Nature and fun at ‘Papa Kits’

Their desire to preserve and restore the natural wealth of their father’s more than 90 hectares of lush and biodiversity-rich property in Liloan town, northern Cebu prompted the children of Democrito “Kit” Mendoza to develop his property to an exciting eco-tourism attraction that features also family-oriented activites.

They called the place Papa Kit’s Marina and Fishing Lagoon after the nickname of their father “Kit.”

To date, Papa Kit’s Marina and Fishing Lagoon in Silot Bay, Liloan Cebu is among the most well visited by many for a quick escape to Mother Nature’s best attractions especially during weekends and holidays.

Papa Kits in Silot Bay, Liloan Cebu soft opened last August 2010. It has since been one of the most visited places for those who wanted a quick escape from the hectic urban life of the city and relax in the fishing resort especially during weekends and holidays.

Michael C. Mendoza, one of Democrito’s sons, said the family always loved nature since they grew up in the area which is a nature-rich area.

“We thought that the best way to protect this place from further destruction is to make it an ecotourism destination and promote restoration of the area like the mangroves which people just usually cut for firewoods,” he said.

He said they had not yet taken into serious accounting how much they had invested in the place because the developments are still ongoing.

“The initial investments includes the building of the 800 meters zipline which transcends a beautiful bay between two islets, the Chatis and Cadlum islets which the family also owns,” said Demosthenes E. Inso, general manager of Menca Development Corp., the developer of the property.

Upon entering, adults only pay P100 as entrance fee which is consumable at their restaurants.

Attractions in the place aside from the zipline includes horseback riding, fishing, bicycling and boating which they said are the activities that most families would love to do for bonding.

Fishing cottages are available for rent with prices ranging from P100 to P1,500 for the biggest cottage.

“We have seven ponds here but most of the fun fishing are done in Pond 5 and 4. If you want to catch bangus you go to pond 5 but if you like to catch tilapia then go to pond 4. We have fishing rods with the reel and accessories for rent at only P50 and baits cost P10 only. If it gets destroyed you’ll have to pay for it at P800 based on the current market price of the rod and reel,” Inso said.

Horseback riding is only P50 per 10 minutes according to Inso.

“We currently have 12 horses available for this activity and we are planning to buy more.”

The boating is also among the well favored activities in the property with rental ranging from P200 for an hour for a paddle boat or a canoe, P300 for 30 minutes for their 5 horsepower dinghy, P350 for the eight horsepower dinghy, P400 for the 15 horsepower dinghy and P600 for a 30-minute ride at their glass bottom boat which can accommodate up to 10 people.

“Bicycling is also a good activity for the family and we offer bicycles for P50 for an hour use.”

The most well visited attraction in the property is their 800 meter zipline which features an aerial view of the Silot Bay that features a rich diversity of mangroves ecosystem.

“The rate is P200 for the regular zipline position while we charge P400 for the superman position,” Inso said.

According to Inso, the human traffic on regular days in Papa Kit’s Marina and Fishing Lagoon could reach as much as 200 people while on weekends. Holidays are especially high P1,000 to 1,300 people.

Papa Kit himself said that he’s very pleased at what his children have accomplished in his property, which he said could become a destination in Cebu that will be a key to competing with other destinations like CamSur.

“Camsur’s project is only 20 hectares while we have here over 90 hectares, that alone we can already use to beat what they are offering there by giving more fun activities for the family, at the same time making sure that whatever we develop here will not harm the environment,” Papa Kit said.

For their plans, Narisa Yared, one of the children of Papa Kits who is also actively managing the property said that they will soon add more cottages and kubos to accommodate more people who love to fish.

Papa Kit also said that they are in the process of implementing their plan to offer wake boarding in their property which they can do in the Silot Bay and an additional zipline to accommodate more people as well.

“We have two partners already for our wakeboarding project and we are optimistic that this will again add to our attraction to tourists who will now visit us instead of Camsur.”

Papa Kits also said they are currently building a freshwater swimming pool and a saltwater swimming pool for those who also want to go swimming especially the kids.

Additional accommodation rooms will also be added for those who want to stay overnight.

“Currently we have the Blue house that can accommodate up to eight people and costs only P2,800 per night. We’re planning to add more.”

A mini-zoo is also currently being built to educate the kids about biodiversity of life forms.”

Michael Mendoza also said that he plans to put labels on the trees so that people will learn while having fun and bonding in the resort.