My partner and I visited Matabungkay beach late in the afternoon, we hadn't arrived until about 3pm. Because of this we were a bit unsure of whether or not we should rent a balsa or not. In the end we decided to as the owner gave us a good price for it.

The balsa would've fit about 10 people comfortably and there were only two of us so it was very spacious. The owner even had some guys pull our balsa out into the water as there would've been no way for just the two of us to do so.

We also had some grilled fish which was brought to us via paddle boat which was a great service. The food was absolutely delicious.

Once the sunset and we decided it was time to go, the owner once again sent some guys to pick us up in a paddle boat so we wouldn't have to get our stuff wet and swim to shore. Overall great experience.

It was my second time in Matabungkay Beach when my siblings and I had a family bonding. Matabungkay is a barangay of Lian, Batangas. It is a long shore in which the settlers in this barangay made it as their rental businesses for the people visiting the place and need a cottages to use while they're in the beach. There are lot of private cottages for rent you can choose from depending on your needs. But make sure and make clear with the owner of the cottages you rented if it is with a free parking, because they might charge you for parking as they have no parking space unlike the private beaches in the area. You can also have other activities aside from swimming the beach like snorkeling, island hoping, jet ski ride, banana boat and scuba diving. Of course the prices are different depending on the kind of water activity you may wanted to do. For snorkeling, you can rent a paddle boat costing P50.00 per head with a maximum of 6 passengers per boat for one hour and another P50.00 charge for the gaggles and snorkeling tube. That is the cheapest water activity. The island hoping cost P100.00 per head with a maximum 10-15 passengers per motor boat. The scuba diving costs P3,500.00 per pax for a maximum 10 passengers per motor boat. The jet ski is also 3,500.00 and the banana boat is 1,250.00 for 15 minute ride. Please be reminded also that if you're coming from Manila never take the route Ternate Cavite via Kaybiang tunnel because the road is hilly with sharp curve and it will take a long time of driving going to Matabungkay. So better take Tagaytay - Nasugbu Road it will just take you to Matabungkay in 2hrs time.

Matabungkay is a barangay of the municipality of Lian, Batangas, the Philippines. It is known for its white sand beach which is reasonably accessible from Manila (about 120 kilometres (75 mi)). It was originally 'discovered' to be a great weekend or daytrip destination in the early 1950s, allegedly by sun starved German residents of Manila. In fact the German Club had a cottage there then. It was soon a popular target for holiday lovers and permanent cottages (even deluxe beach houses) were built along the beach line (and some into the beach) in the early 1960s for rich Manila folk.

It has a small coral reef about 50 meters from the low tide mark in the center of the cove which diverts the incoming waves beautifully and creates some that on good days you could body surf on. At present it is a top destination during the Philippine summer season (April to June) and gets very crowded.

Aside from cottages and houses, there are small sheds of bamboo construction one could rent for a day built in some places almost to the high tide mark.