Sunday, October 02, 2011

Apulit Island : A Private Getaway

Apulit Island is located in Taytay, Northern Palawan. Taytay, which means bridge in the local dialect is Palawan's largest municipality. It is also the first capital of the said province. 

Apulit Island Resort was formerly known as Club Noah Isabelle Resort. El Nido Resorts Group took over and acquired it long after and finally relaunched it in December of 2010.

Similar to Lagen and Miniloc, Apulit Island Resort is nestled in a private cove. But unlike her sister resorts, all rooms in Apulit are built on stilts. A lush tropical forest serves as a beautiful backdrop for the western cottages while magnificent limestone cliffs stand tall in the eastern part. 

The water cottages are similar to those of Miniloc's -- the materials used are very Pinoy and traditional but still exude a modern touch and contemporary design. I guess it's a mix of Lagen and Miniloc since the whole area is extremely big. We had a talk with the resort manager and he said they'll be installing a pool within the end of the year. :)


Upon arrival, the staff of the resort greeted us with the warmest smiles while singing a familiar melody -- their traditional welcome song in the local Cuyonon dialect. 


Each of us were given a handmade necklace made of palm leaves that was weaved to a shape of a small fish. (In Miniloc, the shape's a flower, then in Lagen it's an angelfish.. unique for each resort.. cute!)


We received cold towels, refreshing drinks and locally grown cashew nuts as we were led to the waiting area.


This is our room. I love that it's located on the eastern part of the resort where it's more private. During our 3-days stay, we didn't see any other guests coming in/out of the other cottages. It was peaceful and quiet all throughout. :)

In the middle of the room is a very comfy king size bed. The room is fully airconditioned, comes with a mini bar, hairdryer, 2 pairs of buri slippers, a complimentary buri bag, plastic bags for wet clothes and an eco-nido bag. Drinking water that's replenished daily is also available.


The bathroom is well equipped with hot & cold shower and standard bathroom amenities. No sachets and plastic bottles here.. :) Shampoo and bath gels are already placed on ceramic pots.

Truly eco-friendly!


Our room opens up to a private veranda. The panoramic view of the sea and the resort is pretty amazing. I sat there for a while and just enjoyed the cool breeze and fresh air.





After freshening up, we headed off to the Clubhouse Restaurant located in the middle of the resort for our lunch buffet. 



On our way to the clubhouse, we passed by kayaks that were lined on the sand. A Hobie Cat is also available for use if the winds are good. These are just two of the many complimentary water sports equipment that the resort offers.


I must say, I enjoyed our food in Apulit. I think it's at par with Lagen's. There was less variety but overall, two thumbs up! My favorite is the grilled section. Seafood was fresh and the meat was tender and moist.. just perfect! I also find it fascinating watching the chefs cook in action.  


The area outside the clubhouse was nice too. It was a perfect lovely spot to have breakfast.



After lunch, we decided to just lounge by the beach. Hearing the waves really relaxes me. True enough, I enjoyed a quick nap.


We wandered off to the west part of the resort to the 'West Beach' where the sand is finer and took an afternoon swim. To get there, we followed a trail and hiked for fifteen minutes. 





Headed back to our cottage just in time to rest a bit, see the sunset and get ready for dinner.. 

this is definitely paradise.
ISO 100, f10, 25 secs, 18 mm
ISO 100, f10, 13 secs, 18 mm
I've never seen a pinkish purple sunset before.. It's so dreamy!

Dinner is served! 


Good night Apulit! :)


26 comments:

  1. no other people but the two of you... nice. at least for few days you felt like you actually own the entire resort.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi dong! indeed. that's why i love palawan more than boracay.. it's the privacy we're after. i think the other guests were at the western cottages.. but very few din talaga.. we saw 1 family and 3 couples lang during lunch/dinner.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh WOW! Whatta peaceful getaway... I'd love to treat my family here. When we do, will give you a buzz to ask further info, if it ain't too much hassle :) Love your cover up, by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  4. so sexyyyyy!!!! Lovely photos <333

    ReplyDelete
  5. wonderful blog! decide to put on my blog roll list! :) keep blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  6. pinay travel junkie : sure sis! i'm sure you and your family will enjoy it there.. and thanks! i got it on sale. ;)

    nina : camera trick! hehe.. thanks sis!

    harvey : thank you so much! will do! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! Love the pink sunset! :)

