Author Topic: {Tznius Disclaimer}Affordable Private Island|NoaNoa Island, Palawan, Philippines (Read 11654 times)

astrophy · « **on:** March 15, 2017, 10:30:31 PM »

Hey guys,

I wanted to do a trip report for a few reasons:

Planning a trip to Palawan was time intensive (it's not as easy destination to get to and there are not a lot of trip reports outside of El Nido).
Palawan has been rated the best island in the world by Travel & Leisure and Condé Nast. It has been on our radar for the last year or two.
Visiting a private island is a completely different experience than your typical resort or chain hotel.
All but the last day we were the only guests on the island. It was extremely peaceful and romantic.
The island was featured on VH1's Dating Naked. Hopefully we'll drop in some of the more interesting stories we've heard about the filming.

YouTube videos (sorry if you aren't into the music)(Mod: tznius disclosure for videos):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTFh-389c0w

I'll break it into a few parts:

Manila (Arriving, Hyatt City of Dreams, departing)
Traveling to NoaNoa Island
NoaNoa Island

Destination: NoaNoa Private Island Estate

Itinerary

San Diego - Manila (SAN-SFO-SIN-MNL w/ Singapore Airlines in F)
Explored Cebu (not covered in this report)
1 night at the Hyatt City of Dreams in Manila
Flight to El Nido
1 hour van to the port town of TayTay
45 minute speedboat ride to NoaNoa Island

Hyatt City of Dreams Manila
Price: 8,000 points
From terminal 3 at NAIA we took an Uber to skip the 1 hour taxi que.
The Uber took ~15 minutes to arrive as it had to fight through the thick traffic.
At 6pm the 4.5 mile trip took 57 minutes, the car was a Hyundai Accent, and the total cost was 256 php ($5.50).
I was able to use the airport wifi to request the Uber, but later I picked up a sim card with Globe.

Checking each car for bombs and what not.

At the entrance of the hotel all guests and casino visitors must pass through at metal detector and all luggage is scanned through an x-ray machine.

We were brought up to the club lounge to check-in. They made an odd request to take our photo for their records.
I have to say the whole time I was referred to by Mr. Hartley, even by employees I had never met. They were very polite.
The club lounge is full of working girls. I mentioned this to the check-in agent in the lounge and he did his best to avoid the topic.

Club Level Room

Diamond welcome amenity (w/ the 1,000 points), letter, and birthday cake!

This Hyatt will give other hotels in Asia some competition for the largest buffet.
It's massive! What you'd expect from a casino and complimentary for Diamonds.
Check out the YouTube video later in this post for some footage.

Visiting the casino. Security ran over, NO PHOTO!
It's not a bad place to waste 30 mins of your day.

Uber Black Car/SUV (Mitsubishi Montero)
Price: 431 php ($9)
The 30 minute trip (4.75 miles) to the private hanger at the international airport.
As of March 15th the flights to El Nido now depart out of Terminal 4.

Yes that's a dog standing on the back of a motorcycle with it's own tiny helmet.

astrophy · « **Reply #1 on:** March 15, 2017, 10:32:29 PM »

Transportation

Manila to El Nido, El Nido to TayTay, and then TayTay to NoaNoa Island.
For a more detailed report on Manila to El Nido check out http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24450823-post21.html Benjahman's El Nido Trip Report[/URL]

NAIA Private Terminal

I'm going to skip over some of the Manila - El Nido trip.
The flights are now departing out of terminal 4 and not the private hanger.
The indoor part of the lounge was for people flying on the next flight.
There was another indoor lounge for people going to Pangulasian Island Resort.
Inside there were small sandwiches, finger food, and a small selection of beverages.

ATR 42 - 500

Pretty cool greeting upon arrival

Arrivals lounge

We booked a private van through the island to pick us up at the airport.
The price was 2,500 php ($53). This was one of the only negative experiences. That price would typically get you 8 hours in El Nido.
This was a 45-60 minute trip.
Going back we paid $7 a person through daytripperpalawan in a very nice (and large) shared van.

