First, you take the bus to Calamba, Laguna. From the pier, you ride an ultra-modern, air-conditioned ferryboat (which wouldn’t look out of place in a James Bond movie or a David Hockney seascape). After about 10 minutes, tops, you’ll get to a three-hectare leisure destination that was put up by real estate developer Rodolfo "Rudy" Pua out of a barren piece of land. A transformation from rock to resort – a minor miracle, eh? Hence the name: Wonder Island. However, the wonder doesn’t stop there.
"When we began developing the island, our main problem was the lack of potable water," says Pua, adding that the artesian wells they dug discharged water that wasn’t even fit to wash dirty underwear.
The problem almost took on Sisyphusian dimensions. For four years, Pua had to transport dirty linen to town for laundry and bring in potable water to the island. Which is like pushing a rock uphill to see it go down again. Several engineers and diviners were recruited, including an Italian and a French priest to look for the elusive fluid. Nothing. Not one drop. Nada. Then came an angel in a dream.
"I saw in my dream an angel pointing to a (specific) spot on the island," recalls Pua. So, he told his men to drill a well on the site. After six months of drilling, at 800 feet, they found bluish, crystalline water. They dug again in another site. Same result. The angel wasn’t jerking around.
Pua sent a sample of the water to the States to be tested. The trace elements analysis conducted by Chemical Solutions in Pennsylvania revealed that the Wonder Island mineral water meets American standards. It is even rich in essential minerals such as calcium and iron, as well as manganese, copper and zinc. Factoid of the day: Dissolved mineral substances found in wells or springs were considered beneficial to health since ancient times. (Plato could probably do crunches while telling his students stories about cave-dwellers seeing light for the first time.)
Other things to marvel at in Wonder Island include the Wonder houseboat – a fiberglass, flat-bottomed boat with a spacious dining area. Guest could have breakfast on board the cruiser, while soaking in the vistas of faraway mountains and islands, as well as crags of rock reportedly home to crocs and myths. "This is the life!" one foreigner couldn’t help telling Pua.
Wonder Island guests could check in at the four-bedroom Bamboo House, or in the comfy twin-sharing rooms. There are even dormitory-type accommodations for tourists on a tight budget. They could play a round of billiards or table tennis, or take a dip in the swimming pools (filled, of course, with Wonder Island mineral water), which have water slides and fountains. There is also a chapel for the pious.
Not surprisingly since the resort was designed "to heal the mind, body and soul," according to Pua.
Words to live by from a man who dreams of angels and who builds a wondrous island out of a wasteland.