Landfall: An Island of Your Own
Bruce Maxwell
03/01/2007

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is one aficionado of the Philippines, which was an American-administered territory for much of the last century. He cruised there in his Feadship Méduse and recently returned for another Asia-Pacific voyage in Octopus. Lord Irvine Laidlaw of Rothiemay, former owner of the Monaco Yacht Show, had his 182-foot oceAnco Lady Christine in the Palawan region of the Philippines last year. Chinese junks and Spanish galleons sailed these waters in earlier eras.

An increasing number of superyachts are expected to cruise Asia-Pacific waters this year. French Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand, and Thailand’s Andaman Sea are popular destinations. More adventurous owners, however, have begun exploring the enormous 7,000-isle Philippines and 14,000-isle Indonesian archipelagos. Here, finding suitable facilities ashore for owners and guests to visit or for crews to re-provision can sometimes be a problem. But luxury facilities such as Amanpulo, part of the Amanresorts group, are increasingly catering to visiting big boats. (Click image to enlarge)

The clubhouse overlooks a 30-meter swimming pool and has a restaurant, bar, terrace, boutique and gallery. (Click images to enlarge)

I visited Amanpulo last year by air. As we approached the resort in the northern waters of the Sulu Sea, Manila-based Spanish-American Andy Soriano’s Swan 80 Maligaya rode at a mooring off Pamalican Island, and nearby, Carlos Araneta’s Horizon 80 motor yacht Monica was tied up, too.

Owners and guests of these vessels flew in on private planes to rendezvous with their crews after arriving at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila. The route to Pamalican Island and Amanpulo is simply spectacular—from Manila to Laguna and Cavite, to Batangas and mountainous Mindoro Island where Puerto Galera appeared far below to our left, then on to Busuanga Island and finally the Quiniluban group. The 185-mile flight across bright blue sea took about 80 minutes.

Touching down on the island strip, a red carpet was laid out for us. A golf-cart-driving welcoming committee awaited our arrival, and Mafalda de Bragança and her husband Miguel Guedes de Sousa, general manager of Amanpulo, greeted us. Mafalda and Miguel are from Portugal, a country that has had ships plying this region since the fifteen hundreds, from exotic Goa to Malacca, Timor and Macao. The pair came from the Aman resort in Marrakech, Morocco, one of the exclusive group’s farther-flung properties. The Aman group also includes the ski center Le Mélézin in France, Hotel Bora Bora in French Polynesia, Amangani in Wyoming and Amanyara in Turks and Caicos. (Click images to enlarge)

Most Aman resorts, though, are in Asia-Pacific waters. The group, founded by Singapore-based Adrian Zecha, has properties in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, as well as Cambodia, India and Bhutan. Aman is an ancient Sanskrit word that means "peaceful," and in Amanpulo’s case, "peaceful island." Each resort is designed for a different experience. Amansara in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is beside the majestic Khmer ruins of Angkor Wat, while Amanjiwo on Java in Indonesia overlooks Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist sanctuary. Yachtsmen tend to gravitate to the coastal and island locations such as the first Amanpuri in Phuket, Thailand, opened in 1988, or Amanwana on Moyo Island off Sumbawa, east of Bali, or here at Amanpulo in the northern part of the province of Palawan’s Cuyo Islands.

American visitors are expected to comprise 12.5 percent of the clientele this year, with Europeans accounting for 19.5 percent, and apart from a smattering of Australians, the rest are wealthy Asians or Asia-based expatriates.The tariff is about $1,000 a day, for which guests get a 65-square-meter wooden bungalow called a casita. These elegant buildings are modeled loosely after a Philippine bahay kubo, or village home. There are only 40 such dwellings in treetop, hillside and beach settings, and because Amanpulo takes up the entire 3.5 miles of Pamalican Island, privacy is assured. This is definitely a sophisticated resort at the elusive six- to seven-star level.

Top: The spacious casitas resemble traditional Philippine bungalows. Middle & Bottom:  Nearly half the space in each is given over to a Cebu marble bathroom. (Click images to enlarge)

Each casita has its own buggy, named after individual islands in the Cuyo group. Within the casitas are pebble-washed walls, coconut-shell tables, rustic Palawan rice-and-knife baskets, a king-size bed with rattan headboard, and sliding glass doors that reveal outdoor decks with his-and-hers divans, from which many colorful birds and the occasional iguana in the undergrowth can be seen. Nearly half the space in the casita is given over to a Cebu marble bathroom, with twin vanities, separate changing areas, a shower, an elegant and deep bathtub, and timber-shuttered windows.

Two secluded villas cater to larger groups or families. There is also a library, boutique and gallery, a 30-meter swimming pool with poolside loungers, a restaurant, bar, » beach club, picnic grove, lagoon retreat, meeting rooms, and a spa with massage and beauty treatments. Activities such as tennis, nature walks, biking and stargazing, as well as cruising, snorkeling, scuba diving, windsurfing, waterskiing, sailing, fishing, island excursions and fish feeding are also available to guests.

Few angles have been overlooked to provide guests opportunities to relax. Manamoc Island lies across the strait. (Click image to enlarge)

Coral reefs teeming with fish lie off the powdery white sand beaches, but we found sea life such as turtles, trevallies and rays when swimming close to shore. Dolphins and sea cows, or dugongs, are common to the region, and we encountered many other fish species. Clams, octopus, lobsters, squid, prawns and mangrove crabs round out the local underwater fare.

The Philippine sun proved perfect for getting a deep tan without burning, but liberal quantities of resort-supplied repellent were needed to keep sand flies at bay in the evenings. The beach club offers sailboards, kayaks, Hobies and Lasers, ski and fishing boats, and a double-deck pontoon vessel. Dolphin 1, Amanpulo’s 31-foot Gulf Craft, handles most charters, and she has a 34-foot sistership equipped with twin 200-hp outboards for longer voyages.

During our visit to Amanpulo, we decided to explore larger Manamoc Island, which dominates the view from the beach club. Here, the conservation-minded will be intrigued to find a program in place to discourage dynamiting of fish or stun-poisoning of potential aquarium fish with sodium cyanide. These two activities have become a scourge of Asia-Pacific archipelagos like the Philippines and Indonesia, destroying coral reefs and devastating fish stocks.

The Andres Soriano Foundation, working from a largely donated $100,000 budget, has developed new marine revenue sources on the proviso that the dynamiting and poisoning stop, policed by a sort of neighborhood watch system. Marine tourism is paramount because many Manamoc islanders are now trained and employed at Amanpulo.Locals are also involved in other forms of fishing and work on seaweed farms, in salt making, shell gathering and the harvesting of sea slugs, sea urchins and clams. Seaweed is used as a health food or a food additive and is in demand by cosmetics makers. The Chinese consider sea slugs an aphrodisiac, while sea urchins supply highly prized uni in Japan. Production of pearls is another growing industry. The Manamoc project has been extended over the last decade to 20 nearby islands, and there are more on a waiting list to sign up.

Wining and dining at Amanpulo can take place privately in one’s casita, in the beach club or the restaurant. Amanpulo also has some wonderful picnic and evening dining spots including a well-organized beach bonfire. Australian executive chef Don Christie says those who are "chilling out" usually prefer the wide variety of seafood and steaks, rather than anything too elaborate. Satellite communications keep television, phones and e-mail flowing for those who desire regular contact with the outside world.

Contact Amanpulo at +63 2 759 4040. www.amanresorts.com