Nacpan Beach Glamping

Glamping on one of the best beaches in Asia

PHOTOS BY LALA MAGBUHAT

Nacpan, a short road trip to the north of El Nido town in Palawan, is laid back, unspoiled and the perfect place to get back to nature under canvas

We realise when we arrive at Nacpan Beach that our timing could have been better.

We left Manila on the earliest flight — an effort to beat the worst of the capital’s notorious traffic — and arrived at Lio Airport near El Nido at the kind of time I’d turn over and go back to sleep for an hour if I was at home.

Our transport is waiting and less than an hour later we have arrived at the resort, where people are still milling around the breakfast buffet or pouring their first coffee of the day.

The problem is, it’s so early our room — okay, our tent — isn’t ready. Check out is not until midday and it’s still got to be cleaned. What to do?

My wife finds the solution. In a small garden, behind the restaurant, is a shady nipa hut where they are offering massage and spa services. The prices are temptingly provincial, a few hundred pesos, so we pile in and sign up for a two-hour massage each. As they massage, we snooze. When it’s over, I feel fit enough to run a marathon. But I don’t. Our tent is ready, so we move in.

We are staying at Nacpan Beach Glamping, about 20km north of Lio Airport (starting point for our trip to el Nido and the beautiful islands of the Bacuit Archipelago) on a paved road. For most of the way at least. When we turn off the highway, there’s a few kilometers of unsealed, pockmarked dirt road.

The silver lining is that Nacpan Beach itself remains relatively unspoiled. Backpackers on hired motorbikes venture out for the day from El Nido. There are a few small resorts and a few laidback restaurants. Apart from that there’s just the beach itself: a 4km crescent that from Nacpan Beach Glamping stretches north, almost disappearing into a fine, nebulous mist thrown by the waves.

The beach is the main attraction, almost the only attraction. There don’t seem to be any water sports and there are no shops or bars. Boracay must have been like this in a previous life. Visitors eat breakfast and swim, they eat lunch and take a siesta, they wake up and swim again. Before sunset the activity on the beach seems to ramp up a little, but it’s still nowhere near busy. Local children play, joined by a few curious but harmless dogs, and a handful of hawkers wander up and down offering pearls for sale. Tourists grab a drink and settle down for the sunset. Nacpan Beach faces due west, so the views as the sky changes from veiny blue to deep apricot and coral pink are enough to make you delirious. Nacpan Beach Glamping offers complimentary sunset sailing at 5pm every day for guests. Private sailing trips and romantic dinners on the beach can also be arranged.

It’s hardly surprising that Nacpan Beach is gaining something of a cult following. It was chosen by the UK’s The Telegraph as one of the dreamiest beaches on earth. “This is the most spectacular beach in Palawan, a remote and pristine archipelago

All tents are just a few steps from the beach

You’d feel like a Bedouin king (or queen). The interiors are simple but beautifully chic and comfortable.

Hang out by the pool bar

Nacpan Beach Glamping is just a few steps away from the beach

of limestone cliffs and whitesand islets in the north of the Philippines,” it said.

Nacpan Beach Glamping is the best place to stay. It’s a few steps from the beach, but sitting in its own tropical garden and close to the Nacpan Sunmai Restaurant, where glamping guests get a buffet breakfast and there’s a good a la carte menu all day.

The resort has nine huge glamping tents nestled in a peaceful tropical garden of hundreds of palm trees and shrubs.

Forget cramped nights under soggy canvas on school trips. The fact that you’re staying in a tent doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice style or size. These are more like traditional Mongolian yurts, but much bigger (bigger than a standard double room in most hotels), and fitted with high-end interiors including air-conditioning and queen size beds.

You have a choice of either beachfront view or mountain view, but either way you’re only a short with eight toilet and shower blocks in various parts of the site. They are accessed by a network of walkways, which are well-lit at night, so don’t worry if you’ve forgotten your torch. Each toilet and shower are shared by two to three tents and there’s a convenient wash area outside every tent where you can wash the sand off your feet and have a quick freshen up.

On our first full day we wake early and walk on the beach in the buttery dawn light, joined only by the occasional jogger and a small, shy dog. We swim, drink coffee and, as we are walking back to our tent to change, are told that turtle hatchlings are about to be released. If we want to watch we should meet outside in 15 minutes.

The resort has a turtle hatchery and this is the result. A few hundred green turtles, each small enough to fit easily in the palm of your hand, scuttling towards the water’s edge, guided by magnetic forces and instinct. Classified as endangered, these turtles are threatened by overharvesting of their eggs, hunting of adults, being caught in fishing gear and loss of nesting beach sites. So far, staff at the Nacpan hatchery have released more than 10,000 hatchlings. The percentage of those that will make it to adulthood is low, but those that do might well return to Nacpan to lay their own eggs.

Nacpan Beach Glamping has nine tents available for occupancy, with plans to add nine more.

The tents are sturdy too, made from 360gsm (that’s grams per square meter and is the metric measurement of the weight of a fabric) canvas and heavy-duty cotton canvas. They are fitted with zipped mesh windows and PVC windows, allowing you the choice of enjoying the cool sea breeze or zipping up to let the aircon do its work.

You’ll feel like a Bedouin king (or queen). The interiors are simple but beautifully chic and comfortable, with a neutral color scheme and plenty of space to relax.

Stylish tent interior, the pool, and Nacpan Beach, one of Palawan’s finest beaches

ESSENTIALS

NACPAN BEACH GLAMPING is at Nacpan Beach, El Nido. An overnight stay in a beachfront glamping tent for two costs from about P11,000 a night. (Rates may change so please check the resort’s website.)

www.nacpanbeachglamping.com, tel +63 956 234 0162.