When I’m searching for isolated, really special places, I appreciate a long detailed review to help me select the right kind of place for us, so I extend to you our experience here.
We were 10 days at L’Estancia at the beginning of March and it was exactly what we’d hoped we’d find. I was a bit unsure which building in their resort photos belonged to L’Estancia and was pleasantly surprised to learn that all of them do. They are situated on a huge piece of private property. It really feels like you are staying on a private island. The nights are so quiet that we found we were sleeping 8 - 10 hours every night.
The grounds with its artistic landscaping and so many flowering tropical plants are beautiful and so lovingly maintained. We were impressed with the number of staff quietly working away to add to the landscaping & to rebuild one of the wharves. There are lots of steps here as it is built along the side of a hill. In the city I often need to use a cane but I found the way the steps were designed it was easy to get around and I left my cane in our room. We especially loved the pool and tried to make time each day for a swim and a bit of lounging - Lunch (pizza and fruit shakes) was delivered to a poolside table whenever we chose.
We had the Deluxe room with balcony & sea view. When we arrived we had a choice between a beautiful & spacious room in one of the new buildings (built in 2018) or the Araceli in the original building. We chose Araceli with its high post & beam ceilings, excellent layout with the bathroom and shower room both updated in 2018, the balcony overlooking the wharf, and closest to the pool and restaurant. All the balcony rooms have terrific views. Also, since the 2018 addition of cell towers throughout these islands there is good phone coverage. We spent quite a lot of time on our balcony sipping and surfing. BTW, if you have favourite spirits you like to sip, bring them with you. You can buy wine & some spirits at the restaurant but perhaps won’t be what you prefer.
10 days is a long time to live with one menu but there was so much variety in the style of cooking and protein sources that we never had to duplicate any meal. We had eaten specific Filipino foods on the earlier part of the trip that we enjoyed and upon request they were made for us. Other people mentioned buffet meals: they must have been part of a tour group or large party with special requirements because we never saw a buffet on any of our days there. We noticed several groups kept to themselves & had their meals carried to them to their rooms/suites/villas. The biggest food surprise was the quality of the ‘lunch’ provided on our boating days: Oning and Ahmed prepared us a whole freshly grilled fish with all the accompaniments served on a table with linens on an isolated tropical beach. We were impressed!
The boating trips are an essential part of the pleasure you will experience here. We took a boat out several days (just us plus skipper and crew). The pontoon boats make for a safe journey. We had a variety of sea conditions from mirror smooth glass to some swell & waves. We are avid snorkelers so if you are, and you don’t have 10 days to do everything, I thought I’d share with you some of the highlights of the various spots to help you choose which to do.
Hint: on the boat trips fee schedule you’ll notice there is a price with and without lunch. Unless you are huge eaters, we recommend you only buy 1 lunch to share as it is ample. Also, if you like to share your experience with others, your per person price can be reduced by letting L’Estancia know you are happy to have others on your boat. We preferred to go alone so our trips were arranged that way. Also want to mention that while tips are included in the price for accommodation & meals, they aren’t included on the excursions & are gratefully received by the staff when the outing is completed.
Black Island is not to be missed. It has one of the very best swimming beaches we’ve seen in 70 countries: white sand sliding right into the ocean bottom, no rocks or seaweed on the bottom, crystal clear water than gets deep enough to swim very quickly. Good coral and fish around the huge jumping rock and coral reef to the left. Shade by trees or shelters. A massive cave. We linked Dabotonay Island to our jaunt to Black Island for more snorkeling & picnic lunch
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Pass Island: Fantastic undamaged coral, lots of fish.
North Cay Nature Island: great coral over a large area, wide variety of schools of fish.
Ocam Ocam Beach: this beach belongs to an interesting real village which is worth the trip in itself, a lovely long curving beach, but the water is very shallow even at high tide and the reef is a long walk through the water. L’Estancia will set up a driver to take you the short drive. Delicious lunch at the little open air café “H-Nice” right on the beach.
Sari Sari stores /Salvacion drive on Albert’s Motorcycle: Albert will give you a fabulous drive to sightsee and he’s very careful to make it a safe & not jarring trip.
If you are lucky enough to receive an invitation to the evening BBQ at the top of the mesa, jump at it. Unique experience.
The very professional staff at this family run resort displays every day in every way that they care about your experience and want you to take away wonderful memories. Which we have.
Thank you everyone!
