Ciudad Christia Resort (9 waves)

My very first wave pool experience took place here. I was invited by my boyfriend's family and that's where we spent this year's Easter Sunday. It's a good 30 minutes away from Marikina where bf resides.

Shame that I don't have our pictures yet. Maybe I'll just paste them here once available. Anyway, you guys can always take a look at their website to know more about the resort.

As for me, I was just overwhelmed by how crazy an overnight stay in this resort can be. Maybe it's because of the people I was with? Or it's really the place that struck me? Not sure.

For starters, I found the place quite overpriced. We got a Family Sharing Cabana which was good for 6 although we're a group of 8. We got it for 5350Php for a night. Extra charge was billed for the excess heads which was 650Php per person. Quite pricey for a resort with only a wave pool for the main attraction. The room was great though. There were 2 double beds and a double deck. My boyfriend and I stayed on the 2nd level of the deck which wasn't a good choice, really, because it's almost on the same level as the AC and which was why we were freezing the entire night. The room, in general, was very clean except for the shower drain which tends to clog when you turn the shower to its max. There was a really cute (I mean, 14in small) TV attached on the wall very near the 2nd level of the double deck. The cabanas, which from outside look like indentical bungalows from outside, have 1 parking slot each.

The Cabana (views outside and inside) photo courtesy of: http://www.9wavesphilippines.com/

Tickets were given to us to be used for the entrance in the pool area. Yes, the Cabana and other accomodations are outside the pool area which was why we had to pay for an umbrella inside the "resort proper". The umbrella was good for 10pax and we paid for it for 1k. At the pool entrance, we presented our individual tickets while the staff checked all the stuff that we brought (foods and towels). They asked us to leave the bottle of Cheez Whiz in the counter as they don't allow people to bring glasses and sharp things like knife inside the resort. True enough, when we entered the pool area, there's a place called the "cutting section" where knives are installed in a stainless table through chains so guests could only do the cutting in that specific area. As for us, we sliced our grilled liempos and ripe mangoes there. It was fun :)


Umbrella. photo courtesy of: http://www.9wavesphilippines.com/

As our stay progressed, I gradually learned why this place is pricey. First, it was apparent that security is their top priority. It's my first to see omnipresent lifeguards. I'm not kidding, they're seriously everywhere. If I counted them right, there were 4 lifeguard in the wave pool, 2 in the kiddie pool, and 2 in the adult pool. Not to mention the uniformed crews raiding everywhere, making themselves visible in case any of the guests need their assistance. Quite a plus, for me.

My wave pool experience was superb. It was crazy. Being the tiny creature that I am, I was easily tossed by the waves. Most especially that I chose to stay near the "shore". Battling with the waves was tiring but couldn't be more fun. I didn't mind the crowd around us. It was just all fun except when bf decided to bring me beyond the 5ft area. You know how waves work. It makes 4ft of water appear like 6ft and 6ft appear like 4ft. We both drowned at some point when we reached 6ft. He knows how to swim and I do to but the fear just overcame the whole of me. Maybe I held to him to tight hence it became hard for him to float us both. He even admitted in the end that he's an inch close to that point of raising his hands so lifeguards could rescue us already. But no, he chose to endure the many ounces of pool water that he has already swallowed. Poor guy.

We left the umbrella and called it a night at around 11pm. The wave pool is only until that time. We enjoyed most of it in the evening as we arrived in the resort at around 3pm already. The wave pool in the afternoon is only until 5pm. It resumes at 7pm and ends at 12mn. It will resume the next day around 9am if I'm not mistaken.

In the cabana, the boys prepared for their drinking session. It's bf's older brother's birthday in an hour so they planned to have a salubong celebration. We requested for a set of table and chairs which the staff provided to us for free. Another plus!

We checked out the next day at exactly 12nn.

GOOD NEWS
- well staffed
- generally clean
- food stalls can also be found inside (siomai, halo-halo, etc)
- there are other amenities like basketball court, wall climbing, & zipline

BAD NEWS
- hassle of presenting different entrance tickets for afternoon pass, evening pass, and morning pass to the pool area
- some guests actually used the open shower area as bathroom where they soaped and rinsed themselves. I think this should be controlled by the management.

RECOMMENDED? Yes!