We’re doing a thing at Centro Holistico, and I’m super excited! We’re launching Wellness Paradise this year, out-of-town retreats where we take patients out of the toxicity of the city into one of the thousands of islands on this beautiful archipelago to detox, get some much needed sun and relax their sympathetic nervous system, learn new habits on how to eat better and move your body, teach mindfulness tools that they can take back with them once they go back to everyday life, and enjoy an assortment of holistic treatments (acupuncture, ventosa, and IV nutrient therapy) along with the little holiday. We partnered up with Club Agutaya, Team Impack, and Sunlight Air for this paradise retreat, and hopped on a plane to head out to San Vicente, Palawan for four days of exploring what the island had to offer.
I’ve never flown Sunlight Air before. They have their own hanger, so don’t head to NAIA 3. It would be best to Waze it, as the entrance it a closed gate you have to rap on for the guard to let you in to get dropped off or to park your car. They serve coffee and breads while you wait for your plane, they also hand out COVID safety kits while on board, and it’s a quick 45-minute flight out to Palawan.
We were met at the airport by Icy Marinas, who runs Club Agutaya, a gorgeou boutique hotel by long beach. In true probinsya fashion, we were driven back in the Club Agutaya jeepney… by Icy! It was a breezy 10-15 minute ride from the airport of San Vicente to the resort, and we got a marvelous view of long beach along the way. At the reception area we were greeted with cold towels, a welcome drink, and a little pouch with our keys, mosquito repellant, and green nik nik or sandfly oil to keep the nasty gnats from biting you whilst on the beach or in the ocean.
Pampered at Club Agutaya
I stayed at one of the suites during my four-day stay with Andie, and we were pretty happy with how spacious it was, as it comfortably fit all our luggage. We’d take turns by the little table in the mornings with my doing my journaling and Andie on her devotionals, before heading downstairs to get breakfast at the restaurant. Team Impack – who are made up of Eduardo, Christi, and Val – stayed in one of the villas that lead up to the beach, which is perfect for couples who want more privacy or small families. I personally prefer the suites because it lets more light in.
This place is definitely one of the nicest resorts in the area and the vibe is 180-degrees different of what you’d get in Manila! They’re still pretty strict with the masks, vaccination cards, and the registration app before you can board a plane and fly here, but it’s all worth it. The sense of freedom and safety after staying in a bubble for over two years has just been so refreshing. Club Agutaya is big enough that you can safely distance yourself from the other guests or live in one area for your entire stay and not anyone. Aside from a handful of other guests, it was mostly just us and Icy’s family members who had also escaped the city and were living their best lives in San Vic.
Our first day there was pretty relaxed, and I was on a mission to at least get a little bit of color whilst there. Staying indoors during the pandemic had left me pasty, and while a lot of people love the vampire aesthetic – that’s not me. This girl wants her caramel glow up! So it was off to the beach to make the most of the sun while we settle into our new surroundings. The short walk to the beach is gorgeous – you get a few minutes to take in all the trees, and the beauty of the sky, and even the shiny little beetles trying to burrow themselves in the sand to get away from the heat.
There’s a little bar by the beach for those who want to enjoy a few drinks and some nosh, and when I wasn’t working or writing in my room, I could be found here, taking in the sound of the waves. I would also bring my tanning kit and laze in front of the beach, chatting with Dudu and Christie, or just watching them have fun in the water. I was too chicken to get into the water because of the nik nik, and headed back to my suite as the sun was setting to get a quick shower in before heading downstairs to meet with everyone for dinner.
Good Eats at Café Lily
Icy’s mom, Maria, runs Café Lily like a well-oiled engine, and it feels like a sin to say that you’re hungry when you’re here. There’s always so much food to go around and everything is good! On our first night at Agutaya, Dixie (who also used to own my favorite hole-in-the-wall speakeasy, Hooch) put together a drink called Holidaze – don’t bother asking me what was in it – it was so good, it gone in five minutes. Along with the festive libations, at least two sourdough pizzas were also inhaled, along with this heart-stopping lechon kawali, and some addicting breaded tofu sticks with an arrabiata dip that I kept going back to.
