Ferry to MOA / Sea Residences

[OnMyWay]

On 4/21/2018 at 6:12 AM, KC813 said:

The ferry to Bataan, and the tour on the island, is very well executed.  The ticketing method seems to change every year but hopefully that has become more consistent. 

I've taken groups there several times and am always amazed how well-organized the whole operation is compared to, well, ... almost everything else you deal with daily!

I think you might be thinking of another ferry?  Perhaps the one that goes to Corregidor Island?

The one we took goes from Orion, Bataan, to Esplanade Seaside Terminal near MOA.  After not operating for several years, it started back up late last year.

There are some other ferries and bay tours operating out of the Esplanade Seaside Terminal.  One of them does the Corregidor run and had a video playing of the island.  It looks like a great place to visit and I would like to do it sometime.

[OnMyWay]

On 4/21/2018 at 4:30 PM, Gary D said:

 We stayed in Sea Residence a couple of years ago, airbnb. A bit small for 3.3M peso.

Is that what the basic units went for?  We were wondering.  Almost all of them are 1 "bedroom" 24 sq meters.  The tiny "bedroom" is by the window looking out and there is a wall with a door, but the wall has a 1 foot gap at the top by the ceiling.  This allows the aircon to flow into the living area even with the door closed.  Both of the units I picked had splits with the air con unit up near the ceiling so this worked well.  Others on Air Bnb had window types near the floor and I don't think that would be good at all.

[OnMyWay]

22 hours ago, marine6357 said:

Hi OMW I will be flying into Manila at the beginning of September and planning to stay there for a few days just to get acclimated to the time zone differences. So was wondering is this endorsement of Sea residences as a possible place for me to stay? Prices seem very reasonable and very nice location.

If you want to be near MOA and what it offers, Sea residences would be fine for a few days.  Shell residences is across the street and Shore residences is a bit north.  All are SM properties.  We chose Sea because it seemed to have a better pool area and playground for kids.

Sea has 6 pools and I think 3 are for kids.  The pool area is very well maintained.  What I meant earlier, was that some other areas of Sea are not so well maintained.  Simple stuff like in our building there was peeling decorative film around the elevator, very cracked tiles in the elevators, soiled sofas in the reception area and very dirty windows in the upper common areas.  Easily fixed with a few pesos, but poorly managed.  A worker told us that Sea is 7 years old.

That can vary by building.  We were in building B and my BIL was in building D.  I only went in the building D lobby.  It was much nicer and everything was newer and cleaner.

There are 6 buildings.  There is a path around the pool area that many use for jogging, and I think they have a decent gym someplace.

If MOA is not a top priority, consider Air Bnbs in Makati.  I looked at a few and the prices seemed better for larger units.  MOA area seems to command higher air bnb prices, for some reason.

I will write more about our visit in another thread, when time allows.

Edited April 22, 2018 by OnMyWay

[bob1965]

I  agree with onmyway. I stayed there for 2 weeks at the beginning of the year. I think it’s a great location. Took the ferry to Corregidor. That’s a worth while trip. There’s a guided tour included, and a buffet lunch. I would say sea residences is showing wear and tear way too quickly. In my unit there were cracks in the wall in the bedroom and bathroom. And not small ones, I’d say a fair bit of foundation settling. The pools are nice. But having said that, the water felt kind of “greasy”...and I had a nice red eye the next day. Antibiotic drops helped that. Next time I’ll wear goggles and hope for the best.

easy to get to from the airport. Safe area. 10 minute walk to Moa. Couple of local restaurants part of the main floor. 2 convenience stores right there for water, snacks etc. If anyone’s interested, there’s an archery place just down the road. That was a good way to spend an hour. So, I’d stay there again. Although in November I’m going to check our shell instead. It looks nice too. And it’s 3.5 million + for the asking price now.

oh...last thing. Try and get manila bay facing unit. Great sunsets. And I was there when they had the fireworks contest. Great view of that from the balcony. Especially with some take out food and a beer.

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, bob1965 said:

I  agree with onmyway. I stayed there for 2 weeks at the beginning of the year. I think it’s a great location. Took the ferry to Corregidor. That’s a worth while trip. There’s a guided tour included, and a buffet lunch. I would say sea residences is showing wear and tear way too quickly. In my unit there were cracks in the wall in the bedroom and bathroom. And not small ones, I’d say a fair bit of foundation settling. The pools are nice. But having said that, the water felt kind of “greasy”...and I had a nice red eye the next day. Antibiotic drops helped that. Next time I’ll wear goggles and hope for the best.

easy to get to from the airport. Safe area. 10 minute walk to Moa. Couple of local restaurants part of the main floor. 2 convenience stores right there for water, snacks etc. If anyone’s interested, there’s an archery place just down the road. That was a good way to spend an hour. So, I’d stay there again. Although in November I’m going to check our shell instead. It looks nice too. And it’s 3.5 million + for the asking price now.

oh...last thing. Try and get manila bay facing unit. Great sunsets. And I was there when they had the fireworks contest. Great view of that from the balcony. Especially with some take out food and a beer.

Yes, what Bob said here.  Actually I never went in the pools because I have an open wound on my shoulder.  The family seemed to like them and everything in the pool area was very clean and nice.  The pool water, visually, seemed very clean to me.

I was surprised how easy it was to walk to MOA.  I was worried because we have small kids and strollers, and the weather is hot.  You just go around the corner and the jump in an elevator up to a pedestrian overpass that takes you right into the mall.  There are two of them, one on Sea side and one on Shell side.

Yes, facing west toward the bay is the best.  They have fireworks Friday and Saturday at 7 pm this time of year.  We just heard the booms this year.

I made a map for our Marine.  Big green arrow is Sea.  Small green arrow is the overpass.  Big red arrow is Shell.  Small red arrow is the overpass.  The bay is to the far left.  We have stayed in Microtel a few times, yellow circle lower left.  However, hotels are no longer easy for us with a family of 5.  Air Bnb seems the way to go for us.

[Gary D]

We also stay at the Red Planet but it's a bit longer walk, about 20 mins.

[Jollygoodfellow]

2 hours ago, Gary D said:

We also stay at the Red Planet but it's a bit longer walk, about 20 mins.

Mars? I thought it was further. 

 

[Gary D]

1 hour ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Mars? I thought it was further. 

 

  such a card

[Gary D]

We have stayed in the Clark, Makate and MOA hotels and they all have been clean, tidy and reasonably priced. A good no thrills hotel.