Kingfisher Resort is a simple resort located in a remote area In the tip of the north luzon. What makes Kingfisher unique is you can view the sunrise and the sunset from the beach. Sunrise to the rigjt and Sunset to the left. We are a pet friendly resort and we have dogs that can accompany you for a walk or for a Swim. Kingfisher offers water activities like wind surfing, kite surfing, snorkeling, catching Octopus, stand up paddle, kayak. If you are a wave kiter, Kingfisher spot is a very good location for pro-kiters and advance kiters. We also give kite surfing lessons and if you learn at kingfisher spot then you can probably kite anywhere in the world. We don't have Karaoke's and Roosters so sleeping should be good at Kingfisher. If you like to hike, you can also hike in nearby waterfalls. Safest beach in the area because waves break on the reef. Safe for kids as well. Private and non-commercialized.
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Checked in a Superior room at this resort from 2/22 to 2/24 2020, with my wife. Room was good and spacious. Aircon worked well, but the tv had no channels (no signal). Asked staff the next day to address it, but was told the cable box was not working and they did not have a spare. The resort restaurant was just a few steps away from the room. Had most of the meals there during our stay. Waiting time for food to be served was between 30 minutes to an hour. Food was fine, specially the breakfast. The beach at the resort was nice, but a lot of kite surfers made it not ideal for swimming or snorkeling. Although the resort had a lap pool, we had to go to Saud white beach (10 to 15 minutes drive) for a swim. The wind at the resort was strong and weather was cool (between 22 C to 26 C) during our entire stay. You can turn off the aircon in the room and still feel cold. Overall, our stay was pleasant.
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Date of stay: February 2020
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Overall , a Great experience. Beautiful location. The staff were so friendly and professional. The two open air restaurants served delicious culinary treats, like home made ham and bacon. The onsite micro brewery serves up some of the best tasting beers. Haica , in administration runs a tight ship. She will do her best to accommodate any special needs or requests. There is accomodations for all budgets. Beach front bungalows with shared washrooms and deluxe private suites. Great kite surfing spot. Rex is the Helpful onsite pro instructor and is incharge of a modern and well equiped rental shop , located beachside.
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Date of stay: February 2024
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Location
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Trip type: Traveled with friends
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We went on a weekday. Beach was not crowded. Good food. Good scenery. Quiet place to unwind. Beach hut is ok very cold AC. The only downside is the common toilet. If u have to go in the middle of the night you must have a companion and bring a flashlight. Doggies are friendly.
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Bright flashlights and bug spray.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
No one assisted us when we arrived. The receptionist showed us the “Casita” we booked then left us without giving the key. We got our stuff from the car and no one helped us. The sangria we ordered tasted like bath soap. My husband and I shared only 1 glass because of the odd taste and decided to return the pitcher. My hubby politely asked who mixed it, then one senior staff (who’s gay) was irritated and said that’s how it is. We ended up ordering frozen margarita and beer, and eventually paid for the sangria (barely touched) as well.
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
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Extremely disappointed. There was no hot water. It took time after informing Staff. Ordered dinner with my friends. But my friends got dinner while I had to wait nearly two hours. Finally my friends shared there food with me.
Management must train staff to assist customers.
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Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Traveled with friends
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Driving looking for a good spot to stay a few nights and finally checked in King Fisher Resort.
We had a long drive from and ate a late lunch at the beach restaurant. Food was very local and delicious.
Finally set to finalize the rooms and payment. Another person took over head of Administration, telling me the previous selected rooms were not available! After long unpleasant discussions and explanations I just had to accept the proposal. The previous personnel was not here to be found?
The rooms were not clean! The bed sheets dusty and amenities were poor not as advertised in their website. The refrigerator was too dirty to have anything in. We had to sleep this overnight to discuss either lady administrator. I was too tired to meet this unprofessional person.
There I was after breakfast discussing the filthy 3 rooms!
Nothing wrong with place but the administration is a disappointment and unprofessional. Normally you welcome your guests, check needs and thank them for staying. The said “head of Admin” is unfit for her job.
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Date of stay: August 2024Trip type: Traveled with friends
Room Tip:Don’t stay here unless management has removed the said “Head of Admin “ Ms HP
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We traveled with a few friends to this place for kitesurfing. Coming from Boracay this place promised strong winds and great wave conditions. We are experienced kitesurfing travelers, seen a lot of places around the world.
Some things to consider when visiting this place.