The breakfast buffets at Agutaya are never boring. Aside from the usual rice, fresh bread, eggs, and coffee, they also throw in fresh salads, lots of fruit, and even chocolate cake into the mix. Andie and I would split a slice of chocolate cake in the evenings after dinner, and get a small slice in the mornings if it was on the table. Tita Maria also puts out other flavors like ube, but this chocoholic knows what she likes. And her cakes are delectably moist, rich, and the fudgey, goopy frosting puts a smile on my face.
They have fresh, healthy options, too, which is what participants will be served when they go on their Wellness Paradise retreat. Being right next to the ocean, tita Maria has access to the freshest seafood on the island, which means we got the freshest prawns, fish, and mussels. From seafood kebabs, to kilawin, to a garlicky moules marinières, we were constantly eating without the guilt.
Island Hopping & Island Dogs
On our second day in San Vic we went island hopping – mostly to survey the damage the latest typhoon had done and look for spots where we could maybe set up to do a few activities.
The day was pretty overcast, which was a shame, since you can actually tan faster when you’re out on the water – something about the UV rays bouncing off the water and all that. Sunblock is still a requirement, something that Cristie kept reminding Dudu to do, but he didn’t, and ended up with a really red face and painful burns on his shoulders, chest, and back at the end of the day. I would feel really bad, if it wasn’t so comical!
The last typhoon that came through really did a number on Palawan. It’s been a little over a month but the waves still keep bringing up debris, and the locals can only do so much when it comes to cleaning up the shore. I think Val had planned on doing some yoga by the beach, since this one was nik nik free, but it was in no shape for retreat participants.
What they did have on the island was fresh buko and some shy, but otherwise friendly, island dogs. Dixie shared how, after the storm came through, not a lot of boats could venture out to these islands, so the poor dogs had to fend for themselves for a week or two, which just broke my heart. I told myself I’d bring back a bag or two of dry dog food when I go back, so we could leave some stashed away for them for the next big typhoon. Or at least get some nutrition in them so they can can survive the next one.
While this beach was still bringing up a lot of debris, it was also bringing up a lot of pretty seashells. I picked one up, Andie saw a big one that we split, Christie gave me a pretty one, and Dixie found a sand dollar. I had planned on taking them home as a remembrance of the trip, but was so exhausted when we got back that I forgot them on the boat. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.
The Turtle Sanctuary
Aside from being a resort, Club Agutaya also serves as a turtle sanctuary for Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) also called Pacific Ridley turtles. There were a lot of turtle eggs that were hatching on the beach when I visited, and it was pretty amazing to know that once these little babies grew up and were ready to have nests of their own, their intuition would bring them back to this very beach for them to have little turtle dudes of their own. I got to release four of them into the ocean surf at dusk, and it’s pretty cool to see them confidently scurry off into the unknown out of instinct.
Mindfulness Walk to Bigaho Falls
On Day 2 of my stay we took the jeepney for a very bumpy ride up to the Bigaho Falls trail, for a little mindfulness exercise and a dip in the cold water afterwards. There’s a little barangay of sorts by the trek’s mouth, and we were greeted by the chubby island dogs who have been getting fed by the other tourists who pass by.
There’s also a little sari-sari store where you can stock up on supplies before your trek – cold water, sodas, and snacks are available – I love the colorful little panaderia where you could buy all sorts of local breads that probably taste all the same.
The hike itself wasn’t very long. You pass by a stream and from there it’s an uphill trek through the jungle ’til you reach the falls – and there are ropes for you to hold onto if you need extra support. We wanted to to a mindfulness exercise for the 10-15 minute walk to re-teach what it feels like to leave everything behind and be in the present moment and take everything in. During my little walk, I noticed a weird looking leaf, which turned out to be this cool lizard dude who wasn’t too pleased to see me, and he was soon surrounded by the rest of the crew. It looked like a miniature dinosaur of some sort, but after a quick Google it turned out to be a winged lizard.
