Lounging in Laguna

Yes, Virginia, the water’s fine, even for drinking. This, the proud owners of Wonder Island Resort, La Vista Pansol and Hidden Valley Springs can prove to anyone who visits them in Calamba (Wonder Island and La Vista) and Alaminos, Laguna.

Willy Roxas, general manager of Hidden Valley, says, "We could have struck a bonanza selling the crystal-clear water our family discovered years back. But we’re not into marketing or any of that sort."

Had Nilcar Donato, owner of La Vista Pansol, and the people behind Wonder Island done that, they would have felt like lotto winners many times over.

As it is, Donato feels like he’s a winner every time he looks around his family’s eight-hectare resort complex. A 50-foot long, five-level water slide aptly called "Wet and Wild" takes daring swimmers on a winding adventure plunge into two pools sparkling with crystal-clear water.

A mini-animal park reminds you that ours is a country of exotic flora and fauna whose ability to awe us is matched only by their need to be protected from man’s greed. An Indian python coils its sleek, shiny body around itself. And before guests start scampering away, Donato says its venom has been removed. So there, breathe easily now.

Nearby, there’s a gaudy parrot on its perch. Eye-catching but expensive, it’s one of the many pets Donato’s veterinarian-brother goes all the way from Manila to Calamba for. The precious bird must be checked now and then.

"We are developing a one-hectare property near La Vista Pansol which will serve as a bigger animal park," reveals Donato. "In fact, we already have a tiger from Lucena and two deer, among other animals. We are targeting 360 animals, many of them from Corregidor. We plan to open by next year. By then, the animals would have adjusted to their new environment."

The plan has the blessings of Laguna Gov. Teresita "Ningning" Lazaro, who plans to build a bypass road that will make travel from Manila to Laguna and vice-versa a lot faster.

She has a lot to be proud of. When she says she wants Laguna to be the spa capital of the Philippines, the governor is not only stating a promise, she is looking at sheer fact. One of Hidden Valley Springs’ six pools – the soda pool – contains sodium bicarbonate, which gives it a refreshing feel. The others go by such names as lovers’ pool, spa pool, etc. Go ahead, take a dip, the water’s warm and soothing.

Reaching them requires some minutes of trekking through a centuries-old rainforest which, to the more imaginative, conjures images of mountain maidens like the legendary Maria Makiling.

Francis Ford Coppola must have had the time of his life staying here while shooting Apocalypse Now.

Turn left and gape at a balete tree more awesome than the one you saw in the hit shocker Bahay ni Lola. Look right and plants shoot upwards like prayers sent heavenward. A makeshift bridge with railings hewn from trees creaks under your feet. But don’t worry, it’s safe.

Mother Nature greets you even in your bathroom, where a glass ceiling gives a clear view of towering coconut trees. The curved pathway to the picture-pretty cottages has a mosaic of leaves that reminds you that nature rules supreme here.

Laguna de Bay sits as an absolute monarch in Calamba, a few minutes’ drive from Hidden Valley. Ringing Wonder Island Resort, a three-hectare paradise, is the lake accessible through a pier the island owner built for himself and his guests who take a 20-minute ferryboat to reach the island.

Dolphy, Jolina Magdangal and the rest of the Home Along Da River cast saw it for themselves when they went to Wonder Island for a day’s taping of the movie.

A flock of seagulls, attracted by the whirling ferryboat’s propeller, follows you until you dock. There are no big boats, no sharks, no danger of getting lost in the open sea. The stillness can rock even the most hyperactive mind to sleep. And you’re not even talking of taking a hefty meal of fish, meat and fruits on board.

First thing you notice upon stepping onto the island is the colorful buntings fluttering gently in the breeze. The Home Along crew put them up for the film’s final sequence.

Next are the pools – three for children, three for adults. I asked myself why I don’t feel as if a cold front has assaulted me after taking a dip and seeking shelter under a colorful giant umbrella that moves with the wind.

Turns out the water came from thousands of feet under the ground. Thus, it is soothingly warm, refreshingly clear and totally clean to the point of being potable. The story of how the island owner discovered the water is a miracle in itself. Time was when his pool, like most others, was chemically treated. As such, swimmers felt cold after taking a dip.

So he realized the water he got from an existing deep well was not enough. He needed more, much more. He exhausted all means – a water diviner, a French priest, a feng shui master – to reach his goal, but to no avail.

The answer came in a dream. In it, someone told him where he could get a free-flowing water source. But since a well driller would cost him millions of pesos, he studied how to dig wells and fashioned his own machine after copying from an existing model. After four to six months of continuous digging and forging on despite finding nothing, his men struck something hard. It was a big rock more than 800 feet below the ground.

More drilling and the rock yielded clear, fresh water gushing at 2.5 drums, or more than 100 gallons per minute.

At last, the dream did come true. Here, 1,000 feet below the ground was the all-important liquid that would pump liters upon liters of clean, potable water to Laguna de Bay. Samples sent to the United States for analysis showed amazing results: the water contained as much as 17 minerals, passing the US standard for drinking water with flying colors. The implications go far beyond not feeling cold after swimming in the pools. Since the water is three times more potent than its ordinary mineral counterpart, it means a steady supply of clean water to Laguna de Bay.

It also means a huge potential to become one vast fishing ground tourists can delight in. The lake can also be converted into a mecca for sailing, cruising and other kinds of water sports.

Do we see an emerging tourist spot in the middle of the lake? If the water is as fine as this, the answer is a resounding yes.