Romblon Island in the Philippines is a tranquil tropical paradise little known to most tourists. It has a population of less than 40,000 and offers visitors pristine beaches, dense green mountains, and diverse underwater life. The island is known for its unique marine creatures that can be seen while scuba diving, including various shrimp, sea slugs, and fish. It also has small neighboring islands like Alad Island that provide an unspoiled natural environment for swimming, snorkeling, and relaxing. While Romblon has a marble industry, it maintains a quiet, community-focused atmosphere exemplified by the welcoming locals in Romblon Town.

1. Chasing the SUN

2. 12boldmagazine.ca
48
AGATHA ZARZYCKI
Writer
PACIFIC IDYLL
Born and raised in Calgary,
Agatha Zarzycki is a freelance
writer who has written for
Where Calgary and the
Calgary Herald . In 2016
she moved to Busan, South
Korea, where she taught
English and travelled around
Asia. She now lives in Berlin,
Germany.
44
RM VAUGHAN
Writer
EASTERN PROMISE
RM Vaughan’s latest book
is Bright Eyed: Insomnia
and its Cultures.
Marlon J. Moreno
CEO + Editorial Director
Paul Gallant
Executive Editor
Magda de la Torre
Americas Editor
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Victoria Bass • Anita Draycott
Liz Fleming • Ruth J. Katz
Michael Smith • Sarah Treleaven
RM Vaughan • Agatha Zarzycki
ART DIRECTION AND DESIGN
Laura García
PHOTOGRAPHY
Carlos Bolivar • Tishan Baldeo
WEB DEVELOPER
Rahul Nair
SOCIAL MEDIA INTERN
Clare Mulvale
PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY
Jesson + Company
jessonco.com
info@jessonco.com
77 Bloor St. West, Suite 1200
Toronto, ON. M5S 1M2
ADVERTISING
For Advertising, Promotion, Reprints and
Sponsorships inquiries:
marketing@boldmagazine.ca
CORRESPONDENCE
The Hudson Bay Centre
20 Bloor St. East P.O. Box 75075
Toronto, ON. M4W 3T3
BOLD ® is published bimonthly by
Pulso Media Group Inc. Opinions expressed in
BOLD are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the view of the publisher or
advertisers. BOLD does not assume
liability for content.
All prices quoted are in rounded Canadian dollars,
unless otherwise stated.
www.boldmagazine.ca
CONTRIBUTORS
WINTER 2017
ISSUE #42
ON THE COVER
A young diver gets up close and personal with a stingray.
PhotobyIreneCorti

3. boldmagazine.ca 49
I
ll
y
d
Pacific
The Philippines’
Romblon Island might
be the most beautiful
tropical paradise you’ve
never heard of (unless
you’re a serious diver)

