A soldier's retirement house becomes Pagudpud's premier tourist destination

MANILA, Philippines - On Christmas Eve, Danish national Rasmus Faber, a house builder from Copenhagen, traveled to his next Philippine stopover after Baguio in darkness and under pelting rain. What he particularly remembered about the trip was having to negotiate more twisting roads on mountain slopes; and approaching his destination, he caught a dazzling display of lights not too far ahead. That was where he and his Filipina law-student girlfriend were headed for.

And so it was on Christmas Day that the 39-year-old Dane woke up in a rented villa to a breathtaking view of a cove partially walled by green mountains and cliffs and curves into the coastline of the China Sea.

 “This one,” Faber said, referring to the seven-hectare Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center in Barangay Balaoi, Malingay, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte, “reminds me of the great beaches of Hawaii. For people like me who love the sea, this place is a paradise, perfect for boating, snorkeling, jet skiing and surf boarding.”

The well-traveled Dane was unperturbed by the fact that he couldn’t indulge himself in any of those water-based activities for now in the face of the roiling sea, which was relentlessly pounding the white-sand shore with giant waves. “I’m prepared to wait out the day when the weather is good so that I can enjoy the sea, but just being here in the middle of green mountains and the sea while enjoying the amenities of modern living is already worth everything.”

Banana boat, ready to float: The Blue Lagoon is the lifeblood of Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center.

Interestingly, 48 others besides Faber and his lovely companion opted to spend last Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center. And over a hundred more came in and stayed during the rest of the long holiday season, according to retired Philippine Air Force Asst. 1st Sgt. Ernesto Ricaplaza, the resort supervisor and security OIC. “Among these guests,” he says, “were foreign nationals and balikbayans who learned of our place from the Internet or by word of mouth.”

Now into its fourth year of operation, Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center has already established itself as a must-see tourist destination in the country. Duly accredited by the Department of Tourism as an eco-tourism spot, Philippine Airlines has stamped its own seal of approval on the resort by making it a part of its Palakbayan program, which aims to boost the national tourism industry.

Sheltered Bay

The folk of Pagudpud call this protected body of water in their town Blue Lagoon, perhaps borrowing the title from the blockbuster Hollywood movie. Partially enclosed by a range of mountains and cliffs, Pagudpud’s own Blue Lagoon, on a clear day when you can see forever, is as startlingly blue and clear as the skies above it.

Half-encircled by white sand, the lagoon is the lifeblood of Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center and of the smaller resorts nearby. During the long dry season it is so calm that whole families take to the water without dread while a relay of lifeguards stand vigil to ensure their safety. Fine sand makes up the seabed, on which you can still stand even if you’re already some 50 meters out at sea where the water is still only chest-deep; farther out, the sea and its floor transform into a vast playground for the more intrepid in spirit.

Col. Ricardo L. Nolasco Jr. and only daughter Hannah after whom Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center was named.

Hannah’s guests almost always quickly put on their swimsuits after checking into one of the resort’s 92 villas, two dormitories or 15 picnic huts or cabanas and head for the sea. Besides swimming, they can go surf boarding, jet skiing, snorkeling or boating. And there are still five ways by which guests can enjoy boating here, says Hannah’s receptionist Annabelle Gamis, a mother of two from Bulacan. “They can ride a banana boat, pedal boat, rubber boat or speed boat or they can go kayaking.”

The resort offers a variety of facilities for more family fun and healthy activities. It has four swimming pools, including one for kids and another shaped exactly like a humongous kitchen clay pot and solar-heated. It has facilities for playing billiards, darts, basketball, volleyball, and Frisbee, a room for family board games, and, not to be forgotten, a venue for karaoke singing. To entertain the little ones, the resort maintains an interactive playground for the children and a fishpond to interest them. The whole complex itself is one vast playground for the kids as it displays here and there life-size replicas of famous characters that they can touch and be photographed with.

For the fitness buffs the resort operates a gym and wellness center. For the nature lovers there are rental dirt bikes and all-terrain motor vehicles to go around in, or they may simply walk the entire coastline of the Blue Lagoon or the mountain trails. Those who are into meditation can have their quiet or prayerful moments inside an air-conditioned meditation room underneath the grotto of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, which is fast becoming one of the most visited spots of the resort. Personal accounts and stories go around of wishes granted by the Blessed Virgin, who first appeared before a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul on Nov. 27, 1830 in a quiet convent in France.

