Engelbrecht Family enjoying Happy Hour

Andrea had been to Coco Beach 5 years ago and he had a wonderful holiday during his stay. So, when his whole family was planning for their family vacation this year, he recommended they all come to Coco Beach.

The Engelbrecht family is made up of parents Lambert and Riana, siblings Andrea, Francis, Werner, Leander and Mia. They are from South Africa but they have been living in Manila for over four years now. And with such a long stay, they have also learned to speak Filipino.

Having another Happy Hour at the pool

During their week-long holiday, they tried out many of the activities the resort offers including a whole day whole day adventure to Tukuran with guides Jojo and Belen, the adrenaline pumping coco jump, kayaking to other beaches and snorkeling. They also had henna tattoos with our in house artist and last but not the least, they thoroughly enjoyed our Happy Hour which starts at 4PM everyday.

As with our other happy and satisfied guests, the Engelbrecht family plan to come back again and experience more happy memories and great holidays at Coco Beach.

Our crazy bartenders are featuring two special cocktails for the month of July. These special drinks are called the Coco Sling and Coco Caipirinia.

Our crazy bartenders presents their special drinks for July

Caipirinia originated from Brazil and it is one of our most saleable cocktails. It was first introduced to Coco Beach by a European guest some years ago and has since become a staple here. But what makes our version different is that it’s made from a mix of Philippine rhum (Tanduay) and a local lemon called “calamansi”. With this heady mix, we add brown sugar and crushed ice.

Coco Sling is a mixture of “lambanog”, liqueur, syrup and juices. “Lambanog” is made from distilled coconut and is very popular in the Southern Tagalog region. Commonly described as coconut wine or coconut vodka, this local drink is distilled from the sap of the unopened coconut flower and contains 70% alcohol.

So with the month of July just around the corner, drop by our bars and give these special drinks a try. We guarantee you, they’re the best this side of the world. Just obey your thirst and our bartenders will keep serving them up. No need to worry if you have too much to drink, Our Service Boys will carry you to your rooms!

Coco Family with the Red Cross Trainors

46 employees of Coco Beach participated in Standard First Aid and CPR training conducted by members of the Philippine National Red Cross Caloocan Chapter from June 14 to 18 at the Heritage Hall.

Another 20 underwent a crash course on Water Safety at the main pool and in the sea. The 5-day lecture on First Aid and CPR training was topped by a written exam and a simulation. The practice had all the participants applying their newly learned skills in treating victims with five different injuries under various conditions.

Staff in action during the rescue simulation

First they made an emergency rescue from different parts of the 10 hectare resort and all victims were brought to a safe zone where they were treated for their injuries. It was a difficult but challenging day for the responders who had to make quick decisions about what type of first aid treatment was best for each victim. The five-day training course was an excellent activity for the employees who all passed the exams successfully.

While the water safety course included rescuing drowning victims and learning the different approaches on how to save them without compromising the safety of both the victim and rescuer. This was first conducted in the main pool but by midday, the entire group was brought out to the sea where conditions were a lot different and more difficult as the trainees had to contend with the current, waves, wind and the deep, salty water.

Celebrating after finishing their courses!

With new skills under their belt, Coco Beach Family makes the resort a safer place for all guests. To the members of the Philippine National Red Cross Raymundo Ramos Jr. EMT (Emergency Management Technician), Erika Rea Cenicio, registered nurse Genie Lucia de Rivera and Gilbert Tampos, our deepest appreciation and thanks for the patience and time you spent with us.

2 newborn instructors at Coco Divers.

It all started with a 2 weeks vacation over Christmas and New Year last year. Stefan Stoeter and his daughter only planned to stay in Coco Beach to relax and enjoy, but after New Year Stefan brought his daughter to the airport so she could fly back home to Germany while he stayed here… And he is still here!

Stefan during his Rescue Diver course back in January.

After his first dive with Coco Divers he decided that he wanted to become a PADI Divemaster and that Coco Divers should be the dive shop to train him. Before he could start on his Divemaster course he also had to complete his Emergency First Response and his Rescue Diver course.

Ino during his Rescue Diver course back in January.

Ino Pausanos was also on his way to become a Divemaster at the same time, so they joint on all the courses and became a good buddy team. After nearly 2 month of hard training and lot of studying they both became Divemasters in the end of February.

Ino and Stefan after their final dive on their Divemaster course.

While Ino had a plan to get some more experience and then take his Instructor exam, Stefan on the other hand was telling everybody that he never would do such a thing like becoming an instructor… no way. But after helping out in the dive shop for a month or so, Stefan came one day and told that he had been mistaking about the instructor course. He really enjoyed helping the other instructors during courses and he had decided to join Ino on his instructor course.

So June 1 they started their Instructor Development Course with PADI Gold Course Director Warren Dixon at Asia Divers. And that was hard work. Mostly they started at 8 AM and finished at 7-8 PM and afterwards they had to study and prepare for next day. But they both managed to go thru with it. On June 21 they finished their course but they were not instructors yet…they still had 2 days exam ahead of them. Wednesday June 23 they both passed all their written exams and all their water skills with very high scores and they are even Emergency First Response instructors now as well.

Stefan and Ino after they passed their written exams on the Instructor Exam.

A big big congratulations from Coco Divers…we are sure you only passed because you had very good teachers during your Emergency First Response course, Rescue Diver course and Divemaster course.