I would say that 90% of the road is now paved.
Notice that the map says 1h 20 minutes. We got there in 45 min.
It really was the start of an adventure.
That drive was nuts!

If you have time you should take a quick tour of TayTay.
We stopped at Casa Rosa. Which has the same owners as NoaNoa.
Beautiful view from the hotel.

While taking in the view, we were offered complimentary drinks and a snack.
We've since been told Casa Rosa has the best food in town.
They also have island hopping tours. If we were in Palawan for more than 2 weeks we would have looked into it.

After our snack we were taken down the hill to the dock.

You want go fast? You want go slow? The guys on the boat asked with a smile.
We said, fast! They then handed us some large ponchos.
I guess we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into.

We were covered in salt water and having a blast!
We would see a series of 3 ft waves approaching and shoot over them.
Then after crashing down... the guys driving the boat would chuckle..
Sorry!!
It was awesome! Our bags were in the back and safe from the water.

45 minutes later we finally made it!
We saw Andy (the owner of the island) waving with a smile.

astrophy · « **Reply #2 on:** March 15, 2017, 10:33:22 PM »

NoaNoa Private Island

Cost:

Speedboat
Booking through Agoda.com you may have to pay 3,000 php for the speedboat.
I’m not sure if this is 3,000 php for your whole party or per person.
You can avoid this by booking directly through the island (I assume they match the rate if for some reason it is lower on Agoda).

Rooms:

Rates very from $150 to 550.
There are 4 rooms:
Rooftop Cottage
Capiz Suite
Jasmine/YingYang Room (about the same size).

We had to put down a 20,000 php deposit via paypal. We then paid for the remaining balance + food + drink + spa on paypal with no addition fee for that payment method. This way we didn’t have to carry large sums of local currency.

The Capiz Suite is in the sweet spot. It’s great for longer duration stays of 4+ nights. It also has a great breeze from the ocean. You won’t need to ever use A/C in this room, and I’m addicted to A/C.

Jasmine/YingYang are a decent size. Massive bathrooms, but not as much of a breeze.

A day or two before arrival I would ask about paying for an upgrade. They may be willing to give you a deal if no one is booked in the suite or the cottage.

I believe the island rental is ~$6,000. It will give you access to the main house which is massive. Not sure what all this includes as far as food and spa.

Transportation:
Beyond flying into TayTay and taking a van… they can help arrange a seaplane or helicopter from MNL.

Food/Spa:
The food is 3,000 php ($65) per person per day. I will be completely honest saying I thought that was completely over priced when I booked our stay. It was just too high for the area. Then when you hear how difficult it is for them to get quality food to the island you start to understand the cost. The owner is American and you can tell he has high standards for the produce and meat. He even has a special blend of coffee in your room with a french press. Beyond the smoothies with the snacks, drinks are not included. The alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks are very cheap. The spa is cheap. I could not believe the prices as the El Nido resort is a stone’s throw away and I’m sure they are much more expensive. I will include a photo of the prices for drinks and spa.

Rooms:

Capiz Suite

Rooftop Cottage

astrophy · « **Reply #3 on:** March 15, 2017, 10:33:55 PM »

Food:

Fresh fruit each morning. It was top notch.

Birthday cake!

Fresh caught fish

Having a drink with the owner

Philippine dishes

Drink prices

astrophy · « **Reply #4 on:** March 15, 2017, 10:34:22 PM »

Spa:

Entrance to the Spa. You can visit the Spa any time even if you just want to hang out there for the view.

The views are stunning.

The massages were fantastic and just slightly above the prices you’d find in El Nido. No resort pricing here.

Outdoor shower

astrophy · « **Reply #5 on:** March 15, 2017, 10:34:56 PM »

Activities:
* Not pictured - Windsurfing

Glass bottom kayak

astrophy · « **Reply #6 on:** March 15, 2017, 10:35:28 PM »

Exploring the island:

Probably too many photos here, but this isn't such a tiny island. You won't get bored exploring the island. There are tons of pathways that circle the island and even some hidden trails and statues. The owner of the island makes sure that everything is maintained very well. It was above and beyond what we expected.