Sol Alma · Danacbunga, Botolan · Zambales● Opening Spring 2027 — waitlist now open

Where the sun meets
the soul of the sea.

Six villas. One farm. A two-kilometer stretch of black-sand coast. A retreat being built slowly, by hand, on the edge of the West Philippine Sea.

15°17′N · 120°01′EDanacbunga · Botolan
01 — The Story

A retreat shaped by the tide, the field, and the long Zambales horizon.

Sol Alma — "sun soul" — is a small luxury retreat rising on a quiet bend of coast in Botolan, Zambales. Six villas, a working farm, and a kitchen that cooks only what the land and sea offer that morning.

We are building Sol Alma slowly, with local craftsmen and materials drawn from the region: capiz, narra, lava stone, and hand-troweled lime. Every villa faces the water; every meal is rooted in the soil it came from.

When we open in spring 2027, you'll find a place to do less, eat better, and remember the sound of the surf at four in the morning.

6
Private villas
2km
Of black-sand coast
14ha
Of farm and forest
Danacbunga, Botolan · 06:14, December
Where
Danacbunga, Botolan · Zambales
From Manila
3 hr 20 · by road
From Clark
1 hr 40 · CRK
Best season
Nov — May · dry
02 — The Villas

One villa, built six times. Two face the water.

The Danacbunga Villa at Sol Alma
One design · six villas

The Danacbunga Villa

One design, built six times over.
Every villa at Sol Alma is the same house: a thatched-dome bahay kubo reimagined in hardwood, lava stone, and capiz. Raised on stone piers, wrapped in sliding glass, with a sleeping loft tucked beneath the dome. Four open to the garden and the pines; two face the water.
Sleeps
2 — 4
Footprint
46 m²
Plan
Bed + loft
Bath
1 full
Hand-thatched dome roof over a hardwood frame
Raised on dry-laid lava-stone piers
Ground-floor king bedroom, sliding glass on three sides
Sleeping loft beneath the dome, reached by ladder-stair
Lava-stone bath with an open-air rain shower
Shaded hardwood deck, capiz-screen privacy wall
Choose your villa
2 water-facing4 garden
DagatFront-row, twelve meters from the tide-line
Reserve Dagat
03 — Kusina

A kitchen that cooks what the morning brought.

The Kusina pavilion at Sol Alma — open-air thatched dining, jungle setting
Open · Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner
From the farm,
from the bay.
The pavilion · open-air, under thatch

A Filipino soul, a Spanish accent.

Our kitchen is small and seasonal. The menu changes with what the fishermen bring in at first light and what the farm has ready to pull from the soil that morning. Most things are cooked slowly, mostly over wood — kinilaw cured in coconut vinegar, whole grouper salt-crusted on banana leaf, suckling-pig adobo three days in the making.

We name the farms and the fishermen on the card. Nothing arrives by truck. We try to keep it under seven plates, so each one gets the attention it deserves.

HoursBreakfast · Lunch · Dinner
StyleDaily tasting · 5–7 plates
SeatsOpen-air, under thatch
Open toGuests & reservations
04 — Experiences

Days made by hand.

EXP — 01Half day · 5 hr

Waterfall guided trek

A private hike to Anawangin's upper falls — twin pools, sixty meters of jungle canopy, and a swim in cold mountain water before lunch back at the villa.
₱ 4,800 / guest
EXP — 02By the hour or day

Bay on water

Paddle boards, kayaks, snorkel kit, and an outrigger sail. The bay is calm year-round; instructors are local and gentle. Sunset paddles are a Sol Alma standard — included with every stay.
From ₱ 1,200 / hour
EXP — 032 hr · sunrise or sunset

Dune ATV ride

A guided ATV ride along the coast and up into the lahar fields behind the property. Helmets, briefing, and a chase vehicle. We can stop at the salt pans on the way back if you want a cold beer.
₱ 3,600 / quad
EXP — 04Morning · 3 hr

Farm walk + lunch

Walk the rice paddies and orchard with the farm steward; pick what looks ready. Chef will cook it for lunch, and you keep the recipe card.
₱ 2,400 / guest
EXP — 0504:30 — 09:00

Fishermen morning out

Out before dawn with Mauricio in his outrigger. Hand-line, no electronics. What you catch comes back for lunch; what you don't is fine company.
₱ 5,200 / guest
EXP — 0690 min

Hilot in the villa

A traditional Filipino bodywork session in your villa — banana-leaf wrap, warm coconut oil, slow long strokes. Best after the hike or before dinner.
₱ 4,200 / guest
05 — The Founders

Built by two people, in love with one place.

April and Austin, the founders of Sol Alma
April & Austin

Sol Alma began as a long walk on a quiet stretch of beach, a few kilometers from where April grew up.

April was born and raised in Zambales — the salt and the mango trees and the long tide-lines were her first language. Austin came from the other side of the Pacific: a software executive from Florida who, on a trip to meet April's family, fell hard for the country, the food, the slowness of the afternoons, and — in the way these things tend to go — for April herself.

Years later, after a long career building software companies, Austin traded one kind of building for another. April brought him home to Botolan, and together they began assembling Sol Alma — six villas, a working farm, a kitchen, and a single shared idea: that hospitality is, at its quietest, the act of bringing someone into your family for a few days.

They live on the property, with their dogs and a rotating cast of visiting cousins. If you stay with us, you'll likely meet them at breakfast.

April & AustinFounders, Sol Alma
"Mabuhay —
welcome to the family."
06 — Reserve

Hold a villa. Spring 2027 bookings now open.

Reservations are mocked here, but the form is real — pick dates, a villa, and any add-ons, and we'll hold the night for you. A deposit of ₱20,000 secures your stay; refundable until 30 days prior.

Arrive
Depart
Guests
2
Most stays are three to five nights. We accept arrivals on Wednesday and Saturday during pre-opening.
→ 4 nights · 2 guests
4 nights · 2 guests
Pre-opening · Limited list
No. 20
The first twenty guestsSpring 2027 · Botolan, ZambalesHand-written notes only

A letter, at the end.

If you've made it this far, you're the kind of guest we're building Sol Alma for — slow, curious, here for the long quiet of the bay.

We're inviting twenty people to come first, before we open formally. Stays on the house. Honest feedback in exchange. Leave your address below and we'll write — quietly, when there's something worth saying.

No spam · three or four notes a year, until we open.

April & Austin · Founders