- Your miles away from any shop, so you're forced to buy all your drinks (even water) and food in the restaurant. There is no fridge or water heater in your room. - Food is expensive, small portions (you need two buy portions if your hungry from kitesurfing), poor taste. We saw the personnel eating breakfast and diner at the table next to us, good portions while we're having really small portions... - Make a stop at local shop and buy lots of water and food before you go here. - Room is not cleaned every day and is quite expensive compared to other kitesurfing and diving locations in the country. - Shower is the villa is not warm, the heater lacks power for the big shower head. The non-villa rooms have no toilet and shower. You need to go to separate location for this. - When we there in the beginning of December '11 the place was a construction site, a lot of mud and garbage on the road and on the site.
The service at the kitebeach is great, if you loose your board / crash your kite the local guy will do anything to help you retrieve it. At low tide the reef is too shallow to kite, during our stay it was low tide from 10:00 - 15:00. Make sure that when you go there high tide is during the day, because kingfisher is the best spot in the area. The personnel is friendly.
The place has a monopoly on the location which we felt too strong. Compared to other places visited in the Philippines, our general feeling was this place was trying to hard to make money on us. We will not return here.
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Date of stay: December 2011
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Trip type: Traveled with friends
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Response from Street_Smart_mlm, Owner at Kingfisher Resort
Responded Apr 25, 2012
Thank you for your review. My Name is Mon Manotok and I currently operate kingfisher. This is my first venture into this industry and don’t have a lot of experience running and operating a resort. I also outsourced the food/Restaurant part of the business. I know I’m not qualified to run the kitchen/food business which is why I got a concessionaire instead. Our contract with the food concessionaire ended in Mid-March and I currently operate it now until I find a new concessionaire. Your review has helped me make changes in the resort. We have increased the number of rooms to spread the overhead and bring down the prices. We have also ended our contract with our food concessionaire and we are still looking for a new food concessionaire. Kingfisher – is the only resort in the area with a kite & windsurf center. Our Manager for the resort is 1 of 15 Professional international windsurfer for NEIL PRYDE TEAM and also sponsored by RRD. Kingfisher is also the only place that has dedicated beach boys to help you launch and catch your kite and when fully booked we fly in more experienced kiters from Boracay since there are no local kiters in the area. Salary of Fabrice is in USD and being in a remote area all our employees are housed and fed meals. This is one of the reasons why overhead is high and why we might be more expensive compared to others resorts
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Outstanding kite spot! Unspoiled location. Actually, I quite agree with the previous review (16 dec). The resort is OK if you only want to kitesurf but I do not recommend to come with your family or wife. You can find better accommodation and food for half the price at Saud beach (4km south). The team is nice but not very profesionnal as far as accomodation and food is concerned. The prices are very high compared to the Philippines market. I regret that they did not mention anything about tides on the website or in the mails. If low tide is in the middle of the day, then you cannot kite, paddle or swim. You need to take the expensive van transport ( four times the local tricycle prices) proposed by Fabrice to go somewhere else (Saud, Blue Lagoon,...) If you do not stay in the resort then you have to pay 500 pesos entry fee per day (10 euros) if you want to come and kitesurf there. Having said that, this place really has something special. The waves are clean and big but affordable by non top wave riders because you have a lagoon to access the shorebreak ( which is not the case in punta preta in Cabo verde, for instance). The place is not really good for very beginners in kite because the wind is either too strong or gusty on the beach because side-off. I did not really find a good spot in the area to teach beginners. But if the beginner already know how to launch and control his kite, then the kingfisher lagoon at high tide is very convenient to practice how to go up-wind.
