The Caliraya Experience

I can finally breathe. Our office team building was so successful thanks to the help of my co-members in the venue and program committee. I would have not done it without you guys! Of course, we owe majority of our success to our awesome venue, the Caliraya Resort Club, Inc.

How to Get There

Caliraya is about 2-3 hours drive away from Manila. If you are coming via a private car, take the Calamba exit at SLEX and follow the main highway that will take you to LB, Bay, Sta. Cruz, Pagsanjan, and finally Lumban. Upon reaching Lumban Church, turn left until you see a Y road. The right road will lead you Caliraya. You can’t miss the resort because they have signages all over Laguna.

If you are commuting, take the HM Bus going to Laguna and alight at the last stop at Sta. Cruz. From there, ride a jeepney until the foot of Caliraya “hill”. Rent a tricycle to take you to the resort.

The view from the boat.

Accomodations

Caliraya has VIP and standard hotel rooms. For larger groups, they have cottages (non air-conditioned) and duplex accommodations (air-conditioned, 10-15 people). Our group stayed in the duplex accommodations. There were about 45 of us so the resort assigned us two duplex houses or a total of four up and downs. The first floor of the house has can hold up to 10 people while the second floor can house six people. Each floor has its own CRs. You may check their site for the packages and pricing or you may also send me an email or comment.

2nd floor of the duplex house.

The duplex house where we stayed in.

Our office paid Php 1,500 per head. That already covers for three full buffet meals, accommodation and access to the swimming pool, mud slide, earth ball, obstacle course, hanging bridge and slide pinoy.

The main hotel.

Food

There is no such thing as hotel/room only or food only at Caliraya. All their packages already include the meals. If you are in a big group such as us, Php 1,500 is already worth it. EAT ALL YOU CAN. I couldn’t even come back for a second serving. There are usually two type of rice, about four dishes and two to three desserts.

Pigging out. D

Facilities and Amenities

If you are after fun and not only swimming, Caliraya is the place to go. Not all facilities are free but at least there are tons of them to choose from. Our office availed of the team building package at Php 150/head so got to experience wall climbing, canoeing, obstacle race, etc. in sort of amazing race game. There are still tons of other activities to choose from such as zip line, horseback riding, zorb ball, bungee jumping, and the usual board and court games.

Our team on the mud slide.

I really enjoyed the zip line and the mud slide so much. It was my first time trying both. I’m now ready to conquer a longer and higher zip line. My “younger” officemates had so much fun with the mud slide that we probably repeated it for three times.

Me. Pseudo-flying. 😀

Staff and Services

The staff of the resort was very accommodating. I had trouble bargaining with the officer that was assigned to us for freebies but I understand since DOST has no record with Caliraya yet. However, the staff on site was a different story. They were easy to talk to and very “kalog”. I also love the GM! He gave us 40 free zip line rides since we were not able to meet our minimum guaranteed number of persons.

Conclusion

I had a blast and I can tell that my officemates also enjoyed a lot. A day before the event, I was already crumbling because some backed out but I thank God everything still turned out more than what I expected. For that, Caliraya I give you an 8 out of 10. 🙂