Taal Lake Yacht Club

Taal Lake Yacht Club is located on the shore of Taal Lake off of Talisay-Laurel Road. If you search its name on Google Map, you will pull it up right away. It is a club that non-members can enjoy sailing classes, sailing practices, sailing experience with an instructor, renting a boat, and trips to Taal Volcano.

My friend, her boys, my two kids, my daughter’s friend and I tried a sailing boat ride during our children’s school break. (My oldest child was away.) The weather could not be better and the boat ride was absolutely fantastic. I will explain the way to get to the Taal Lake Yacht Club from Manila later, but getting there from Manila was actually not bad at all. It will take you 1.5 hours.

My children don’t like long car rides, so when I first told them about the plan to go to Taal Lake and how long it would take to get there, I faced their oppositions. However, after we finished the sailing boat ride, both of my kids were thanking me for bringing them there. Even on the ride back to Manila, they already asked me when I would bring them back to the Taal Yacht Club.

Sailing

My friend, MC, told me about the Taal Lake Yacht Club and its sailing boat experience. We decided to try the sailing boat ride at Taal Lake together. She kindly booked two sail boats, Hobie 21, with an instructor each for one hour: One for herself and her boys and the other for me, my kids and my daughter’s friend. Each boat can take up to 5 passengers on top of an instructor. The total cost for each boat and instructor fee was 2,200 Pisos (about US$95) for an hour. I don’t find it cheap for one hour, but neither are many indoor activity places for kids in Manila. I’ve always wanted to go to Taal Lake, so I jumped on the opportunity to entertain my children.

The Taal Yacht Club is owned by Peter Capotosto. We had a chance to meet with him before the boat ride by luck and talk for a bit. He was super friendly and made us feel as if we had been friends already. Peter is American of origin, but he actually grew up in the Philippines until he moved back to the U.S. for college. He also sails and competes in competitions in the Philippines. As you can imagine, he is a wealth of knowledge about sailing and Taal lake. He told us how the water was doing that day in certain area of the lake based on the white caps we could see. Knowing that he owns the club was reassuring to me.

Photo With Peter Capotosto

My friend, MC, and her boys.

I will write about what to bring to this boat ride and my suggestions to you at the end so that if you plan on going, you will be able to prepare appropriately.

If you have the time, please scroll down to see all the photos.

Practicing to control the sail boat.

What To Wear

OUTFIT
For boys, it might be a good idea to wear swim shorts and rash guard to protect the skin. Girls can certainly wear swimsuits as well. If not swimsuits, light athletic clothes would be fine. That is what my children wore.

FEET
We wore sneakers and brought our flip flops. We took off our flip flops on the boat and the instructor stored them in a small box during our boat ride. You would have to walk in the water a bit before getting on a boat, so it would feel better if you wear something that you don’t mind getting very wet.

A CAP OR HAT
A cap would be nice to protect your face from the sun. However, a cap or a hat might fly off from your head because of the wind. If you can’t afford to lose your cap or a hat, I wouldn’t wear it. For anyone with a long hair, if a ponytail can go in a whole of a cap to secure it on the head, that is a possibility.

SUNGLASSES
If you have a strap to secure your sunglasses, you don’t have to worry about loosing them. Otherwise, you may not want to wear sunglasses on the boat.

Items To Bring To Taal Lake Sailing Trip

・Sun Screen

・Change Of Clothes
You will need a change of clothes because you will get wet for sure. It was a sunny day and since I only got wet a bit, it was fine without changing. My son had to change into dry clothes as he was completely drenched.

・Water Shoes or Flip Flops
We wore shoes, but we switched to flip flops before getting on the boat. Then the instructor stored all of our flip flops in a small box once we were on the boat so that they won’t fly away from our feet.

・Water
Bring water bottles or any drinks to hydrate yourself.

・Snacks
Depending on the time, you may get hungry after the ride. It’ll be good to bring some water and snacks.

・Fanny Pack or Small Crossbody Bag
If you have one that you don’t mind getting wet, I would bring it. You can store some small items that you can take with you. My friend had one and she stored her cell phone in there when she was not using her phone on the boat.

・Camera
I took my DSLR camera with me since it has a neck strap and I felt that I would not drop it. I’m so glad I took it with me because otherwise I wouldn’t have these photos. The camera was pretty secure on my neck thanks to the strap.

・Cell Phone
Bringing your cell phone to the boat may be a bit risky. If you have a waterproof case with a strap, you should take it with you. If you also have a small bag or fanny pack, you could store your cell phone there while you are on the boat.

・Plastic Bag or A Ziplock
I took a plastic bag to the boat and tied it on the camera strap while using the camera on the boat. The purpose was to use it to protect my camera when I wasn’t using it on a boat.

・Lunch
This is optional. You can pack your lunch because there are picnic tables. We had lunch at Terraza Restaurant, a casual Filipino restaurant located only a 3-minute drive from the Taal Lake Yacht Club.