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Date of stay: January 2012
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Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Street_Smart_mlm, Owner at Kingfisher Resort
Responded Apr 25, 2012
Thank you for your review. Your review has helped me make some changes. My Name is Mon Manotok and I currently operate kingfisher. This is my first venture into this industry and don’t have a lot of experience running and operating a resort. I also outsourced the food/Restaurant part of the business. I know I’m not qualified to run the kitchen/food business which is why I got a concessionaire instead. Our contract with the food concessionaire ended in Mid-March and I am currently operating it now until I find a new concessionaire. I am sorry about not mentioning the tides as well. Some of the kiters we’ve had would walk to the reef during low tide and would start kiting from there but I guess this can’t apply to all. The accommodations prices I am also finding a solution for this. We've decided to increase the number of accommodations to spread the overhead. This may cause some over-crowding on the spot but this will solve the problem with the accommodation prices. We will have accommodations as low as P1,000.00 for twin sharing during Habagat Season which also brings strong wind. The entrance fee of P500.00 is under review. We will either remove this and close our doors to non-guest of kingfisher or continue to charge people coming in to kite and use the facilities. I personally feel that we need to charge since our facilities are being used but if this will give us some problems then I might as well close our doors and make it exclusive. There are a lot of resorts that are also beach front which you can book with. In Saud Beach alone you have the following resorts: SAUD BEACH RESORT ARINAYA BEACH RESORT VISTA DEL MAR BEACH RESORT In Blue Lagoon beach HANNAS BEACH RESORT – which has 5 swimming pools, convention center, ATV’s etc. Kapuluan Resort – who specializes in surfing. Kingfisher – is the only resort in the area with a kite & windsurf center. Our Manager for the resort is 1 of 15 Professional international windsurfer for NEIL PRYDE TEAM and also sponsored by RRD. Kingfisher is also the only place that has dedicated beach boys to help you launch and catch your kite and when fully booked we fly in more experienced kiters from Boracay since there are no local kiters in the area. Salary of Fabrice is in USD and being in a remote area all our employees are housed and fed meals. This is one of the reasons why overhead is high and why we might be more expensive compared to others resorts. We are the only resort with dedicated staff that will help you find your board if lose them and help you when you get in trouble. Providing this service adds to the overhead which is not being charge to people kiting and windsurfing. Again thank you for your review. It has guided me in making changes in our resort.
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I visited Kingfisher last Halloween for the first time. I flew into Loaog airport and scheduled a shuttle from the resort. There is no avoiding the steep shuttle rate, unless you take a 10hr bus ride from Manila and use the shuttle from Pagudpud to the town. There is an overnight bus, this is worth considering if you are planning on arriving in the evening. Pagudpud was the first time I have kitesurfed with waves and I am not talking about choppy water, I am talking about waves that break! I learned in Cabarete and am able to handle my share of open water, however feeling the rush of the sound and sight of these waves was a thrill. The beach is right in front of a reef so the waves break further away from the actual beach. This can be a negative though, for in low tide it makes for a small window to get to the waves and get into the open water, or this can actually prevent you from riding at all. However, when the tide is high you have quite a bit of room for flat water riding.
Kingfisher Resort sits right on this spot. I walked out of my room and was literally on the beach. The kite school is conveniently located near the beach bar, but away from the rooms where you are not hearing the sounds of music or idle chatter. During the windy season, it's so windy that even if the bar was closer to the rooms I doubt you would be able to hear anything but the wind. With this in mind, I would definitely bring a sweater or light jacket. Yes, it gets that cold at night. The hotel is well run and clean. I was very impressed with my beach hut and the shared bathroom and showers were ideal. The food was amazing for they do know how to cater to a Westerners taste buds. If you get a chance to drive up to the wind farm and kitesurf on the flat water lagoon, go for it! That was one of the highlights of an already fantastic trip. I will be visiting again this year and will probably leave my 9m kite at home. It was so windy I rode a 7m most of the time. Other things to note, the water is warm and you do not need a wet suit. HOWEVER if you are not that experienced you will definitely want to wear wet suit pants and bootys. Like I said the reef is right up front and there is no avoiding it, unless you plan on not falling.
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Date of stay: October 2013
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Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
First and foremost Kingfisher Resort is a kite surfing destination and that is why I recently spent 18 days doing battle with the medium to high winds, small to 20' waves - all aided by super fresh air and fantastic sunshine. As a kite surf destination it far exceeded my expectations. As a 30 year veteran of travelling to the North Shore of Maui I thought I knew wind and waves - well apparently not! During the weeks of my stay (February, 2013) I think we had one day of light winds. During this day I met my only mosquito of the entire trip - just one! And for those of you a little squeamish, I will tell on all the critter meetings I had during my entire stay: 1 Tuko Gecko, 1 cock roach (my fault left a half eaten power bar on my nightstand), 1 Monkey and T-Rex whining at my door one night (Jack Russell Terrier) as he was locked out of his usual accommodation.
