Pico de Loro Beach & Country Club

Phantom 4 1/190 ISO 100. Drone has fixed aperture, f/2.8, used ND8 filter. Edit w/HDR Efex Pro tone mapping

See entire gallery here.

We decided to take a little holiday as the kids here had no class 8/21-22 due to Ninoy Aquino Day and also the ending of Eid. Canyon Cove was booked so we chose Pico de Loro.

Sidebar: Not a good experience booking with Agoda.com. The place we booked was a condo (truthfully, just a glorified hotel room) because we had 3 adults and 2 kids, needed the room. The problem comes because these units are owned by someone and normally you deal with them. There was no passthru of information between Agoda and the owner. When we arrived, they had no idea we were coming. I did have the email confirmation and attachment on my phone but it did no good. We had to start from the beginning. Moral of the story: In all cases, book directly with the resort rather than a booker (Agoda, Expedia, etc.).

Another stop for lunch at Kainan sa Dalampasigan like we did the last time we were in Nasugbu. I ordered chicken adobo but it was a different variety than I am used to so did not eat much. We had niece Zxandae (Zahn-day) for a few days and she went with us.
Zxandae and Nikko. Nikon 1 J5, f/4/5 1/60, flash.

Your photographer and his lovely assistant.

The whole fam-damily. Nikon 1 J5, f/4/5 1/60, flash.

It took over an hour to get the reservation straightened out. Finally they let us into the compound. When we get to the room, the caretakers hired by the owner said cash only, no card.  Wonderful. Should we Western Union? No. PayPal? No. TransferWise? Yes. I use TW to move my own money from my stateside bank to here and the service is good, fast, excellent exchange rate.
First order of business:  get to the beach!

Taken by Zxandae from our balcony, Nikon 1 J5, f/4, 1/500. Edit with LandscapePro

Nikon 1 J5 f/4.5, 1/1250. Edit with Nik Collection by DXO

While the crew scouted for an ideal beach spot, I set up for flight in a mini soccer field. We asked ahead of time, this is where they told us to go. Always do this at these places, never assume. There was always a threat of rain and the wind was very strong. If you said it was foolhardy to fly in these conditions, you would get no argument from me. I have heard horror stories of drones getting knocked out of the sky by strong winds. But I really wanted to get these pics and video so up we went.

Christian and his Mom. J5, f/4, 1/1000. Edit with Topaz Labs Clarity filter.

Birds eye, beach. Phantom 4, 1/170. Edit with DXO Nik Collection.

Over the hills to the south to see what we could not. Phantom 4, 1/115. Edit with Topaz.

Meanwhile, the boys tried all morning to get Zxandae to come in the water. She wasn't having it but did go in with Joelet and I later that afternoon.

J5, f/4.5 1/1250. Edit with Nik Efex, my custom recipe for a film effect.

The business end of a WWII Japanese Navy 120mm gun. Sign is barely readable, don't know where they got it.

A few more stills, the afternoon was probably more windy than the morning but I stayed with it.

Return trip.

I should see if Pico de Loro would like to buy this one? Film efex recipe.

Looking north toward the resort/beach.

Overall thoughts on Pico de Loro: Very nice place, we were happy with the accommodations. Especially enjoyed dining outdoors, poolside. They have a rec center, we played a few rounds of badminton, I strained upper bicep, hoo-doggies that hurts! Advil time.
A number of perks available for country club members (of which we were not) so we checked it out. 610,000 PHP ($11,400 USD) for a membership - pretty sure it's lifetime. If you buy a unit, the membership fee is included:  7,000,000 PHP ($130.8K USD). We took a pass for now.
Have a look at the drone video, be sure to set it for 1080p full screen:


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