MANILA -- To get the full beach experience in the Philippine capital of Manila, because the burgeoning megacity lacks a proper beach that the rest of the country is famous for, one has to go to two of its regular jaunts and combine its best features to walk away feeling you have seen "the sea" and what's in it.

First stop, the Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach. Constructed in 2020, it was a flagship project of the then Duterte administration under the Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program. The "beach nourishment" project was meant to give Manila citizens a beach that its most famous sunset all along deserved to be partnered with.

To do this, tons of dolomite rocks were imported from Alcoy, Cebu and crushed to make it appear like white sand. The result is a white sand beach view.  The beach, starting from the boundary of the United States Embassy, has a total length of 900 meters (3,000 ft) and  a width of 60 meters (200 ft).

If one gets tired after getting tanned under the sun, snapping souvenir selfies and a few hours of staring at the beach you cannot swim in, you can walk 1 kilometer towards the direction of Rizal Park (the one with the tall flagpole) and find the Manila Ocean Park.

The oceanarium, constructed in 2007 (which probably suggests it's just about time for a facelift) still boasts of attractions featuring sharks, rays, jelly fishes and sea lions, just to name a few. In fact, 14,000 marine creatures from around 277 species can be found in the oceanarium, all of them indigenous to the Philippines and Southeast Asia, according to its website. There are also countless insects, worms, spiders, bugs and frogs found in the other attractions.

An interesting factoid is that the water used in the oceanarium is derived from Manila Bay, filtered to make it suitable for marine life.

If the dolomite beach seeks to simulate an actual white sand beach, the Manila Ocean Park seeks to simulate what is lacking at the artificial beach on Roxas Boulevard and serves the viewing public with actual animals you might find in the ocean.

The Manila Ocean Park tickets, which can be bought from their website start at P680 for eight attractions or shows, and it is open Monday to Sunday (including public holidays) from 10:00AM to 6:00PM.

The Manila Baywalk Dolomite Beach is open to the public daily, except Thursdays, from 6:00AM until 6:00PM. The beach is closed every Thursday for maintenance. Entrance is free.