benjtupas and welcome to another Travel PH82 Guide 🇵🇭 where I write DIY and budget-friendly guides for group and solo travelers on how to visit all 82 provinces of the Philippines!

For today’s guide, let’s virtually explore Liwliwa in the province of Zambales!

Summary

Liwliwa is just a 4 to 5-hour drive or commute from Metro Manila. It offers a variety of activities from enjoying the white sand beaches, surfing, beautiful sunsets, nightlife, and the most popular one, the ATV ride.

Day 1: 🚌 Bus Ride to San Felipe ☕ Sestra Liwa Cafe (🎥 Episode) 🛖 Lunch and Check-in at Zambali Woods / Ola Beach PH (🎥 Episode) 🏖️ Swim at the Beach (🎥 Episode) 🌅 Sunset Viewing 🍺 Nightlife at the Party Area Day 2: ☕ New Liwa Coffee 🏍️ ATV Ride (🎥 Episode) 🏖️ Swim at the Beach 🛖 Checkout 🚌 Travel back home

Let's start this 2-day DIY guide to Liwliwa. 😍

✈️ Monetize Your Travels

Accommodation

This is Zambali Woods or Ola Beach PH (same owner). To book, just contact them on Instagram: @olabeach.ph.

ZamBali means Zambales + Bali 😆
The fan room is at P4,000 per night which is good for 4 persons. The fan rooms have the Bali vibe while the aircon rooms look modern. We went here last January 14 to 15 when the weather was still cold so the fan room sufficed.
You might consider booking their aircon rooms if you're planning to go during summer.
There's a safety deposit of P1,000 which will be returned upon checkout.
There's also a P500 corkage fee if you bring your own food. They have a good restaurant inside so you don't have to bother.

✈️ Travel Essentials

Day 1

🚌 Victory Liner Pasay bus station

At the Victory Liner bus station, book a ticket going to the San Felipe bus stop in Zambales.
Fare: P498
It's better if you ride the 4 AM trip so you'll arrive in Zambales at around 9 AM to eat breakfast there.
This is a 4 to 5-hour commute.
Don't worry about the restroom breaks in between. You'll stop by Olongapo bus station after 2 hours.

As you get closer to Zambales, enjoy the green scenery and the sandy path going to Mount Pinatubo.

🛵 San Felipe bus stop

At the bus stop, ride a tricycle going to Zambali Woods (P50 per person). You can contact kuya Edwin (tricycle driver) at +639702341828.

The check-in time at Zambali Woods is at 2 PM.

If you arrive early, you can stay at the restaurant of Zambali Woods called Ola Beach PH while waiting. Or you can ask their staff to safeguard your stuff and go enjoy the beach.

But if you still have the energy after the bus ride, I highly recommend doing a detour to visit this Instagram-worthy cafe.

☕ Sestra Liwa Cafe

Instead of going to Zambali Woods from the San Felipe bus station, you can ride the same tricycle going to this cafe.

They serve delicious breakfast and good coffee (not 3-in-1 😆). The place is aesthetic too so take a lot of photos and videos for the gram! 😆

📍 Lunch at Ola Beach PH and check-in at Zambali Woods

At Sestra Liwa, ride a tricycle going to Zambali Woods or Ola Beach PH. The fare is P100. Both of them are located in the same compound and owned by the same family if I heard it correctly.

I love Ola Beach PH. The staffs are so much fun. The food is delicious and served in a wooden bowl which is something unique.

While waiting, enjoy the company of this really friendly and cute doggo! He's really huge in person.

Important Notes: - You can refill your water here. Just bring your reusable water bottle. - Parking is not a problem. There are so many parking areas there. - Note that Zambales is known for bad mobile coverage and wifi is not that fast during peak seasons. Working here might be a bad idea.

After you check in and eat lunch, take some time to rest and head to the beach.

🏖️ Swim and 🌅 sunset viewing at the beach

The beach is just a few steps away from Zambali. Enjoy being slapped by the strong waves 😆 and be in awe of the beautiful sunset.

🍺 Dinner, Drinks, and Live Band

There's a BBQ place and bars in the band area near the entrance of Liwliwa. You'll be entertained by a band and fire dancers while eating and drinking.

Don't drink too much so you can start early tomorrow for the highlight of the trip! 😆

✈️ Monetize Your Travels

Day 2

☕ Breakfast at New Liwa Coffee

Another Instagram-worthy cafe. However, we ended up eating our breakfast at Ola Beach PH because there were a lot of people waiting. No regrets though. We love Ola Beach PH.

Let's move to the most awaited part of the trip!

🏍️ ATV Ride

The ATV rental is really cheap at P1,000 per hour or P500 for 30 minutes regardless if you're riding solo or as a pair.

You can rent in 3 different ways:

Contact Bon ATV Rental (+639812346530). This is where we rented.
We discovered that you can also rent directly from Ola Beach PH.
ATV rentals are readily available at the beach area just a few steps away from Ola Beach PH.

Choose 1 or 2 and contact them in advance. Option 3 might run out of units during peak season.

🎒 10:00AM - Back to Zambali Woods

Pack your things and ready to check-out

🛖 12:00PM - Check-out at Zambali Woods

We decided to eat lunch at Ola Beach PH again. You can also roam around if you want to explore more options.

🛵 Zambali Woods to San Felipe Highway

Ride a tricycle going to the highway. You can contact the same driver or ask Zambali Woods or Ola Beach PH to request one for you.

You can wait for the bus here.

🚌 Ride the bus going to Pasay

According to the tricycle driver, the bus to Olongapo is more frequent than Pasay or Cubao buses.

You can also ride the bus to Olongapo. Then, at the Olongapo bus station, ride the bus to Pasay or Cubao.

Notice that the conductor's uniform looks like a pilot's uniform. 😆