    And that is definitely paradise! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. hi tina! i actually have a personal debate going on.. i used to believe the term 'paradise' connotes a blissful state of mind and not a place but here, i think -- and feel -- that it's both! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is perfection! Makes me dream of a tropical getaway too :) And I love your swimsuit and its colors a lot. Oh, and this drink in one of the first pics looks so stylish - so simple and elegant :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. perfect photos from a beautiful photographer :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. julia : thanks sweetie! visit palawan soon!

    veena : thank you! *blushes* :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very relaxing place! Love your photos as always :D

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi! I enjoyed your blog on Apulit and found it on their Twitter. I am wondering about the privacy and quiet. I am going with my boyfriend in March and we chose to treat ourselves to a Deluxe Water Cottage. Is it true they have direct access via staircase into the sea. Did you notice? Also is it far more busy where they are located? We really want peace and quiet. If you have time to answer I would greatly appreciate! Thank you! Gorgeaous photos!

    ReplyDelete
  14. thanks astrid!

    hi anonymous! the deluxe water cottages are ideally for families. i think it can accomodate 4-5.. they're located on the western part of the resort. yes they do have a staircase that leads to the sea and you can snorkel or feed the fish in the morning.. for couples i suggest the water cottages in the eastern part. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh man...this blog is not just helpful...but beautiful. I and my hubby was actually looking for this place 2 years ago.He is a Canadian National and traveling was part of our itinerary. We went to Puerto Galera (which is also beautiful and serene,especially off peak season), and the second one Palawan...My boyfriend say he want to go to the floating hotel in Palawan, so, we went there (without researching). We took a flight to Puerto Princessa,stayed there for 2 days. We asked the people from the hotel about this so called floating hotel and they pointed us at Busuanga. So, after getting the direction, we head out to ROxas (took us 4 hours but the scenery on our way is fantastic), because it's like 9pm when we got there, we stayed in a hotel for the night then head get a bus to el Nido(it was 6 hours non stop travel but then again, the view was great.We stayed in el Nido for 3 days and 2 nights (we decided to enjoy the beauty of the well known paradise first before we finally go to Busuanga). It took us 5 hour boat ride to Coron, but we never mind it coz the view was really mesmerizing.Thought we were there when we reached Coron, but somebody told us that it's somewhere in Busuanga. Again, we stayed there for one night because it was 3pm already and according to the locals, last trip of buses there goes at 11 or 1pm (I barely remember). We wanted to walk a little bit before getting a hotel so we took the suggestion of the locals to visit there hot spring.The following day, we head out to Busuanga only to find out that it's not there. It was like a remote area with few people and houses. But again, we were not disappointed, coz the place was so serene, peaceful and sooo relaxing. We are lucky coz there's a lodging house in there for only 100.00php per head. My hubby enjoyed the big lizards at the ceiling too (scary for me, I think it was gecko too,not sure). First hour the following morning, we went back to Coron and tried to ask persistently about it. At first, they really didn't know what "floating hotel" was, but at the end, they figured out what we meant. We got the number of the hotel but unfortunately, they said that we should have had booked in Manila first. At least a week, they said. I rolled my eyes before I smiled. We ended up renting a hotel in Coron, then decided to go Island hopping. The whole travel was not what we expected but it was totally exciting. We never regret it but next time, especially when we're budgeting time, we'll do a lot of research ahead of time. By the way, I love your blog...double thumbs up :-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. hi meica! thank you so much! wow.. that's a lot of boat rides! glad to hear you enjoyed your stay. :) i have been to coron too. went there with my friends last year and that was also my first time to visit palawan. the islands and white beaches are so amazing! were you able to go to kayangan lake? the view there literally took my breath away. so nice! would love to visit it again next year.. we didn't see much of the other islands because of our short stay. maybe a good 4-5 days trip will suffice. ;)

    thanks for sharing your memorable experience. it just goes to show that palawan leaves beautiful indelible memories to every traveler who visits it. <3

    oh and you'll definitely enjoy your next trip to el nido.. do share stories of that trip next time!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I am glad to stumbled here, Omg i love your blog... nice photos! hope we can be blogger friends... :p be back here again!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great pics!!!
    Hey nice blog here! Visit mine and let me know what you think, maybe we could follow each other!
    XOXO
    Ylenia

    ReplyDelete
  19. It's like paradise.. The food looks really good as well.. Hope we can visit the place this year..

    www.travelvisaaustralia.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. paradise found indeed! would love to hear your experience when you visit!

      Delete

Would love to hear from you.. :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...