The Island

Pandan Island · Paradise Within Reach!


The picturesque shorescape of Pandan Grande Island!

About the Island
Pandan Island is a private island with a small resort on the West coast of Occidental Mindoro, Central Philippines. After the island was 'discovered' and the resort established in 1986 by a French adventurer, this tropical island retreat has been voted time and again as one of the top resorts in the Philippines, not in terms of luxury but for it's quality of life and it's personalised atmosphere.

About the Island
Pandan Island is a private island with a small resort on the West coast of Occidental Mindoro, Central Philippines. After the island was 'discovered' and the resort established in 1986 by a French adventurer, this tropical island retreat has been voted time and again as one of the top resorts in the Philippines, not in terms of luxury but for it's quality of life and it's personalised atmosphere.

Pandan Island is for people who like to spend time in tropical surroundings without cars and television. A place where you are woken up by the singing of colourful birds, where there is only a palm tree between you and the sea, where you still know your neighbours and where you may even meet a sea turtle before having your breakfast.

Some of the best spots for snorkeling around Pandan Island can be found just in front of the beach bar. With the coral reef starting right on the beach you can swim around colorful tropical fish within minutes after you arrive.

On Lionfish Den, a coral block in about 3 meters depth, you can observe a big variety of tropical fish such as parrot fish, butterfly fish, trigger fish and sergeant major, lion fish , snappers.

The diveshop is renting masks, snorkel and all sizes of fins if you did not bring your own gear and our helpful staff is happy to share with you the latest secrets about the turtles' hang-out.

Note · This write-up is taken from Pandan Island's official website. For further information you may visit the following URL: www.pandan.com.

About Our Experience
Pandan Island is like experiencing the white beaches and clear waters of scenic wallpapers. True! Just look at the photos below! It is truly a paradise within reach. It is just a fifteen-minute boat ride from the mainland. We never imagined that there would be a place so beautiful as this and yet could be so near. Who can blame us? Most of the paradisiacal places that we know or had visited were never near to their respective town proper.

The island has a small rainforest with a trail that splits into two. One leads you to a lagoon and the other to a towering coral which they fondly nicknamed Spanish Nose. There in the forest, you would hear the diverse sounds of exotic birds, including the amplified sound of crickets. I was imagining a giant one––something as large as my fist!






When your feet touch the long strip of white sands, you will feel its softness. It was relaxing to the feet actually. The line-up of coconut trees along this white strip really made the island even more picturesque!





We were not able to secure an overnight stay, however, we managed to arranged a daytrip tour to The Island with the help of the local tourism. We went there the day before going to Apo Reef Natural Park. It actually served as an appetiser for our Apo Reef Tour! And what an appetiser indeed!

It was here where we finally experienced our dream of seeing a PAWIKAN! A Giant Sea Turtle! It was AWESOME! It was my first encounter with a wild Pawikan! Well you see I only get to see them when they are in captivity. It was an entirely different experience when you see them in the wild!

Our video guy, Lekoi, was the one who spotted the Pawikan and called us to come near him. When we saw this beautiful creature, eight feet below us, he was crawling and it seemed he was eating something––looked like a very small rock (or coral perhaps). I wasn't able to prevent myself to see him closely. I went down and got near him within arm's reach! But I never touched him though I can. It was more of a respect to Mother Nature and to her children. He swam high and then low, he emerged and then submerged. He was fast actually! I was able to swim with him only for a short distance but he went away so fast! I would have never known that Sea Turtles could swim so fast if I had not seen it myself.

Well, about the corals and the fishes of Pandan Island––they really flourish! Here you will see lots of them and I mean LOTS of them! We scattered since there was so much to see! Lots of big corals! Camouflaged fishes! Nemo and company were there. There are too many!







We ended our tour at 3.30 pm since the boat will be fetching us back to the mainland at 4.00 pm and it arrived fifteen minutes earlier. We left the place with a little regret that we should have stayed overnight. Then we looked forward to another day––TOMORROW. Since this will be the day that we get to experience Apo.


How to Get There
I can only provide you with instructions if you're coming from Manila. Follow the steps below:

[1.] Take a provincial bus line, Jam or BLTB, going to Batangas Pier. Fare costs 154 pesos, travel time is less than 3 hours if you travel late at night.

[2.] Upon arrival at the Pier, go inside the pier station and proceed to the ticketing station of the Montenegro Shipping Lines and pay 160 pesos for the ticket fare going to Abra de Ilog. Travel time is about 3 hours.
Schedule of trips is as follows: 4.00 am, 12.00 pm, and 4.00 pm. These are departure time. Boarding time is at least 30 minutes before departure.

[3.] Upon arriving Abra de Ilog, find a van that will go to Sablayan. It is very important to be fast, because you might be left behind. Fare costs 210 pesos. Travel time is about 3 hours. By the way, the road to Sablayan is rough.

[4.] Upon arriving Sablayan, the van will drop you off to its terminal. Then you hire tricycles (it can conveniently accommodate 2 if you have baggages). Tell the driver to bring you to Pandan Island Boat Terminal. Look for Rose to make the arrangement.