Make a wish: A room for meditation and prayer underneath the image of Our Lady of the Miraculous medal.

Hannah’s caters to the corporate world as well. It has a 450-seat convention center equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and a restaurant with five chefs whipping up international cuisines round-the-clock.

A Soldier’s Dream

Who would have believed that Hannah’s Beach Resort traces its humble beginnings to a Manila-born soldier’s simple dream of building a retirement home on his own land in a coastal town on the northernmost tip of Luzon?

Years before his retirement from the Philippine Air Force, Col. Ricardo L. Nolasco Jr., fell in love with Pagudpud right on his first visit. Born, raised and schooled in Manila (a UST magna cum laude from with a BS diploma in medical technology), the former serviceman accepted an invitation from a co-employee in the PAF to visit her hometown of Pagudpud.

A hundred times during the visit Col. Nolasco must have had turned his face to the feathering breeze and deeply breathed in the rejuvenating freshness of the mountain and sea air enveloping him. “That,” he fondly recalls, “and the peace and quiet of the town and its sweet-tasting water pumped out from underground, led me to make one quick decision in my life, which was to build a retirement home in this wonderful place when I retired from the service.”   

Col. Nolasco bought three hectares of land on a mountain slope facing the Blue Lagoon almost 11 years ago for just P200,000. Yes, he built his retirement house, more of a weekend getaway structure made of indigenous materials. Over the years he noticed the continuing influx of tourists into Ilocos Norte and sadly noted as well the lack of facilities to make their stay as comfortable as possible, particularly in Pagudpud.

“There were many times when visitors would drop by uninvited in my place to offer me money in exchange for overnight accommodations or to just use the toilet,” he said. It didn’t take long before an idea germinated in his mind.

Suite comfort: Presidential View Suite

He began acquiring more land adjacent to his property until he found himself owning titles to a total of seven hectares or 70,000 sq.m. of land in a postcard-perfect setting.

Next he poured all his subsequent earnings into developing his property into a beach resort; he even accepted capital investments from close friends. Over the years what started out as a simple, no-frills retirement house has been wondrously transformed into a high-end, environment-friendly beach resort built to world standards.

Col. Nolasco endearingly refers to Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center as his second baby, the first being his only child Hannah, now 12.

Hannah’s Beach Resort’s impressive growth after just three years of operations also translates into more earnings for the tricycle drivers of Poblacion 1 in Pagudpud. One trip alone to transport a guest to the resort, which is a good 21 kilometers from Pagudpud, takes care of a tricycle driver’s quota for the day.

Besides providing employment and more business opportunities, Col. Nolasco says Hannah’s honors its commitment to promote the other scenic sports in Ilocos Norte in general and Pagudpud in particular. After all, he also serves as the first president of the newly-formed Pagudpud Hotel & Resort Owners Association.

While in the service, Col. Nolasco distinguished himself with about 50 awards, medals and commendations bestowed upon him in the fields of soldiering, human and logistics and fuel management, and humanitarian service. 

All his life, he has been blazing new trails. From his first job as a medical technologist nurse in the Air Force, he rose through the ranks in active service later and, after retirement, has gone on to sit at the helm of a multibillion-peso saving and loan association as well as owner-developer of a world-class resort and convention center in Pagudpud.

How to get there? Hannah’s can be reached by traveling to Laoag first by land or by both air and land. From Manila, Laoag is approximately 45 minutes away by plane. It takes another 90 minutes to reach the resort by a vehicle ride from Laoag.

But for those eager to absorb every sight, smell and sound of the countryside, land travel for at least 12 hours is the better option. After Laoag City, the scenery on the way to Pagudpud via mountain roads gets greener and bluer. You glimpse the China Sea past the vegetation on your left and wooded mountains and vast rice fields on your right. There’s actually a stretch of road a few kilometers to Sitio Malingay where you may open the car windows and be able to touch the mountain walls on your right and the leaves of drooping trees on your left.

And when finally you turn left off the main road for Brgy Balaoi, keep looking to your right. You will pass the exact spot from which Faber, that Danish house builder from Copenhagen, had his first glimpse of Hannah’s Beach Resort in the form of a heavy concentration of dazzling lights not too far ahead; and from which position Col. Nolasco had 10 years earlier seen what he intended to be the site of his retirement house.

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For information on Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center, call 806-1477, 0928-520-6255 or e-mail info@hannahsbeachresort.com.