Gen. Gregorio Lim Marine Base: "Borácay de Cavite"

The Philippine Marine Corps named this place Marine Barracks Gregorio Lim. Ternateños refer to it simply as "marine base". But we'd rather call it —and the whole of Ternate for that matter— as "The Other Side of Cavite". The municipality, most especially the territories outside the town proper, is really something else that is almost "un-Cavite" for those who have been accustomed to the urban side of the province (the most familiar image to many, I suppose). Whenever Cavite is mentioned, almost immediately the stark stolidity and coldness of concrete and infrastructure come to mind: there's the robotlike queue of vehicles at the toll gate of CAVITEX, moving as if they're in a conveyor belt; the mushrooming subdivisions and commercial centers of Bacoor, Dasmariñas, and Imus; the unswimmable waters of Ciudad de Cavite, Noveleta, and other coastline municipalities; the lonely humming of machines in the Cavite Economic Zone and other industrialized areas; the monstrous traffic jams at Aguinaldo Highway with its gigantic, unfriendly looking concrete electrical posts; Bong Revilla, etc. I could go on and on, but I think you get the sad picture already.

The blunt reality is this: much of Cavite seems to be a lonely place for tourism to thrive on. Well, there's Tagaytay, of course, but it's on a league of its own (at the back of many tourists' minds, they don't even place the city by the ridge vis-à-vis the general imagery of mainstream Cavite). However, when one thrusts further southward, way beyond the humdrum or urbanized Cavite, one encounters an undiscovered freshness of air that seems to have been surreptitiously kept away from the "curse of modernization". To this, Ternate says "hello!" — or rather, "¡Hola!" For Ternate (sans the modern architecture of homes) seems to have been suspended in time. Its mores, its values, its faith, its language, they are all there, still intact, still strong, simply waiting for curious urbanites to take notice and give them their overdue acknowledgement.

Puerto Azul and Caylabne Bay Resort may well be Ternate's gems in the field of tourism. But they cater mostly to the gilt-edged. Not all beach goers are from the gentility. So this is where Katungkulan* Beach Resort comes in.

The entrance to the marine base which also leads to its white-sand beach resort. With its intimidating reputation as a military barracks, who would have known that it has a beach resort that is open to the general public? Not us, and not to many.

Coming from the entrance, the well-paved road continues to fork upwards through thick vegetation (with lots of monkeys!). Nearing the beach proper, one will be rewarded with a view of the beautiful cove far below.

Among the locals, this place is more popularly known by its former name: Borácay de Cavite.

Just arrived!

Juanito could not contain his joy!

Krystal still feeling cold. We arrived here before 7 AM, and the cold northeast winds made the waters too choppy one might think there was an ice plant nearby.

♥ Warmth in the midst of cold breeze. ♥

Katungkulan Beach Resort faces the entrance, or the mouth, of Manila Bay. The islands of Corregidor and Fort Drum are in full view. And on a sunny day, the mountains of Bataán could be seen. This beach was formerly known as Borácay de Cavite because its whitish sands resemble those of that world-famous island resort in Malay, Aclán. Not as white, though, but fine enough for you to walk on a sunny day even without sandals; the sands won't hurt your soles, promise!

We used one of those cottages for free. Nobody was there to charge us, anyway. Maybe it's really for free.

Jefe, Juanito, and Momay having the time of their young lives. The waters in the beach front is very shallow, safe for kids to swim.

Little Juanito braving the gentle waves!

That's no ship in the distance. That's Fort Drum, a heavily fortified island fortress formerly known as El Fraile. A mere islet a long time ago, it was transformed into a steel-reinforced concrete fort by U.S. Army engineers and was named after Brigadier General Richard Drum. The island fortress resembles a massive concrete ship. Its purpose was to defend the entrance to Manila Bay. Fort Drum is already out of commission as it was heavily damaged during World War II. We hope to visit the island one day.

Eastern point of the cove.

Western point of the cove.

Whitish sands.

Since Katungkulan Beach Resort is virtually inside Marine Barracks GregorioLim, this could probably be the most secure beach in the country! Entrance is also dirt cheap: just ₱100 per person. And if I may add, it's also one of the cleanest we've seen because we saw low-ranking marines (privates I think they are called) periodically cleaning the beach front. It is recommended that you bring your own food. There is a carinderia there and you can order from them almost any Filipino meal you want; just give them money and order the food about an hour or two in advance, and they'll do the rest (at least, that is what they did for us). The only catch is that they charge a bit too much. So might as well pack some marinated barbecue and other similar grub for you to cook on your own (yep, grilling is allowed so long as you don't get to grill your own arms).

All in all, our day-tour beach experience in Ternate is a satisfying one! Highly recommended for the budget-conscious beach lover! The "military serenity" of Katungkulan Beach Resort —the "Borácay" of Cavite— will give you a new perspective on how you view this historical province.

Remember: summer's around the corner!

♥L♥A♥F♥A♥M♥I♥L♥I♥A♥V♥I♥A♥J♥E♥R♥A♥

*Katungkulan (original spelling: catunculan) means "duty" in English. The name of the resort emphasizes and inculcates the meaning of the word into the minds of the Philippine Marine Corps, that it has a sworn duty to defend and protect the republic and everything else it stands for. So yes, you'll be safe here. Because the marines are not cops. =)