Gota Village Resort

The staff were the best part, helping us arrange boat trips and tuk-tuks into town. The area is beautiful for swimming, and the restaurant is great. I stayed here for the SwimJunkie event. The rooms are small but clean, with air conditioning, and that was perfect.

The restaurant was a bright spot, with tasty food, great staff, and the option to eat by the beach. Everything else could use a lot of improvement. Our cabin was far from everything even though we were the only guests, and the room was tiny, making heavy luggage a real hassle. We had some 3G signal in the room, but the WiFi at the front desk was awful. We saw some front desk staff watching what looked like movies, though we don't know how they were streaming them. We called ahead and said we'd arrive late, but when we got there after midnight, nobody knew about our reservation. It's sad to see such a beautiful place covered in plastic and trash. Maybe some of the time spent watching movies could go toward cleaning it up.

The setting is beautiful, private, and relaxing, and that made it easy to overlook a few missing basics. Other basic or very affordable places we've stayed had a TV and complimentary bottled water, but this resort had neither. The island hopping and other activities are available, though activities must be paid for in cash. They accept credit cards for incidentals. The on-site restaurant served delicious food. We especially liked the bihon and laing, so give those a try. There weren't many guests while we were there, which made the stay really peaceful. The staff were all very friendly. Survivor executives were scouting the place, and one staff member said the resort would close in March to be used as their set again. If we get the chance to return to Caramoan, we'd definitely stay here again.

The view is great and the rooms are nice, but the food selection needs work. Booking a trip is difficult if you're alone or just two people, unless you're able to pay for the whole boat.