Incredible resort, just needs to iron out the kinks to be a full 5-Star experience.

As most people have said in other reviews, the resort itself and the friendliness of the staff is absolutely amazing, and I’d say you’d be hard-pressed to find a more idyllic and beautiful resort in the Philippines. The only real problem is that there a few kinks that need to be ironed out for this to be considered a true 5-star resort — and that includes minor issues with room wear and tear and some more frustrating issues such as delays in serving food.

First off, getting there. If you are flying from Manila or Cebu, then you generally want to fly into the small, but quite new El Nido airport with AirSWIFT. We flew from Manila Terminal 4 (Domestic terminal) on a 7 am flight, which saved us from battling traffic in Metro Manila and flight time being 55 minutes. If you are going to fly into Palawan proper on one of the larger airlines such as PAL or Cebu Pacific, then you will need to take a 4-hour bus journey to get to the resort. Now unfortunately for us, there was a storm in El Nido and the Coast Guard had banned all sea travel. This meant that we were stranded on the mainland and were unable to make it over to Cauayan for our first night. This was where I felt the lack of polish on this 5-star experience as we were mostly left to fend for ourselves with the driver dropping us off at a 3-star resort in town with communication on what was supposed to be happening next severely lacking. We managed to sort out our own accommodation at a nicer resort, and after a few back and forth calls, we were able to get on a boat the next morning to Cauayan.

The boat ride from the El Nido port takes about 15 minutes and is pleasant enough. In times of rough seas, you’ll dock at the back of the island. It is a little unnerving getting out of the boat onto the concrete steps, but pretty much the norm if you have visited almost any other island resort in the Philippines.

The island itself is exquisite. It truly is amazingly beautiful and one of the most incredible views I have seen. Walking from the back of the island to the main area at the front will have you travel through the new mountain villas they are building and across the lagoon onto the beach.

Check-in was fairly quick and we were greeted by the resort manager, Ronin, a Frenchman who really does go out of his way to ensure that you feel welcomed and special. In fact, on Christmas Eve after the dinner, Ronin was in the bar with the rest of the guests handing out free champagne and chatting away, a personal touch that I think goes very far.

We stayed in the water villa, which was fairly spacious but had some odd design decisions. The bathroom, for instance, has an incredibly shallow sink, which means that if you try and use it before going out, then you are going to get water all over your midsection. There was also a little wear and tear, with the false wall behind the toilet peeling away and the pressure from the shower left a lot to be desired. However, plus sides are that the bed was nice and comfortable, and the private balcony over the sea has a beautiful view, with it being especially nice to sit there at night and hear the waves.

My main issue with the resort comes from the restaurant and the slow service that went with it. I didn’t personally think that the food was that great overall. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t anything special. It also didn’t help that, on occasion, breakfast was served cold, staff needed to be reminded multiple times about bringing extra water, or the bill, or toothpicks or what have you. Minor points — but with the heavy premium that you are paying to stay on an island like this, then you expect things to be well oiled.

Others have mentioned the internet connection. It’s not that it is just bad — it is consistently terrible and barely usable for the most part. This is made even more irksome by constantly having to put in the same password time and time again on the “registration page”. They really just need to have a WPA2 password on the Wi-Fi connection itself, instead of it being open and having to fill in a form 25-30 times per day once you are connected. There is also no Globe cell reception unless you go close to the Spa, but Smart gives you 2 bars, which are about enough to make a call. Speaking with Ronin, he says that they have plans to mount a repeater on the cliffs of the island, which should hopefully boost the Globe cell signal from the mainland, allowing people to at least use 3G on the beach. Honestly, though, the internet connection and cell service isn’t a big issue when you consider the beauty of the island and that most people are there for the tranquillity.

There is quite a diverse set of wildlife on the small island. You can trek up to one of the observation points on the cliffs to get a sight of some eagles and more exotic birds.

Checking out was hassle-free, the trip back to the mainland was easy. And once again, Ronin was there to see the guests off and welcome the new ones.

All in all, Cauayan is an incredible experience but has slightly frustrating aspects considering the premium cost. I have no doubt that Ronin and his team will sort all of this out though, and they’ll need to because the occupancy is soon to double with the new mountain villas they are opening.