A Review of Portofino Beach Resort

I've been to Portofino a number of times. It's a beach resort in Mactan island. Portofino Beach Resort has one of the cleanest white sand beaches I've seen anywhere in Cebu. Entrance fee is usually Php 100 for anyone who looks 12 years old and older. Kids are usually free. Depends on the time of day or day of the week, sometimes kids above 6 years old are charged half-price for entrance. That just goes to show how flexible the place is.

Anyway, as I said the beach is great. I can't say the same about the swimming pool since they charge you again if you want to take a dip there. It's not exactly that exciting their swimming pool.

The beach on the other hand is another story. It's very seldom that you see Portofino's beach area empty. There are always people who go there for the primary reason that it's very affordable - with an entrance fee of Php 100 per person, and you can bring in as much food as you want with no corkage fee! That is just the clincher for many Filipino patrons. You can just rent a kiosk, a tent or even a set of tables and chairs at very reasonable prices. You get to use them for the whole day. And if you're really cheap you can bring your own mat and set up a picnic in the sand.

They're also quite smart. They've set up this canteen where you can order grilled food which are plated meals at about Php 100 per order - including drinks and rice. That way you can always buy food and/ or drinks at their prices (a tad bid more expensive than if you bought it yourself).

Their rooms are also very nice. There are bungalows facing the beach - it hosts 2 rooms per bungalow. They're great at about Php 3,000 - 4,000 per night. Doesn't matter how many people sleep there as long as they've paid for the entrance, again the resort isn't as strict (or it wasn't when we stayed there). They also have rooms near the swimming pool but those never appealed to me.

All that aside, if you just want to have a good time in the beach at a reasonable budget - Portofino Beach Resort wouldn't be a bad choice.