Prepare for your La Union Trip

FatWave Surf Resort Premier Family Room

This cozy boutique resort has been operating since 2014. They offer double/twin rooms for 2 pax (₱4,944/night), classic triple rooms for 2-3 pax (₱4,944/night), family rooms for 4 pax (₱7,725/night), and barkada rooms for 5-6 pax (₱6,695-7,725/night). They charge ₱1,800 for every additional guest. My group of three got the family room, giving us enough space for our luggage and my content creation gear.

We loved the tropical bohemian vibe of our air-conditioned room and the ensuite bathroom. Fair warning: You will hear the live DJ and music from your bedroom from the afternoon until dark. Elyu, after all, isn’t just a laid-back surf town, but also a thriving nightlife spot for tourists and out-of-towners. Don’t worry, the resort music blasts only until 10-11pm, so you can still get enough shuteye.

FatWave Surf Resort Amenities

On top of standard hotel amenities such as refillable toiletries and free parking, each booking comes with complimentary breakfast at FatWave Kitchen. This open-air beachfront restaurant serves big portions of Filipino and Western dishes, which we chowed down while watching the surfers catch a wave.

For happy hour, Sunset Shack serves signature cocktails and your favorite tipple, which you can have by the bar or the sunset viewing deck. For coffee and desserts, there’s La Gula. This café is so popular with the Manila crowd that they bring the cakes and pastries back home to share, which is what we did!

Upstairs from La Gula is Tiki Bikini, a hidden bar that’s inspired by laid-back Hawaii. Every weekend and some weekdays, there’s a live DJ set (the booth is across Sunset Shack) that starts before sundown. We went on a weekday, so it wasn’t as crowded, just as we elder millennials like it. If you want to party with the locals, surfers, and backpackers, their weekends are lit!

Things To Do In La Union

The bustling Urbiztondo Beach is dotted with hotels, bars, restaurants, and surf schools. All we had to do was walk a few steps from our beachfront resort to find a surf instructor ready to give one-hour lessons, whether you’re a beginner or intermediate surfer. My cousin took a refresher surf course come sunset, while I was happy just lounging on my beach blanket.

We walked around to the reefy end of the beach to take a photo with La Union’s famous surfing marker and watched professional surfers thrive in their element.

We considered extending our getaway by driving to other destinations such as Baguio (just a 2-hour drive from La Union) or Clark, Pampanga (2.5 hours from Elyu or 1.5 from Manila), but our La Union trip was enough to give us the break we badly needed from our fast-paced Manila life.

FatWave Surf Resort Review

On top of the affordable room rates and friendly staff, we loved the resort’s in-house restaurants, which serve gourmet recipes in big portions. La Gula Café and FatWave Kitchen are famous in the local community, so we spotted a lot of walk-in customers that week.

Plus points for digital nomads like myself: the separate work desk/station by the room entrance, and being able to cross-order from all of FatWave’s restaurants and cafés and just have it in any dining spot within the resort.

Their vibrant, bohemian interiors and laid-back vibe reminded me of my trip to Bali, where you could go through your days without any concrete plans—just surf, swim, chill, wine, and dine as you please.

But because FatWave had almost everything we needed, we hardly left the resort during our three-day, two-night stay. If it’s your first time in La Union and you’re looking for accommodation for your group of three or more, FatWave Surf Resort has the #KateWasHere seal of approval.

FatWave Surf Resort is located at McArthur Highway, Brgy. Urbiztondo, San Juan, La Union, Philippines. To book a room, visit their website or call +63 927 659 0176.