Dos Palmas girds for tourist influx with new facilities

MANILA, Philippines - Expect a more pleasurable and relaxing island experience on your next vacation at Dos Palmas Island Resort and Spa in Palawan. The resort recently undertook extensive upgrades and additions to its existing facilities to better serve its discriminating clientele.

Rooms

The resort currently offers a total of 86 rooms, double its previous room count. Ten of these are bay cottages and the rest are beach cottages.

All rooms are spacious and luxuriously appointed, with two queen-sized beds, a separate daybed, in-room safe, mini-bar, complete toiletries, and private toilet and shower facilities. All have verandahs overlooking the clear blue sea.

Four more rooms are designed as deluxe beach cottages, each with its own living and dining room area, mini-kitchen, cable-ready TV, and bathtub.

Paranarian Spa

The Spa at Dos Palmas offers distinctively Filipino-inspired treatments of rejuvenation. The beauty and body treatments use fresh tropical fruit and herbal preparations for a total mind and body relaxation experience.

The signature massage, called Hilot, is a unique ritual derived from the local art of healing. Other treatments include Fruit Facial, Body Cocoon, Body Glow Scrub, and foot scrub, among others.

Spa facilities include a meditation/lap pool, a spa lounge, sauna rooms with private lockers, private treatment rooms overlooking the beach, an open-air foot spa pavilion, and a fresh juice bar.

Padi Dive Resort

Dos Palmas is now an accredited PADI dive resort, with a full complement of diving equipment and dive training services.

Its professional dive masters adhere strictly to PADI safety regulations, assuring guests of safe diving, expert supervision, assistance and instruction.

From Discover Scuba Diving certificate training to Open Water Course and other more specializing training, the Dos Palmas Dive Resort makes it possible for guests to enjoy the colorful and diverse marine life surrounding the island resort.

Conference center

The Dos Palmas Conference Center has been expanded and renovated, with a new multipurpose function hall that can accommodate up to 350 guests. This can be converted into smaller meeting rooms according to clients’ needs.

Breakout areas can be arranged in other parts of the resort. Teambuilding equipment and programs are available upon request. With its quietly secluded location and complete facilities, Dos Palmas is an ideal venue for meetings and conferences, training sessions, workshops and teambuilding events.

Food and beverage

Kara-enan Restaurant and Bar, the resort’s alfresco dining hall, can seat up to 250 guests, and serves a buffet of international dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Puting Buhangin Island is the venue for daily picnic lunches. The Lanai offers evening entertainment and scheduled shows.

Chapel

The Island Chapel is now ready for that long dreamed-of romantic island wedding. It is located adjacent to the conference center, which can be converted for the reception.

Recreational and marine sports

The swimming pool, now enlarged into an infinity pool with Jacuzzi, has been given a more refreshing look.

The resort also offers facilities for marine sports such as kayaking, snorkeling, windsurfing, water-skiing, banana boat rides, bottom fishing, and island hopping.

There are also beach badminton, tennis, basketball, bicycles for rent, billiards, table tennis, board games, a videoke lounge, an outdoor kiddie playground, and a fish feeding station.

Art studio and gallery

The resort’s in-house artists can schedule art sessions for guests who are encouraged to express their creativity through the arts.

The artists’ works are also on display at the small gallery and around the resort.

Green initiatives

To preserve the ecological balance of the resort environment, Dos Palmas has undertaken various eco-friendly measures to ensure that the natural beauty and resources of the island remain intact and unspoiled.

The eastern part of the island has been designated as the Eco Zone, where all environmental programs and facilities of the resort are situated. The resort’s very own sewage treatment and waste management facilities are located here.

A multimillion-peso rehabilitation of the island’s water system included the construction of a desalination plant and rain-collection ponds to ensure a steady supply of fresh water for the resort.

A water conservation program is in place, along with a toxic-material reduction plan that covers de-chlorination of the island’s water supply, and the use of biodegradable, plant-based detergents and cleaning agents.

The resort also has its mangrove preservation and development area, an organic vegetable and herb farm, plant nursery and greenhouse.

Marine Research Camp

A Marine Research Camp has been set up on the island. The camp is tasked to monitor, safeguard and preserve the ecological balance of the diverse marine and terrestrial ecosystems around the island and in Honda Bay.

Guests can visit the camp quarters for photographs, maps and other reference materials about interesting environmental details in the area.

Some interesting facts for guests:

• The Philippines has 16 known species of seagrass, the second highest worldwide. Dos Palmas Arreceffi Island has 10 species of seagrass to date.

• Philippine coral reefs are estimated at 26,000 square kilometers, the second largest in Southeast Asia. Based on a survey conducted in 2001, Dos Palmas Arreceffi Island has the highest coral cover in the whole Honda Bay area.

• Mangroves are the tidal forests of the ocean. Palawan has approximately 40,000 hectares of mangrove forests — the largest remaining mangrove area in the country. Dos Palmas has a mangrove forest cover of approximately three hectares and still growing. Arreceffi has 14 of the 35 true mangrove species in the country.

• Arreceffi Island is frequented by 70 species of resident and migratory birds.

• The island serves as a feeding ground for endangered sea cows or dugong.

• The island is also a nesting place for hawksbill, green sea turtles and Olive Ridley turtles.

For inquiries, call Dos Palmas Island Resort & Spa at 637-4226 or 637-4236 in Manila or 048-4343118 in Puerto Princesa. Check out its website at www.dospalmas.com.ph or e-mail at [email protected].