For expats who are moving a family to the Philippines for the first time from a developed country, Bonifacio Global City has a lot of advantages compared to the other parts of Metro Manila.
For recreation, there are a few things that families can do within walking distance of their home. However, for facilities like swimming pool, tennis court, basketball court and so on, you have to rely on your own condo if they have the amenities.
Indoor recreational activities
Do you like watching movies in the cinema? You may find it cheaper to watch movies in cinemas in the Philippines than in your home country, even for the VIP cinemas. In BGC, there are four movie houses, each with several cinemas. One of them is even located within Bonifacio High street, inside Central Square mall. For movie hours see here.
For very young kids, you can look up the indoor playgrounds listed in this article. Some of the facilities listed in that article are suitable for teenagers as well, such as wall climbing places and lazer tag game.
For adults, there is an indoor obstacle course located near SM Aura Premier mall, called Pretty Huge Obstacles, that you can visit for some physical challenges.
There is an escape room facility in BGC (by Breakout Manila), which is located on 2nd floor of Serendra Piazza.
Outdoor recreational activities
There is actually no camp ground in BGC. The featured photo of this article was taken in American Memorial and Cemetery located at the edge of BGC, during a camp out organized by a scouts chapter.
Apart from several small parks (see list here), there are really not many public facilities for outdoor recreation in BGC.
There is a soccer field called Turf, but it is not for casual playing. You have to book a court for team playing. For kids, soccer schools that train in the Turf include G8 Academy and Makati Football Club.
Since BGC has wide sidewalks, children can ride their bicycles on the sidewalks in most places. On Sundays, a section of the street near Ore Central building is closed for kids to learn bicycle riding.
There is a lady who teaches roller skates to people of all ages every Sunday from 8am at the open space outside Central Square, Bonifacio High Street.
There are running and cross training groups gathering in Bonifacio Global City almost every weekend. Most of the groups are open to any one interested to join them. For example, Sun’s Out Fitness, a group of fitness enthusiasts, has regular free training session in BGC every Thursday.
A group of Star Wars fans often gather in parks in BGC to practice the “art” of lightsaber. You can check when they next visit BGC here.
Near BGC
There is a bicycle trail in the army camp near BGC, called Heroes Bicycle Trail. Its obscure entrance is located along Bayani Road, near the Heritage Cemetery, and is about 15 minutes drive from BGC.
Also along Bayani Road but even closer to BGC is a venue for paintball games. Global Gutz Paintball field is located within Philippine Army Gymnasium. Unfortunately, the ground is not very well maintained and trash can be found every where.
