Rhumbutan Beach House, San Juan - Ocean Front

Rhumbutan House is located on the west coast of Siquijor Island on a low bluff above a narrow beach (15m wide) with incredible sunset views to Apo Island. There is a small private plunge / swimming pool in the front garden overlooking the sea. A large shaded front deck and direct beach access. At high tide the sea almost reaches the garden; at low tide a rocky platform is exposed where locals search for shellfish in the traditional way. There are no hawkers or children selling you trinkets! The house is located next to the beach and close other resorts and bars / restaurants in the San Juan district. Peace and tranquility is assured. Snorkelling 30m off shore in the corals of the ‘house reef’ is amazing. Wifi is available for free 40m away at 'Baha Bar' or sometimes directly from the house using ‘Henry’. WiFi service on Siquijor is not consistent but we have the best on the island. The house was completed in 2015. It is one bedroomed (w/ split aircon in the bedroom) containing a queen sized bed and ensuite bathroom. There is a small but complete kitchen and a large living area which can be adapted into a second bedroom (fan only / no air con). The house has 2 bathrooms the second attached to the living area. Privacy is assured and access to reliable wifi from the Baha Ba'r restaurant which currently has the only dedicated line on the island. There is a deck away from the front of the house which is shared with Baha Ba’r but still maintains the privacy of the house. The house comfortably sleeps 4 with an extra double bed in the living room but it can accommodate 6/7 people maximum including children with kids on the floor on mattresses. Bed linen, towels and soaps are provided. Sheets are changed every 3 days. The house is tidied everyday but not cleaned every day, only every 3rd day. If something is not to your liking please inform the manager at Baha Bar. We can arrange for washing of clothes and babysitting if required. For both of these services there is a cost of 100 pesos per kilo for clothes and 100 pesos per hour for babysitting. Babysitting must be arranged ahead of time pls! We clean the room every day and change the sheets and towels every 3 days but should you require a towel change before 3 days please place the towel on the floor in the shower and there will be a 50 pesos per towel charge. The keys are left at the Baha Ba'r restaurant (open 8.30AM-11PM), pls ask for Gen, Eden, Darlyn, Loy or Steve or in fact anyone who works there!. The reception is upstairs at the bar Gen and other staff at Baha Ba'r are ready to assist any time but we tend not to interact directly; however we can often be found at the Baha Bar restaurant with our kids in the evening The main features outside are clarity of the water on your doorstep, the unimpeded views and amazing stars almost every night. The corals are 20m offshore and are all healthy and living, unfortunately the local fisherman over fish them but nevertheless you will still see many small fish and other macro fauna. It is within relatively easy reach of other restaurants and bars on the island (need own motorbike or take tricycle). The beach is clean and is kept clean by one of the staff from Baha Bar. The width of the beach is only 15m to the sea but it stretches for over 1.5km to San Juan town. It is not a classic white ‘Boracay-like' beach but in my opinion because it is not all sand there is much more to see than a fauna-less sand-only beach; but I understand that is not everyone’s view!At low tide there is a rocky platform which stretches for 50m offshore and is a haven for sea urchins and starfish etc. Only 100m offshore are over 600 healthy coral species with associated fish and only 150m from the Maite marine sanctuary. Most people hire a motorbike (available from Baha Ba'r if required) or tricycle but jeepneys do pass in front of the property every 30 mins or so. We have our own pedal bikes for hire (150p day) and mini-jeepney for hire for 1000p day not including fuel and driver. We can arrange ‘around the island’ tours by minibus or tricycle. We also offer diving from one of our 2 boats with our own in house master diver (who also is an underwater photographer) We also offer an exhilarating mountain bike experience where we drop you at the top of the highest point on the island and you wind your way to Baha Bar on footpaths and backroads seeing a real up close cross section of Siquidonian life (the people in the mountains were so remote that even to this day they speak with a different accent). It is guided tour and you need to be medium level mountain bike capability, the equipment is virtually new (mainly Norco and Giant bikes with 26-27” wheels). The journey takes 2-3 hours depending on ability We can arrange pick up to and from the port, cost varies depending on mode of transport and time of day. Pls book with plenty of advanced warning Directions to Siquijor - Siquijor Island is approximately 45 mins - 1.5 hours by ferry from either Dumaguete or Tagbilaran (Bohol). The best flight connections to Dumaguete are from Manila (Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific - 4 flights a day, 1 hour flight time). From Cebu there is currently one ferry a day (5 hours) and 3 flights a week to Dumaguete (20 mins). There are also bus and ferry combination connections to Cebu from Dumaguete (approx 4-5 hours journey) The popular Baha Ba'r restaurant (see trip advisor) is 40m away and has live but not loud (or annoying!) music (7pm to 9.30-10pm) most nights. Shop - There is a General store (Fazenda) 50m away almost opposite Bahabar which sells all the basic needs for your stay (8am-9pm) and has the best coffee on the island! Power - The house is connected to the grid but also has its own generator in times of emergency 'brown-outs’. It may take a few minutes for the generator to be switched on Wifi - We probably have the best Wifi on the island at the bar and it should reach Rhumbutan House but I have noted that some guests have expressed some frustration with the connectivity and speed. Unfortunately the connection on Siquijor Island is not up to North American, Chinese or European standards yet so you have to forgive us on some occasions if it is too slow or inconsistent. To try and combat this understandable annoyance we have recently run a dedicated cable to the bar and 2 extra routers. Please no smoking inside the house or on the deck (please go into the garden). We will take 50% of the deposit if we find evidence of smoking inside the premises. Crime - Although Siquijor is almost crime free and is one of the safest places, not only in Philippines but in SE Asia, for peace of mind we have a security guard who wanders around at night for the comfort of guests (orange shirt). However as with most off beat countries these days pls check tavel advisories before travel. Refund for bad weather - Also in case of a typhoon and you cant reach the island we will refund you 50% of the rental cost per day (for the days the ferries do not run) Transport - we have our own minibus and can provide transport to and from the ferries provided you give us at 12 hours notice (we can accept requests in a shorter time frame but cannot guarantee we will pick up the message!). Cost - 700 pesos each way from Siquijor and 1000 pesos from Larena port.