Nature's Escape
Perched on the northeast coast of Palawan, Taytay is the jump-off point for Club Noah. The town is home to a Spanish church and an extraordinary fortress constructed in 1667 to defend the inhabitants against Moro pirates. Santa Isabel fort - built from huge coral blocks bound together with a mortar of lime and egg whites - looks out over the island-studded seascape of Taytay Bay. These days, wild orchids flourish on its fossilised walls and colourful zinnias grow around the canons and bastions.
From Taytay, it is a 45-minute ride on a banca, a traditional wooden outrigger boat, to Apulit Island, the home of Club Noah. As we approach, dramatic limestone cliffs appear, towering above a deep blue sea and turquoise shallows. Along the east and west sides of the bay thirty white beach cabanas sit elegantly above the water - these are where guests stay. A gentle breeze blows and hibiscus plants flower profusely all around.
Relaxation comes easily upon checking in at this resort-cum-nature reserve. After a cool drink accompanied by welcoming music and dance, it is up to you to while away your first few hours – I take a walk along the beach to an enchanting grotto and then rest on my private balcony under which a colourful array of reef fish swim and a baby shark weaves in and out of the rocks.
Club Noah feels like a very special kind of resort: remote, comfortable and environmentally sensitive. The idea was pioneered by a group of Japanese divers who were shipwrecked in nearby El Nido where they became inspired by the craggy limestone landscape and brilliant underwater world. They opened Club Noah in 1995 and since that time have been putting ten percent of the resort’s annual income into protecting the island ecosystems.
Near the main pier, enormous shoals of stripy damselfish gather in the shallows. Large groupers swim below, unperturbed by curious snorkelers diving down for a closer look. In the deeper waters, a wide array of corals grow and feisty anemone fish guard their homes of gently waving tentacles. Towards the west beach, snorkelers can see stingrays, green sea turtles and may chance across a graceful manta ray.
I borrow a kayak and paddle over to the Octagon pier, on the other side of the bay, where I swim in limpid blue water surrounded by more fish and corals. In front of me a huge rock juts out of the water, a typical feature of this rugged karst landscape. Beyond it is a dive site, ‘Noah’s Rock’, home to another beautiful reef.
As dusk begins to fall, guests head back to their cabanas to dress for a sumptuous dinner on the beach. Every evening a delicious buffet is prepared of local and international cuisine - from Filipino and Japanese to French and Italian. For an especially romantic evening couples can request a candlelit dinner at the ‘Rock Bar’, positioned on a rocky outcrop some 109 steps above the beach. Here Palawan hornbills fly among the treetops, sleek bodied with unusual shaped bills, making their distinctive calls to one another. For compete seclusion, it can be arranged for guests to dine in the ‘Honeymooners’ Cave’, on the east side of the island. Behind the cliff front this airy cavern, carved by water over billions of years, has a very special allure.
On my second day, I wake before dawn to visit the Irrawaddy dolphins of Malampaya Sound. We travel through the still, misty morning to Taytay’s east coast and reach the sound as the sun is beginning to rise. The mountainous landscape is shrouded in fog and the brackish water is totally calm. It is not long before we hear a pod of dolphins surfacing close by and the distinct sound of their breathing. They allow us to remain near and we watch them rolling through the water, sometimes jumping and splashing.
Sadly, it is this friendly and playful nature that is endangering the Irrawaddy dolphins of Malampaya. First discovered in 1986, their number has dropped sharply from 77 to just 47. Many drown by becoming entangled when playing among the fish traps which are so common in the sound. The World Wildlife Fund Philippines is working together with local fishermen to prevent by-catch and secure a future for these rare marine mammals.
We arrive back at Club Noah in time for a late breakfast and a lazy morning on the beach. The ‘kelang-banwa’ is a new native style lounge with low tables and huge cushions and floor mats. It is designed as a cultural centre and is decorated with indigenous musical instruments from the Pala’wan tribe. Perhaps the most relaxing place to drink a coffee or one of the many herbal teas on offer, this is also a great refuge during the odd rain shower.
Lunch is served on the west beach. No ordinary picnic but a veritable feast of seafood, barbequed meats and delicious salads followed by blueberry roll and mango sponge cake. It is high tide and small waves lap on the shore beneath my table. Behind the beach are tall cliffs and what looks like an impenetrable forest. But when I opt to walk back to the main beach, I find carefully marked out pathways along the cliff side and through the trees. I visit Café Isabel, a restaurant over the water open for special occasions and, as I make my way along the west side of the island, I hear the screeching of insects and the chatter of birds all around.
For those interested in trekking, Club Noah offers two-hour guided nature walks through the island’s interior. Look out for anteaters and Philippine mouse deer – an endemic species which is the smallest hoofed animal on earth. You will see, or at least hear, a huge variety of birds and should watch for snakes slithering through the undergrowth. Strangely, rabbits are also a common sight - an introduced species that has successfully made a home on the island.
That afternoon, I join a trip to Pabellon Island, a fifteen-minute banca ride from Club Noah. This is where the nido harvest takes place. Twice a month, daring climbers gather swiftlets’ nests from Pabellon’s towering cave complexes. The nests – constructed from fine threads of the birds’ saliva - are sold for ‘bird’s nest soup’, a Chinese delicacy famed for its health benefits and one of the most expensive foods in the world. Inside one cave is a deep turquoise lagoon where visitors can swim in the chilly, crystal clear water to admire the dramatic limestone rock formations above and below.
My final day I devote entirely to diving. The reefs are extensive and there are many different dive sites. The natural diversity is astounding, especially close to the drop off where a statue of an angel kneels on the seabed and shoals of bluefin travellies glide past giant clams with iridescent mantles.
The key to the richness of Club Noah’s underwater world is the fact that fishing is prohibited with in one mile of the island. “When we first arrived here, the reef had been quite damaged by fishermen”, says Bong Romero, Manager of the resort. “So we transplanted small corals from other areas and provided the right conditions for them to prosper. Since then our reefs have flourished and now act as nurseries for young jacks, sharks and other pelagic species that will spend most of their lives in the open sea”.
At Club Noah time drifts by in a leisurely way and, although I only stayed two nights and three days, when it was time to go home I was already completely rested. Even for just a short break, living so close to nature in this luxurious retreat restores the body and replenishes the imagination. The El Nido divers who were inspired to found Club Noah dreamt of creating “a return to the essentials of life” and this they have surely done.
Club Noah Isabelle
Apulit Island, Taytay, northeastern Palawan, Philippines
(63 2) 844 6688 or 8446166
[email protected]
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