Clark Weekend Getaway Part 1: Puning Hot Springs

Friday, June 17, 2011

Our barkada wanted a weekend getaway for our friend’s despidida. Limited by time and our budget, we wanted to do something new. Weekend fave Tagaytay was out of the question since we’ve been there a lot of times already. A month prior, I had a shoot in Clark for an AVP. We shot at Puning Hot Springs and spent the weekend in Clark. I suggested it to my friends and viola! Problem solved.

Before I go further, you’ll have to watch this video on OurPhilppines.Tv to get a better view of Puning. This was actually part of the AVP we shot for work. A huge chunk of what you need to know is already in the video so do, WATCH FIRST! =) And yes, it “stars” people that are close to me. Haha!

The Damage, P3,000 per pax (min. of 2 people):
Hot Spring Entrance
Buffet Lunch (Filipino food)
4x4 jeep
Foot Massage (40 mins)
Sand Spa
Whole body Mudpack
Local Guide
Barangay Entry Fee
Conservation Fee
Towel, T-Shirt and Shorts you can use while at the vicinity

There are 3 stations in the whole vicinity: (1) reception area, (2) spa area and (3) the hot springs. You can pick the order of your activities but we opted to do the hot springs first, the spa activities and then lunch last. After the sand spa, you get to shower so you go to lunch squeaky clean.

The ride from the reception area to the hot springs is around 30 minutes and it put a huge smile on our faces. The view was serene and the stream provided us with a sprinkle of adrenaline. What’s great about Puning is that the jeep is yours. There’s no minimum or maximum time that you can stay in the Hot Springs.

Don’t you just love it??

We stayed soaked in the hot springs for 30 minutes under the scorching sun. Any longer and we would have suffered from dehydration! Haha

Danix loving Puning.

Did we run over someone??? Uhm, no. Haha Our jeep broke down on our way to the spa area.

So what did we do while waiting? Photo opp!!

What to expect at the spa? Foot spa (no photos, we were too relaxed!), sand spa (photo shown above) and the full body mud pack (also no photos).

We had lunch at 2 PM and the buffet wasn’t set-up anymore. Instead, they served the food on our table which was probably good for 6 people. We were so hungry that everything tasted great. Haha But when I thought about it again, the food was average.

Surprisingly, we felt exhausted after the hot springs experience – it was probably because of the sun. So the spa at the end was perfect! The P3,000 we paid was well worth it. We had a good mix of adventure, relaxation and the spa.

How to get there:
(If you have a vehicle, you can skip steps 1-2)
1. Take the Philtranco Bus at SM Megamall going to the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark.
2. You can take a jeep but since we were 4 we planned to take a taxi instead going to Ministop Sutherland, the meeting place with the people from Puning.
3. From Ministop, Puning’s 4x4 jeeps will take you to the reception area.
4. After you’re Puning adventure, they can take you back to Ministop Sutherland.

Some tips for a trip to Puning:
- The first trip is at 8 AM and the last trip is at 3 PM since they close at 6 PM. It’s best to take the first trip to avoid the crowd. We took the first trip and had the hot springs to ourselves. When we were already in the spa part of our trip, hoards of people were coming in.
- We had our overnight stuff with us and we didn’t want to bring everything to the hot springs. You can leave your bag in their office.
- Bring water and snacks when you head to the hot springs. The thing is, we DID bring those things but we left them in the office with our overnight bags. Haha There are drinks for sale at the hot springs but when we came the only snack available was balot.

* Check out Part 2 here.

-------------------------------
Puning Hot Springs
0919-3392795, 045-499-0629
puning_hotspring@yahoo.com