4. 50 boldmagazine.ca
am out one
afternoon
strolling past
guava trees and
small clustered
flowers
known in the
Philippines as Dalaga Amanghot (or “girl in
the jungle,” which is how I feel at the moment)
when I notice giant clam-shell fossils on the
ground around me. The size of a bicycle wheel,
these impressive relics are grown over with
grass and fern. Despite the disguise, they
remind me that a million years ago, the land I
am walking on, here on Romblon Island, was
deep underwater.
I follow my guide five minutes further on
until we arrive at Apunan Point Lighthouse,
on the remote southern tip of the island. The
keeper cranks open the oval door and we climb
up 78 feet of ladder rungs. At the top, I find
what I’ve come all this way for: a view of the
blue vastness of the Sibuyan Sea in front of us
and the dense green mountains behind us.
Far off the radar of most tourists, Romblon
Island might be the most tranquil Pacific
paradise you’ll ever come across. Unlike
more popular destinations in the Philippines,
Romblon is able to provide deep connections
to the land and local life. With a population of
less than 40,000, the community is close-knit
and friendly. The beaches and mountains
are breathtaking, and the types of exotic
sea creatures off its bays and harbours may
outnumber the locals and visitors combined.
These virtues, and many others, give it a
special place in the hearts of divers, snorkelers
and others seeking an unspoiled retreat.
Romblon takes a while to reach. Near the
end of the 14-hour ferry ride from Batangas
City, I find myself gliding past pastel-coloured
homes, many nestled on lush green hills,
before arriving in the capital, Romblon Town.
My friend and I find our tuk-tuk driver, who’s
smiling and holding up a sign with the name of
our resort.
Although I’m not a diver, I have accepted
an invitation to tag along my friend’s diving
expedition. Many visitors come to discover
unique marine life difficult to find elsewhere.
In the past, huka divers would go deep under
water, breathing through a hose connected
to a compressor in a boat engine in order
to explore Romblon’s diverse underwater
ecosystem. Huka diving was phased out
about 30 years ago because it was considered
dangerous, but present day divers still come
here to explore the sea’s depths.
Romblon boasts more than 40 dive sites,
each with something different to offer, ranging
from the colourful corals at Bonbon Block
I WHEN YOU GO
Romblon’s peak diving season
is from October to June. For
sailing, paddleboarding and
kayaking, March and April are
ideal for calm winds, with the
strongest winds from October
to February. Philippines
Tourism: tourism.gov.ph
ARRIVAL
Resorts on Romblon usually
offer pickup from the Manila
airport and ferry arrangements.
There are three ferry
companies available. 2GO
Travel is one of the largest and
leading sea-travel providers in
the Philippines.
travel.2go.com.ph
STAY
The Three P Holiday & Dive
Resort is a 20-minute tuk-tuk
ride from Romblon Town. Last
January, the resort refurnished
their restaurant and added four
eco rooms. Rooms from $52/
night. the-three-p.com
EAT
Owned by Marzio, a chef from
Milan, and his wife Denia, a
baker from Romblon, JD & G
Pizza & Italian Cuisine serves
up breakfast, and a variety of
Italian and seafood dishes.
DO
Anchor Bay Water Sports
rents water sports equipment,
including snorkel gear,
kayaks, paddleboards
and a Hobie Cat Getaway
catamaran (sailing lessons
can be arranged in advance).
anchorbaywatersports.com
to night diving at Bangug Island. I can see the attraction
of finding a creature so unusual it may even be unnamed.
Twenty of the local dive sites are known for rare critters. At
Logbon Sanctuary, divers have a 90 per cent chance of seeing
Phantom Nudibranch, a transparent sea slug with a distinctive
white pattern. Other sought-after critters include butterfly
sea slugs, pygmy seahorses, the pug-head pipefish (related to
the seahorse, but more snakelike in appearance), as well as
chocolate shrimp, peanut shrimp, sashimi shrimp and upside
down shrimp.
Heading out on the water, the boat leaving a foamy trail
behind us. I have brought along my snorkel gear and my
curiosity. Fabia, a diving instructor from Switzerland, tells me
about her early unsuccessful endeavours to find upside down
shrimp. Her face lights up when she tells me about seeing one
for the first time on Romblon.
Fabia works with The Three P Holiday & Dive Resort,
currently the only diving company on the island. The Three
P was originally founded as a family restaurant by a Filipino-
German couple when they retired here from Dusseldorf. Their
sons, Patrick, Peter and Philipp, transformed the business
into a dive centre. Yet even those who like to stay dry can
occupy themselves on Romblon. A five-minute stroll along
a sandbar at low tide brings you from Bonbon Beach on the
mainland to tiny Bangug Island. Or you can relax under
talisay trees – tall, with emerald lance shaped leaves – on the
mainland’s Tiamban Beach. One evening at Tiamban I share
the beach with a local family, watching with them as pink and
violet hues light up the sky. Two women push their father’s
wheelchair to the shoreline and hold his hands until the
islands ahead fade to dim outlines.
To see other smaller islands, visitors can book an island-
hopping tour on a private boat with a local guide. The
triangular Banyaga Rock juts out of a sea teeming with
angelfish, clownfish, goldfish, parrotfish and starfish. I dip my
face into the cool clear water and kick my flippers, my friend
and I giving each other hand signals so neither of us miss
the exotic fish that flutter around us. Our guide, Atoy, takes
photos of us from the boat.
On nearby Alad Island, palm and talisay trees provide
shade from the sunlight illuminating the sea. We only meet
one other person, a local man who unexpectedly appears from
the jungle and offers to climb a palm tree for us, so my friend
and I can have some coconuts. There are no cafés, chairs nor
umbrellas. I memorize the moment: Atoy’s boat floating near
the shoreline, the salt in my hair, the sound of my breath.
Romblon is not entirely idyllic. The marble capital of the
Philippines, the island’s mountains are a resource for more
than 90 colours and patterns of marble. Through a city tour,
visitors can check out the local marble quarries, where artists
chisel marble into life-sized sculptures and furniture. Oscar,
my guide, pulls his tuk-tuk over to show me a workshop on
the roadside. Cloth and bamboo tarps cover a small cleared
section of jungle. Varied sizes of marble are scattered across
the ground. It’s quieter than I expected, as a couple of artists
clink their mallets into giant blocks of marble.
Romblon Town, with a population of about 4,000,
provides the hub for eating, shopping and socializing. Its
market overflows with local seafood, fruits and vegetables. Its
restaurants are among the friendliest I’ve been to. I show up
for a late dinner one evening, not realizing the town’s sleepy
state past 9pm. A woman motions for me to come inside her
closed restaurant. Holding my hand, Denia, the restaurant’s
co-owner, guides me to a table and hands me a menu.
“You’re in luck,” she says, “I stayed late to bake a pie.” My
tuk-tuk driver joins me at the table; he wants to make sure I
have a ride back to my resort. I leave feeling full in more ways
than one. The feeling of connectedness I feel in Romblon stays
with me long after I’m gone.