Amanpulo

The aircraft from Manila flies south over the Sulu Sea for a little over an hour before landing on a private airstrip on Pamalican, a small island in the Cuyo group of northern Palawan. White sand runs around its edge, and a reef lies just offshore. The whole island belongs to Amanpulo, which Aman opened here in 1993.

History

Amanpulo came from a partnership between Aman, founded by the hotelier Adrian Zecha, and the Soriano family, one of the longest established business families in the Philippines, whose holding company owns the resort and the airline that serves it. The name joins aman, peace, and pulo, the Filipino word for island. It opened in the same year as Amanwana in Indonesia, and the pair showed how differently the young group could treat an island: canvas tents on Moyo, a carefully planned village of pavilions on Pamalican. Pamalican has had no other development, and the resort has been the island's only purpose since it opened.

Architecture and design

The Filipino architect Francisco Mañosa, known as Bobby, designed the casitas. He based them on the bahay kubo, the raised country house of the Philippine lowlands, with its steep roof and open sides, and translated it into freestanding pavilions large enough for a modern suite. Mañosa spent his career arguing for a Filipino architecture drawn from local forms and materials, and Amanpulo is one of the clearest examples of that idea in a resort. Inside, the rooms are wide and simple, with timber, woven fibres and long bathrooms opening to the garden.

Rooms and suites

Forty casitas are spread around the island. Beach Casitas stand directly on the sand. Treetop Casitas are raised among the trees on the slope, and Hillside Casitas look out over the sea from higher ground. Each comes with an electric buggy for getting about, and many guests barely walk further than the beach in front of their door.

The island also has a number of villas with several bedrooms, private pools and their own staff, used by families and groups who want a house of their own within the resort.

Dining

The main restaurant sits by the pool at the centre of the island and serves Filipino and western cooking, with fish and shellfish brought in by local fishermen. Meals can also be set up on the beach, in a villa or on a boat. Breakfast on a terrace above the water, with the reef visible below, is a fixed part of most stays.

Wellness

The spa occupies its own buildings among the trees, with treatment rooms open to the breeze and a menu that includes Filipino techniques alongside massage and body treatments. The island's real exercise is in the water. A dive centre runs trips to the reef and the walls beyond it, snorkelling begins from the beaches, and sea turtles are often seen close to shore. There are also tennis courts and a gym.

Weddings and events

Amanpulo hosts weddings, usually on the beach at sunset, with dinners afterwards on the sand or at the main restaurant. Because the island can be reserved in full, some families take over every casita and villa for a wedding and its guests. There is no conference centre, and gatherings are small and private.

Location

Pamalican lies in the Sulu Sea, south-west of Manila and north-east of the main island of Palawan. The resort's flights leave from a private lounge at Manila's international airport and land on the island's own runway after a little more than an hour. The calmest weather runs from December to May. The southwest monsoon, from about June to October, brings rain and rougher seas, though the island stays open. For travellers who want the white sand of a remote Philippine island and a resort on Pamalican Island that takes care of everything from the moment the plane leaves Manila, there is little in the country to compare.