The HSBC group (Global Publishing Services) with 61 strong men and women, together with their boss Stuart Townsend, visited Cocobeach for some fun, relaxation and some team building activities like the Coco Amazing Race.

HSBC Group

Before the race, the group was divided into 8 teams. First, they had a warm up game on the beach.. the tug-o-war. Team 3 which include Ariel the team captain, Chaps, Mondi, Chris, Kristin, Jane and Lehan dominated the tug-o-war.

The group in action...hop to win

Then at around 3:30 pm, the Coco Amazing Race started with 9 challenging tasks that the  8 teams had to complete. Each team must finish first each challenge before they could get the clue card for the next challenge. Highlights of the games are the picture puzzles at the tennis court, beer and coco special cocktail drinking, swim the stones where team  members have to dive into the bottom of the swimming pool and collect 5 stones with the Coco Beach logo painted on them, beach relay and marching madness where all the team members feet were tied together while marching down to the beach.

Team 3 - the winner of the Coco Amazing Race!

Once again, with their team unity and amazing techniques and tactics, Team 3 won the race and got big prizes from boss Stuart.
 
That same night, the HSBC Global Publishing Services had a wonderful barbeque dinner by the beach, karaoke singing and dancing until midnight.

Last week, two more groups of Filipino companies came to Coco Beach for a chance to hit the beach with their colleagues.

SSM Maritime Group

SSM Maritime headed by their group coordinator Ms. Marilene Sagra had a great time and memorable holiday at Coco Beach. On their first day at the resort, the group did a lot of beach games prepared by the Activity Guides.
 
Then in the evening, they also had a barbeque dinner by the beach and partied until  midnight. The next morning, they went on a boat tour to the beautiful coral garden of the Mangrove Coral Cove for lots of swimming and snorkeling.

TVI Group

Our other Filipino group, the TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. also enjoyed their company escapade at Coco Beach. They did lots of games and enjoyed the thrill and excitement of the banana boat ride while playing with the waves. They also enjoyed the coral garden of Long Beach and bought some beautiful souvenirs for their love ones back home.

Ilan waves as he sails to another island

Mr. Ilan Enav from Israel visited Coco Beach  Island Resort  for the first time with his Filipina girlfriend. Talking with the Activity Guides, Ilan noticed an interesting mini sailboat at the beach and mentioned that he wanted to try sailing it. Apparently, he is a skipper of a big sailboat back in Israel.

Being a sailor, Ilan loves adventure and challenges. He  knows for a fact that although  both vessels are sailboats, each has to be skippered differently. Wanting to experience  sailing our min-sailboat, Ilan politely refused the Activity Guides offer to give him first  lessons and wanted to do the sailing by himself. The first 15 minutes went by slowly as Ilan tried to make the mini sailboat move but after those first few minutes, it was happy sailing for our experienced skipper as  he  set sail around  the island of San Antonio and around the coves and beaches of Puerto Galera. 
 
Sailing alone  with just the waves to keep him company, Ilan disclosed he felt  a different  thrill and excitement  as the mini sailboat  challenged  him  during that day.

“The Philippines swept top honors in the 2010 Top 100 Readers’ Choice Survey conducted by Scuba Diving magazine, a widely circulated dive magazine in North America.

The country won in the Pacific region as the best macro-life dive destination and obtained second place in the category for value for diving dollar, third for diving for advanced divers, diving for beginners and wreck diving, and second place for overall dive destination next to the Galapagos, a group of volcanic islands off the west coast of South America.

A crinoid shrimp, just one of the thousands of species you can see in the Philippines

More than 5,000 readers from all over the globe ranked the world’s best diving destinations in the following categories: overall rating of the destination, wreck diving, big animals, shore diving, macro life, value for your diving dollar, diving for advanced divers, marine life, visibility, health of marine environment, wall diving, snorkeling, diving for beginners, underwater photography and overall rating of the diving.

Readers of the magazine favored the Philippines as it satisfies both beginners and advanced divers – a variety of dive sites and facilities, an unbelievable abundance of marine life, having the most affordable and exciting dive packages in the world and extremely helpful English speaking Filipinos.

With 11,250 miles of shoreline and 10,546 square miles of coral reefs, the archipelagic wonder lies at the tip of the Coral Triangle – an area with the most bio-diverse and marine-rich waters on Earth.

Our treasure trove of 7,107 islands is definitely a virtual paradise of infinite subaquatic and subterranean possibilities ––– pristine reefs, huge pelagic fishes and a menagerie of distinct marine life, World War II ship wrecks and undiscovered treasures, vibrant soft and hard coral formations, exhilarating activities such as wall diving, underwater photography and deep diving.

Sought-after destinations such as Anilao, Puerto Galera, Palawan, Busuanga, Malapascua, Balicasag and Pamilacan are just some of the popular dive sites favored by international dive enthusiasts.

Dive tour operators have started to expand their Philippine dive programs as seen in various brochures and catalogues. The country’s dive resorts have likewise evolved — offering a variety of dive facilities from rustic setting to luxurious resorts.”

Scuba Diving Magazine’s Top 100
Source: Good News Pilipinas