I will mention the cost and compare it to Cuba, a place that seems to be fast-becoming a kite destination for Eastern Canadians. I spent in total, $1330 a week for everything. As well as my airfare, this amount includes board rental at the Kite Centre, windsurfer rental, a la carte meals all prepared by a chef - foods like fresh Blue Marlin steaks etc.(will mention more later), beer (or whatever spirits suits your need) and the most comfortable, dark at night, accommodation I could ever imagine. Oh, and motorbike rentals which lets you get off the resort and meet the beautiful people of Luzon and see the breathtaking coastal regions of the Northern Philippines. Tips and airport transportation - all included in my above amount and from my perspective a real bargain!
So back to kitesurfing:
All the fellow guests I spoke with over the duration of my trip were more than impressed with the personal challenges presented by the windy conditions. The guests who were not windsurfers or kiters were thrilled with the stress-free laid back aura of this resort and happily curled up in hammocks, lounging on beautiful teak benches or coming back from solo shoreline strolls. Yes, the Resort is that safe - a real feature in today's world.
I traveled the 12 hour time difference (halfway around the world) with two kites, an 8M and a 10M packed into one suitcase and planning on renting the board required for the conditions of the day from the Kite Centre. Next time I will bring a 6, 8 and a 10, no pump and no kite bags. I did buy a directional waveboard/travel bag while there and had no difficulties in bringing it home at no additional baggage charge (thank you Delta airlines). If you are expert in the waves and plan to stay more than a week, by all means bring your board.
However if you are a person of means then rent - select all your gear from the excellent choices of Cab kites and boards available to suit your skill level and best meet daily conditions - all pumped up and ready to launch by the athletic staff.
Just want to stress that anything over 133 twintip is pretty large there, even for my 190lbs. so be assured when they say bring SMALL kites and boards it is nothing but good advice. I witnessed mega loops on 3.5s. Nice to have power. Believe me you will learn so much about high-wind kiting you will never be worried back home when confronted with gusty conditions or high wind speeds. On my next trip I will bring a thin full suit with good knee reinforcement for protection. Booties not required but bring Hydrogen Peroxide for a wash.
Finally, one of the most important aspects of the Kingfisher Resort is water safety. They keep a keen eye on everyone out there and if you lose a board or rip your kite, a standup paddle board is quickly launched and arrives to assist in no time at all! End up way downwind? The kite boy sprints to land you safely and helps in the carry. He will also assist in the carry upwind to prime your session. Along the same theme Benoit, the expert resident kite instructor, will give your firm advice on how to launch and land safely. Believe it or not, it is also a good venue for your first kiting lessons - while there I was very surprised to see many beginners make quick progress due to the shallow waters inside the reef and Benoit's patient side by side guidance.
Mon the resort's owner is super hospitable and very accommodating - if you are with a group and want to put together a feast - be it for an occasion or just because - he will arrange it - want to party until 5am? No problems! Zarah, the Resort manager and accountant, will help you decide how to best finance your trip and give you very accurate estimates of how much money to transfer and how many pesos to bring along - if you overspend your payment options are very fair and I witnessed great trust with guests wiring money via Western Union (Walmart here in Canada) or PayPal after they return home. The relationship between the resort and guests cannot get any better than that.
I am an organic food, local farm fresh no cost cutting when it comes to food for my body kind of guy - what was prepared and served up to me at Kingfisher Resort was so appealing I still cannot believe how extensive the menu is and how high quality the food and prep was - kudos to Richard and Rose and all the front end food service staff - world class dining experiences!
As many others have said. Ocean View huts are where it is at - lying in bed with the door completely open, any time of the day or night, looking at the sand and water and deep clear night sky - it is one of life's special experiences - but a strong caveat here - if you do this trip you just may be like me - planning your next trip there within days of returning home!
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Date of stay: February 2013
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Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:As many have said, if you like the authentic experience, Ocean View Hut cannot be beat.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Quezon City, Philippines359 contributions109 helpful votes
I'm not allowed to post HTMLs or links in this forum.
Please google Kingfisher Pagudpud. Click the website. Look for the email address. Book directly. Or call +63927.525.8111.
Let me know if this works.
If I may add, from Vigan going to Pagudpud (kingfisher resort) you will pass by several landmarks that are great for pictures, 1st-the cape bojeador lighthouse, 2nd-kapurpurawan rock formation, 3rd-Burgos Bayog waves, 4th-Bangui windmills. Enjoy!
There are more places to choose from in the Pagudpud area.
LOCATION
PhilippinesLuzonIlocos RegionIlocos Norte ProvincePagudpud
NUMBER OF ROOMS
9
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