Romance on a Moonlit Beach
Despite the setting however, I was far from relaxed. I hadn’t planned anything special for my wife’s birthday and given the grief I give her about the importance of meaningful (translated- expensive) gifts when my birthday comes around, I was getting hot under my imaginary collar. Even if we were in the most ideal location for a birthday, she had planned it and so I couldn’t take credit for it. So I sat down and sipped my welcome drink in silence, half listening to the briefing being given by the staff.
Get Out and Stay Out
Unlike most resorts in the Philippines, El Nido has a winning formula. From the moment you arrive, the staff will do their utmost to kick you out of your room so you can enjoy the great surroundings of the islands. Even before you set foot on the resort, at the airport, activity personnel will sit down with you and go through a checklist of activities you can do. Lagoon exploring, snorkeling, island hopping, hiking, bird watching and the list goes on. If it’s all too much to take at the airport, you can always arrange for things on the fly when you are at the resort.
The result is great. Instead of being stuck on a sandy beach slowly getting burnt alive by the sun, guests get to go outside the resort for genuinely fun activities. Palawan is generally still pristine and the surrounding areas around El Nido demonstrate this to the fullest. Snorkeling is not some sad exercise of exploring a sandy bottom for hours on end. Instead, fish of all sorts are easily sighted and in some areas friendly enough to feed (the staff provide you with bread). In their Minoloc resort, just off the pier, a school of jack fish the size of flattened watermelons are fed regularly by guests with a pale of squid left on the pier every morning. Swimming with them is another great experience.
Despite all the great scenery, the great activities and the obvious glee my wife was experiencing and I was emulating, my dilemma had not been solved. What could I spring on my wife to make her birthday special? Time was running out.
Salvation
We were at the mouth of the big lagoon waiting for a smaller boat to bring us in. The big boat we were on would hit the bottom of the big lagoon and so while waiting some of the kids on our boat, bored with the wait, were pondering if they should go for a swim. Not wanting to think about my dilemma any further, I stripped down to my swimming trunks and took the biggest, tallest dive into the deep blue sea. The kids followed suit and before long, the adults tried to outdo the antics of the children.
It must have been the cool water or the pressure of the deep dive I did off the bow of the boat but I remembered what would become my saving grace, something that was said during the briefing just a day before. “We even have VIPs that we take to a secluded beach for a private dinner”, I hazily remember one of the staff saying something to that effect. VIPs? How much more VIP can my wife get, in my life anyway? I swim frantically to the boat to talk to the staff while my wife was distracted by the antics of the children. I talk to one of the staff, hoping it was not too late to arrange my VIP dinner. My frantic pleas came across as… frantic and the ever-ready-to-please staff reassured me that they will check once we get back to the resort.
Walking back to my wife, she asked what that was all about, “nothing sweetie just asking if they have any VIPs on the resort right now”.
Later that evening, while we were having dinner, one of the resort staff pulled me cryptically aside. “Sir, we can arrange your dinner for you. Can we discuss your menu?” And so for the next few minutes I go through their menu and order everything from soup, salad, an exquisite fresh fish for the main meal and something sweet to finish it off. “Very good sir, please be at the pier by 7:00PM tomorrow evening”. With that sorted, I could finally enjoy the rest of the trip.
No Monkeys on Monkey Beach
The next day was another fun filled day of activities, diving for me in the morning; meet up with the wife at another beach for the buffet lunch and then some more exploring in the afternoon. As evening pulled up I couldn’t keep it a secret much more, we did need to take boat to our secret dinner spot and somehow explaining to my wife that this was a shortcut to the main dining hall would not cut. “Really, we’re having dinner somewhere special” she said with her eyes sparkling. She was all dressed up, more than the previous evenings, in a flowing sun dress, and despite the time of day, she still seemed glowing. Somehow she had found out about the dinner but still put on a surprised look.
We get on our boat and travel in almost total darkness to our destination, the isolated Monkey Beach -- Isolated except for our personal chef and our personal waiter. Surprisingly, no monkeys were to be found on Monkey Beach. The food was prepared on a burner on the beach and so everything was prepared and cooked on the spot, no packed food for this VIP. We wine, we dine, the staff giving us ample privacy. After dinner we take a walk on the sandbar that reaches out from the beach to the middle of the channel. Moonlight illuminates the way. Before long, we reach the end of the sand bar, it is almost in the middle of the water and looking back at our table it seems so far away. I reach out for my wife’s hand . . . . I grip it firmly . . . and we run back at a full clip, afraid that the darkness will swallow us up.
Travel Notes
El Nido Miniloc Island Resort
El Nido Lagen Island Resort
(63-2) 894 5644
www.elnidoresorts.com
How to Get There:
Island Transvoyager, Inc (ITI) and SeAir are two airline companies that have regular routes to El Nido. ITI prioritizes customers traveling to El Nido Resorts.
Travel time is one hour and 30 minutes.
Island Transvoyager, Inc.
(63-2) 851 5674
www.islandtransvoyager.com
SeAir
(63-2) 849 0100
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