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.
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