If the fauna isn’t enough to awe you, plenty of other things will. Caves that look like melting ice cream, lagoons inside caves, and cocktails in a cavern split above so you can see the starlit sky.

And I haven’t mentioned the diving yet (15 kinds of fi sh and nine varieties of coral in one dive site alone) or the endangered Irawaddy dolphins at Malampaya Sound (protected by the World Wildlife Fund) and the many islets that a mesmerized writer for a U.K. newspaper said looked “as though someone had plucked the florets from a giant broccoli and thrust them stem-first” into the sea.

On a short vacation? Then plan your itinerary well. A weekend might not be enough to scrabble around the place and enjoy the perks of chilling out in a seaside resort.

You are spoilt for choice in Taytay.

Where in the world…?

Taytay is the largest municipality in Palawan . It lies around 500 kms southeast of Manila and once served as the island’s capital during the Spanish period. It’s tucked in the northeastern side of Palawan adjacent to El Nido on the north. Puerta Princesa, Palawan ’s current capital, is five hours away on a southbound bus.

There’s less buzz about Taytay than the neighboring El Nido, the resort town located just north of Taytay. We’re told that’s because the locals have built livelihoods around the resort culture of El Nido. Not so in Taytay, where the resort of note, Club Noah Isabelle, lies on Apulit Island 30 minutes away from the town proper.

Not that the town itself is lacking in sights. As a prosperous port long before the Spanish arrived in 1662, Taytay became the bulwark of the Spanish governor in the province. As such, many of the landmarks from that era have survived. The Fuerze de Santa Isabel is the most prominent. First built as a wood palisade in 1667, the fort was completed as a stone structure 71 years later. It was used to protect the townsfolk from the attack of Moro pirates from Sulu.

Built on a rock by the edge of the water, the Fuerze is imposing on the approach by boat from Taytay Bay . A spitting distance away, you almost miss seeing heavy traffi c of moored bancas on the water’s edge and the tricycles that line that walkway to the pier.

While the view from the top of the fort is panoramic and spectacular, to put it mildly, the rest of the fort has been prettifi ed with lawns for picnicking and lampposts made to look Castilian.

Elsewhere in town, modest two-story homes are still fenced in by the original wall of the Spanish governor’s palace while the shady spacious yard of another house was once the town cemetery during Spanish times.

Because of its history and ecological diversity (forest covers, swamplands, islands and islets existing in one locality), the local government now calls Taytay Estrella del Norte or Star of the North.

Where to stay

One place only, it seems, if sun, sand, sea and snorkel is on the agenda. Club Noah Isabelle is around 30 minutes by boat from the town proper. It lies on the sheltering side of the 40-hectare Apulit Island . It is surrounded by a reef system measuring half a kilometer right in front of the resort area.

I’m led to one of 30 single-detached cabanas that line the resort’s main cove; there are 20 more two-story family accommodations just beyond the crook of the island. Each air conditioned cabana is set on stilts just above the water. On the bed, there’s a coconut leaf origami of a bird together with a hibiscus and a complimentary beach bag. The clincher though is the sliding door that flings open to my own private view of the brittle marble cliff s in the distance and a stunning expanse of water.

I’m glad there is no TV. I’m glad too that after a day of tooling around caves and islands, I get the option to get a massage in my room instead of the public huts by the beach.

Explore

QUIMBALUDAN OR ISLA BLANCA. Distinctive for the white crescent shaped sandbar that swirls on one side of the tiny onehectare island and ends in a small patch of mangroves. Great for picnics, an overnight stay or a romantic dinner (arrange with the resort), and even more swimming and snorkeling off its turquoise waters.

PABELLON ISLAND . A magnifi cent block of spired limestone and caves located 20 minutes from the resort. It’s where hunters scale the island’s sheer face to gather the famous bird’s nests, an expensive delicacy made from the saliva of the balinsasayaw. Dock on a tiny cove, clamber up a few rocks, descend on makeshift bamboo steps, then dive into the cold waters of an indoor lagoon that fl ows into a dark cave where, if your guide brings a waterproof torch, you can see the pillar-like formations on the walls.

SEARLE CAVE . Located behind the main resort cove, it’s a maze of towering caverns lit by generators ferried to the site especially for visitors. From an “anteroom” you reach via a wooden ramp (built, according to Ito Tuazon, Club Noah Isabelle’s vice president for marketing, for a wheelchair-bound guest), steep bamboo steps lead to four more chambers above. Stalactites, stalagmites, dramatic undulations and pocked surfaces islanders call the “coffee crumble” enthrall. The main upper chamber has also been the site of company awarding ceremonies and perhaps because of the acoustics, a concert by a chamber orchestra.

BIRDS HOLLOW. Just beyond the bend of Apulit Island , a cavern that’s been the site of many romantic dinners. At dusk, resort staff can lay out a formal table under the warm glow of dozens of strategically placed candles and a starlit or moonlit sky above. While wine and good company make you forget the time, waters that begin to gently lap at your feet tell you the tide is rising and it’s time to go.

DIVE SITES. Eleven around the resort alone, suitable for open water, experienced or advanced divers. Our U.K. travel writer quotes Jacques Cousteau as saying Palawan was the most beautiful place he had ever explored. So go deep. The Gooseneck site, five minutes away by boat, is a slope reef that teems with snapper, banna, fisiler, damsel, grouper, turtles, stingrays and jacks. The West Nabat site offers divers nine varieties of corals and 15 varieties of fish.

Take a hike

On the resort itself, spotting squirrels is a daily occurrence, as they scamper across walkways or climb the many trees in the resort. There’s a trio of geese that feed and hang on the bend to the west cabañas and the ducks on the island have forsaken their freshwater roots and taken to swimming in formation on the salty waters of the bay.

The 1.5 kilometer walkway that links the entire length of the western side of the island and ends in Puesto del Sol beach where the resort occasionally holds picnic lunches and afternoon cocktails. You can request for an Activity Officer to walk with you and identify, say, the calumpang tree heavy with round green fruit that’s inedible to humans but a favorite among birds. Or point to a circling sea eagle, a swooping heron and a crow roosting by the rocks. On occasion, rabbits and skunks or apatot have also been sighted, as have hedgehogs, anteaters, porcupines and gentle mousedeer chewing on grass.

Fair warning: drag your feet when you walk to warn lurking snakes of your approach.

Return

Check out Paraiso Roberto, a beach resort owned by town mayor Roberto Rodriguez, with white beach pocked by black volcanic rocks.

You could feed on tamiloc, the worm from dead trees. Dipped in vinegar, tamiloc is said to taste like oysters. P20 a glass.

And because if you’re lucky, you could lurk in the dark on a boat along the Tamisan River on the main island and watch hundreds of fireflies winking in the mangroves.