Hotel Review: Tepanee Beach Resort In Malapascua, Philippines

Malapascua is a charming little island off the northernmost point of Cebu Island in the Philippines. While it is not the most touristic place, there is one main reason people venture all the way here: Diving. Malapascua Island is famous for being the only place in the world where one can consistently (guaranteed every day) dive with thresher sharks. 

Nearby the island is a feeding station, where these long tailed sharks ascend from their usual depth so that fish can eat parasites off of the shark’s skin. If you want to do a dive like this you can read my article about diving in Malapascua. 

However, if you plan on coming here for diving you might be wondering about accommodation. As 99% of tourists to Malapascua come here to dive with the sharks, you can imagine there are a seemingly endless number of hostels or budget hotels available. Tepanee is not one of them. 

Tepanee Beach Resort is one of the nicest hotels on Malapascua Island, and by the end of this hotel review I think you will see why. 

Location

Tepanee Beach Resort is located on the most south-western tip of Malapascua Island. In fact, it straddles a small peninsula giving guests access to three different beaches. 

To get to the hotel you just need to walk around 5 minutes from the pier in which the boats drop off all visitors. You can read more about getting to Malapascua if you like. 

The hotel can be a little tricky to find as there is no paved road that goes directly to the front entrance. You will have to walk on the sand for a minute, but follow my image down below and you will have no issues at all. 

All in all, I love the location. It is located away from the main roads littered with hostels and budget accommodation so you will not worry about late night noises keeping you awake. In fact the only things you’ll hear is the sound of your air conditioner or the nature outside (the resort is packed full of lush greenery which makes the hotel extremely calming. 

Public Area

Tepanee Beach Resort features two restaurants, three beaches, a spa, gym, and cobbled hills on which to traverse the area. One of the restaurants is open for breakfast and dinner, and another is open for lunch and snacks. As breakfast is included in the room you will see one of the restaurants and it’s view every morning. 

The beaches are all public, however the lounge chairs, umbrellas, and tables are for Tepanee guests only. One of the beaches is a protected habitat for turtles and baby sharks so you are not allowed to walk on it. You can however enter the water and snorkel around, as long as you do not step on the corals. If you do not have your own mask and snorkel you can rent them from the bar. 

The gym is free; You only have to ask reception for the key and you can go in. As for the spa it is by appointment only and the price varies based on what you want. 

Service

Service at Tepanee Beach Resort is quite good, much better than most places I’ve stayed at in the Philippines. The staff speak better English than most, and are extremely friendly and helpful. 

Check in was quick, and as they were scanning our passports and explaining the areas of the resort, they also offered to arrange dive trips and other excursions. I did not avail them of this offer as we had already pre-arranged our dives, but it is nice to be offered regardless. 

The Room

Like with most hotels, the room is the most important part of the stay. There are two types of rooms at Tepanee: standard and bungalow. The standard rooms are in the main buildings and they feature balconies or terraces. 

The bungalows are standalone buildings, so you do not have any wall neighbors. Since we stayed in a bungalow the room review will be about that. 

The bungalows are scattered throughout the property so it might seem confusing at first finding yours. Fortunately the staff will guide you to the room on check-in and show you the grounds of the resort. 

Our bungalow overlooked the pier section, and had a cute balcony with a couch and table. The hotel also provided mosquito incense so you can sit out and not worry about getting bit up. 

Inside the room was a large queen size bed, a table and chair, along with open shelves, a closet, a luggage rack, and a fridge and boiler set. 

The bathroom has your standard bathroom stuff: shower, toilet, sink, and mirror. Towels are provided, as well as shampoo, body wash, and hand soap.

 

Of course, the most important thing in a room on a tropical island is…the air conditioner. Fortunately it worked wonderfully, and it even has a quiet mode for when you turn in for the night, keeping the ambient temperature nice and cool without making any loud noise. 

My main negative for the room is that the doors do not fully seal, so the cool air the conditioner worked so hard for escapes quickly. This is made worse because the power cuts out when you leave the room (the power activator is welded to the key ring. So upon entering the room after a hot and sweaty jaunt outside, you have to wait 10-15 minutes for the indoor temperature to cool down again. 

Having the power tied to your keys makes it hard to charge gadgets while you are out as well. I understand why the hotel does this, but it is still something a hotel at these prices should not do. 

Restaurants

There are two restaurants at Tepanee: Amihan and Chiringuito. We only ate at Amihan for breakfast and Chiringuito for drinks by the sea. The breakfast is rather sparse, with a buffet of some type of processed meat(s) and rice. There is also bread and yogurt and fruit and sweets. However I personally was not impressed with anything, especially the fruit. They only had melon and pineapple cut into extremely tiny pieces, while the island is filled with wonderful fruit you can get at stands just on the street. 

I did like the high quality coffee they served there, which is a rare find in The Philippines. 

Chiringuito is good for drinks, although I would not order food there either as the prices seemed unbelievably high and after seeing what some other people ordered we decided to spend money elsewhere. However Angelina is right next to the Tepanee entrance and that is one of the best restaurants on the island so you can still get good food close by. 

Conclusion

Tepanee is a great 3 star resort for those visitors to Malapascua who would like a little more comfort than the backpacker circuit. The rooms are reasonably comfortable and the staff are friendly. Having easy access to a more exclusive beach makes it a great escape from the more party-going crowd of island visitors as well as noise from the bars and restaurants. 

Key Details

Price: 4500 PHP  (78$) /night

Air-Conditioned Rooms: Yes 

Breakfast Included: Yes

Pool On-Site: No

Maid Service: Yes

Recommended To Stay Here: Yes.

Booking: Tepanee Beach Resort 

Address: Malapascua Island, Logon, Daanbantayan, Cebu, Southern Leyte, 6013, Philippines

Disclaimer: Jet Set Together was not paid for a good review of the Tepanee Beach Resort in Malapascua, Philippines. The words expressed in this article are my honest opinion.