ONUK ISLAND
A Japanese national onboard a
yacht went fishing. He fell asleep and after a few hours was awakened to marvel
on a tropical island paradise. When
accompanied to the Philippine coast guard, it was later on discovered that he
went fishing at Sabah, Malaysia before the yacht was swept away by the waves to
Onuk Island of Balabac, Palawan.
This was one of the
conversations with the Onuk boys in
an evening under the constellation with bottles of beer in tow. Onok Island
was our home in this southern Palawan quest – home to endemic sea turtles,
dolphins, giant clams and the richest marine biodiversity as well.
With a good weather
condition and clear skies, Mount Kinabalu of Malaysia can be seen from our
vantage, which makes one question: “Can
we swim, bring our passports and enter another country?” Technically
impossible but that is synonymously how the Japanese national entered the
Philippines.
The people of Balabac are
accommodating and friendly folks. With
the consent of Mayor Shuaib Astami, currently in Puerto Princesa at that
time, Ma’am Lorna, assisted us in
this sojourn. We had a short chit-chat
with other local residents as well, including Ma’am Fedelyn Villajos and the Parish Priest, Fr. Willie Escalante, to whom we shared our excitement to stay in the
island of Onuk. They ran out of words to
describe the island and just simply exclaimed we will definitely find the
adventure we are looking for. They are
indeed fortunate to experience nature in its raw and purest form.
Electricity in the main town
of Balabac is turned off at midnight.
And so we slept early and prepared ourselves for the great
adventure. Morning came and we bought
some supplies at a nearby sari-sari store,
sufficient for our stay at the island.
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| first sight of the island |
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| pawikans here really swim so fast - this is the closest picture I got |
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| greetings from Onuk Island |
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| learning to walk? |
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| swim anyone? |
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| groupies |
On all my travels with no
electricity, majority has been associated with pitched tents, but this island
experience is totally different. We were
assigned to one of the rooms equipped with the basics and comfortable at
that. All meals were served by the
caretakers of the island and freshly-caught fish takes the center table most of
the times. To say that the stay was
relaxing was an understatement, as we almost forgot we have time constraints and
we can’t overstay (for a month?), since we have work commitments to attend to
as well.
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| chill on the hammock with this view |
George Tapan’s winning photo in the 2011 National Geographic contest in the places category besting almost 20,000 entries from 130 countries was taken at Onuk Island. The photo featured two human subjects – a girl wearing pink and a man on boat in a wide panorama under a rainbow that stands between the clear green waters and the blue skies. And we have learned that the man on the boat was the town Mayor, Shuaib Astami as shared by the caretakers and the model himself. Fishing is his hobby and so everything in the picture comes naturally.
As we sat down the mat that Carla brought and positioned ourselves near
the stilts, commenced our drinking spree and sunset
photography sessions, we were at the vantage point where George Tapan set up
his camera (almost). But the rainbow did
not appear full, only half of it. It was
understandable nevertheless as it was cloudy then. But with such a panoramic
view even on a rainy season, what more can we expect during summer?
Recognizing the stilts
(quite high elevation), we asked if there’s the possibility of being submerged
in water if we stay until the wee hours of the morning. And yes there is,
nearing midnight I see planktons invading the sand bar, and we decided to call it
a night.
Early morning, I was
awakened by the sound of a thunder, I checked on the vicinity and peeped on the
window and it was the best breaking of the dawn scene I have witnessed. The whole sand bar where our hut stands was
submerged in water. It was truly scenic
albeit lightning and thunder’s presence.
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| the blue hour |
Around noon the sun went up,
it’s now time to explore the whole island we so declare.
Onuk Island’s charm is even
more enhanced by the raw state of its flaura and fauna – untouched and far from
civilization. An ocular of the island
was made on our second day where we noticed that even twigs and branches
displaced, dilapidated boats and anchors provides character to the island. It would be best to maintain its current
state.
And even finding nemo is not that hard. As we beach bum, snorkel and swim near the
edge of the sand bar, coral reefs thrive like a mini-island formed underneath.
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| the edge of the sand bar |
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| egret ka ba? |
Before we packed our bags and bid farewell to the island and the caretakers, Benjie, our boatman, invited us to get on the boat as we shall visit another uninhabited sandbar/shoal. It only took seconds to get there and the view was just perfect. We were in the middle of the ocean surrounded by the Onuk Island, the mountains of Balabac and that of Sabah Malaysia. It was a 360-degree scenic view indeed.
Crabs, giant clams, colorful
coral reefs with inhabitants and the sea turtles were such a common sight. It would definitely be best to visit the
island during summer.
Since day one, we have been expecting
dolphins to greet us en route to the island.
Local residents say the Balabac Strait is their playground, but none
appeared on our way. We were about to
accept such fate when on our way back to the Balabac mainland, our boatman pointed
to a certain direction. I could not hear
clearly what he is talking about as the engine’s sound was prominent.
And as we get near, there
they are – dolphins in the wild.
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| dolphins!!! |
Carla and I cannot contain our excitement, she even wanted to swim with the dolphins. I can’t take a decent picture back then as I was really amazed and we shouted like it was the realization of a life-long dream. (ang OOA lang! hahaha!) Special thanks to our boatman, Benjie, for this surreal experience.
Does paradise really
exist? Yes. And Onuk
Island of Balabac, South Palawan exemplifies such.
We shall return definitely.
LGU-BALABAC
PALAWAN
Contact Person: Lorna A. Gapilangco
Mobile:
+639175532845
9 comments
Halaaaaa! I never thought na maupay dida han Balabac/ Onuk Island. Well... maupay is an understatement! :D
ReplyDeleteWhat an experience! Ang ganda ng lugar.
ReplyDeleteSoooobrang ganda!
ReplyDeleteHi do you have breakdown of expenses planning to go here thanks!
ReplyDeletehow much did u guys spend?
ReplyDeletebudget? thanks !!
wow..how much did it cost u guys? ganda e!
ReplyDeleteganda! waah nakakabaliw =)
ReplyDeleteHello! Kumusta kuya! Gusto ko sana mag ask kung sino kong puede kong ma email or contact para mag book nang stay sa Onuk Island? Maraming salamat!
ReplyDeletehello mam try to contact this number po 09187861322 thank you
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