On a Philippines outrigger voyage around the islands of Palawan, no mod cons but nights under the stars, ocean swims and fresh sea urchin
- Tao Philippines takes adventurers around the islands off El Nido, Palawan, on board the Balatik, a 74-foot traditional outrigger sailing boat
- The trip includes stays in bamboo huts at island camps, feasts of fresh fish and sea urchin, tree climbing, and reef swimming. And there’s no engine noise
You haven’t heard the ocean breathe until you’ve been on an indigenous sailing boat.
The waves uncut by a propeller, the outriggers bend slightly, limber as the tree trunks they once were, working with nature instead of trying to tame the curling tides. There is no hiss of white foam crashing on a beach. It’s the rolling, surging silence you notice when the white noise of an engine is removed from the scene.
This is the magic of the Balatik; an adventure of simplicity, of old ways. The vessel – one of the biggest traditional boats in the Philippines – is the cornerstone of tours offered by the company Tao Philippines in El Nido, Palawan.
At the pre-trip briefing, the guides make it clear that the way Tao hops between islands is not for everyone: there’s no air conditioning, no hot showers, no phone service. That is why these trips are called “expeditions”.
We’re taken from the office in El Nido Town by private jeepney for about an hour to the coast, where we hike through forest before it opens onto a beach.