Bigaho falls was pretty serene once we got there. We sat around the rocks for a bit of a breather and decided it would be nice to transition into a mind over matter exercise after the mindfulness walk, where we could all sit in silence and concentrate on our breathe, tuning into that before we take the icy plunge into the water.
While Bigaho falls isn’t as big as the more popular ones like Kawasan in Cebu, it’s definitely one of the most private ones I’ve been to. When we got there, it was just me and the team along with Dixie and her sister and brother-in-law, and we had the place to ourselves. On our way back to the jeepney we came across a new group of folks heading to the falls to be with nature and enjoy what the falls has to offer.
When we headed back and took a little bit of a breather before regrouping by the beach bar for a fun sunset session. Icy was already behind the bar whipping up drinks, and I don’t know what this is, but I had around three by the end of the night.
When Cristi and Dudu come together to DJ, they’re Xidu Music, and I like their take on what I can only describe as Brazilian House. It was a fun night or drinking, dancing, and letting our hair down until it was time to call it a night and tuck into a late dinner. Walking back you can’t help but look up at the clear night sky. I haven’t seen these many stars in a long, long time.
Holistic Treatments By the Beach
The next morning after breakfast, I got to flex my acudetox (ear acupuncture) skills on Val and Dudu while they relaxed by the beach. It makes me wonder if summer acupuncture clinics can be a thing? Like, you go to a resort every summer and people who check in and from around the area can come and get their treatments by the pool or on the sun loungers by the beach. That should totally be a thing. I’m still pretty slow in finding the points for NADA Protocol – I see doc Candy do it and she’s done in seconds, so I still have a ways to go. But as long as I’m hitting all the right points is all that matters for now. The sped will improve with mastery.
Quick Visit to El Nido
Later in the afternoon, we took a van for a two-hour ride to El Nido to meet up with Cristi’s friends, Bonita and Ornusa, for her birthday salubong. We parked the van somewhere and walked to Maremegmeg Beach Bar for their 1+ 1 cocktails and grub. I also bumped into Mark, who owns The Birdhouse, El Nido, and he was surprised at how many people have flocked to El Nido now that travel was slowly starting to open up. I was heartbroken to hear that they had also permanently closed their beautiful boutique resort because of the last storm – it was just too much to maintain. His son Aguila looked like he was in good spirits regardless, and they are expecting another little one in the next few weeks (Camille is super pregnant), so they’ve chosen to focus on that for the meantime. I do hope they decide to open things up again once they’re ready.
One of the best part of this side of El Nido for me are the island dogs. It’s a good mix of chonky aspins and chonkier purebreds, all of them are well sociailzed, and they just hang out with their owners or the other tourists, happy to be part of the crowd. I am now also convinced that every resort should have their own chill DJ for sunset sessions. At the end of the night, Christi had a lovely salubong – Icy even sneaked a cake in and everything. It was a little past 11 o’clock when we all piled back into the van and slept for most of the trip back to Agutaya. And that’s how we welcomed in Pisces szn.
Heading Back to Man-illa
It was drizzly and overcast on our way back home to Manila. I loved how informal the airport gave off probinsya feels – they had run out of boarding passes to print out and I had to settle for a piece of paper with my name and seat number scribbled on it.
Overall, it was a super fun couple of days, and I hope we get more patients and participants to join Wellness Paradise in our upcoming dates. It feels so good to get out of the city and just stop ‘doing’ for a few days to focus on ‘being’. It sounds so woo-woo, but when our bodies have normalized being in stress response for a long period of time (like, oh I dunno – being in a pandemic), it affects us spiritually, emotionally, mentally, as well as physically, and we could all use a short stop circuit breaker experience like this to bring ourselves back to center, remind us of what really matters, and build habits that support the growth of our future selves rather than just simply surviving.
If you want to join the next Wellness Paradise retreat, you can send a PM to Centro Holistico to get the dates, rates, and list of activities. I’ll see you in paradise!
