Where to Watch the Manila Bay Sunset near MOA

The Manila Bay sunset near MOA can be watched for free from the Seaside Blvd esplanade or the viewing decks of MOA Sky, and with a table from Army Navy or C Lounge. Choose by what you want in your hand at golden hour: nothing, a burger or a cocktail.

Free: the esplanade and the rooftop

The esplanade runs along Seaside Blvd in the MOA Complex. It is an open walk at ground level, beside the water, with no ticket and no table to hold.

MOA Sky is the same sunset from above. It is a free rooftop park on SM MOA with viewing decks, a 1 km track and an amphitheater, opened on 25 February 2025. The decks give a seat and some height, and the track gives a reason to keep walking once the light goes.

A sensible way to use both: start on the rooftop while the sun is still up, then come down to the esplanade for the last of it.

Paid: a burger or a hotel bar

Army Navy sells burgers and burritos with a Manila Bay view, at under ₱500 a head. It has indoor and outdoor seating. This is the low-cost way to have the sunset with dinner already on the table.

C Lounge is the bar at the Conrad, on Seaside Blvd. It has a bay panorama and live entertainment, and it stays open to midnight, or 1 AM on Fridays and Saturdays. At ₱1,500 and up a head, one drink each is the plan.

China Blue by Jereme Leung, also at the Conrad, is Chinese fine dining with bay views and private rooms. It is a dinner booking, so the view counts most on an early table. Ask for the bay side when you book.

Further up the bay: the CCP Complex

Harbour Square is a free yacht-side esplanade in the CCP Complex, listed for sunset. The yachts make it a different picture from the esplanade at MOA.

Two cautions. First, it is a ride from MOA: each complex on this side of the bay is walkable inside but not from one to the next, so pick one for the evening. Second, the main CCP building is shut, with reopening targeted for the end of February 2027, so Star City is the natural pairing. It is a theme park open Wednesday to Sunday, and a park afternoon followed by sunset at the square is planned out in the theme park plan for a barkada.

Army Navy has a location at the square as well as at MOA, so the burger option travels with you.

When to arrive

Sunset moves through the year, so look up the day's time before leaving.

• Free spots: arrive about 45 minutes before sunset. There is nothing to reserve, so the only way to get a good place on the decks or the esplanade is to be early.
• A table with a view: arrive earlier still, or call ahead.
• Weekends: the area draws families, tourists, concert-goers and barkadas. Expect company.
• Weather: the esplanade, the rooftop decks and the square are open air, so an overcast evening spoils them. On a grey day, move straight to dinner.

After the sun goes down

Dinner inside SM MOA is sorted by price in MOA restaurants by budget. The free fountain show at Okada Manila runs every 30 minutes from 7 PM, to midnight from Friday to Sunday. Okada is in Entertainment City, Parañaque, a ride from MOA, and the evening around it is in the Okada fountain show date.

One sunset, three budgets

• Free: the rooftop decks, then the esplanade.
• Under ₱500 a head: a burger table at Army Navy.
• ₱1,500 and up a head: one drink at C Lounge, or an early dinner at China Blue.

The planner covers Cubao now, and the Pasay Bay Area is next; see the areas page. Cubao has its own sunset stop on a hotel rooftop: The Edge Skyview Bar is a rooftop pool bar on Level 22 of ibis Styles with a deck for the skyline and the sunset, and the night around it is in the Cubao date night guide.

The planner covers Cubao now. Pasay Bay Area is next, and this post is written from the same kind of checked list.