Happiness is Alegre -1

AN INFINITE expanse of idleness stretching beyond

the horizon where the shimmering Camotes Sea

ended—this is how a vacation should be, a tired voice

within said. Always there was some kind of visiting

animal to break the solitude and mark the hours spent sitting still on a lounging

chair in the veranda of a cabana at the Alegre Beach Resort in Calumboyan,

Sogod, Cebu. In the morning, sparrows darted under the cogon roof while a

family of lizards—I counted seven in all—crawled on the walls in the evening.

Earlier in the day, I tried to be brisk and

business-like in getting the interviews out of the

way so I could meet my schedule of

non-activity for the remainder of the weekend.

But hurrying was bound to fail as my subjects,

marine biologist Geraldine Sola and resort

operations manager Ihris Potestas, spoke in a

rhythm that was like the constant roll of the waves on the shore on a calm day.

Last January, the resort was honored with a hotel leadership award

(environment category) at the 16th Annual University of California in Los

Angeles (UCLA) Extension Hotel Industry Investment Conference. Cited was

Alegre’s desiltation and reef recovery program, which has restored and

improved the reef ecosystem in the area.

Geraldine said the problem in the early 1990s when the resort opened was

there was too much silt on the coral reefs. During bad weather the silt deposits

got stirred up and then settled in piles on the coral polyps and rocks. Because

of this the corals had a hard time feeding on plankton and could not attach their

roots on the silt-covered rocks. There was an attempt to stabilize the sea

bottom by transplanting sea grasses and weeds, but these were uprooted when

the winds blew hard.

The solution: a machine-driven water lift pump laid out on a raft and that

suctions the silt through underwater pipes. The silt is then dumped in a drop-off

point 150 meters deep in the sea, so that even if the waves are strong, it does

not go up anymore and stays in the sandy bottom.

Divers also collect drupe shells and Crown of Thorns starfish that prey on

corals. They ensure that the starfish caught is whole because if an arm is cut, it

will regenerate into another starfish.

As a result, the area now enjoys 75-percent coral cover, Geraldine said. There

are plans to increase this rate by transplanting corals at the reef flat and

introducing new fish species.

She also raised the need to educate the fishermen and explain to them what the

marine sanctuary is all about, particularly the corals being fish breeding and

feeding centers.

Those who snorkel or dive in the house reef will be pleased to see butterfly,

surgeon, banner, squirrel, angel and damsel fishes, snappers, groupers, basslets,

giant clams, green turtles, eagle rays, and even barracudas.

Geraldine warned against venturing to the trigger fish’s nest during their

breeding season because the male and female fish closely guard the eggs and

attack anything or anyone who goes near.

The best diving spots, according to her, are the waters around the Gato and

Cuatro Islas. The latter is shallow, with nice coral cover for snorkeling, while at

Gato one can have a close encounter with sleeping sharks that hide under rocks

and don’t come out. The place is also a sanctuary for sea snakes. There is an

underwater tunnel with many holes where lobsters reside.

The other dive sites are: Libas, Calanggaman, Capitancillo, Tulang, Tapilon

Wreck and Monad Shoal. The resort has three sea vessels—Kanaway,

Pathfinder I and Pawikan III—that can take interested parties there for a fee.

The aqua sports people like to remind visitors to "please help us protect our

reef by not touching or removing anything from the waters."

Over lunch at the open-air portion of the Pavilion Restaurant, between

spoonfuls of the chef’s tomato-and saffron-flavored Island Bouillabaisse and

vegetable-and-tofu kebabs, I asked Ihris to tell me more about the place.

Sogod, she said, means the beginning, where the white sand starts and climbs

northward. It used to be a sleepy fishing village. Now it is home to the only

class-A resort in northern Cebu.

Alegre enjoys the patronage of the domestic market (40 percent); the rest of

the visitors are Japanese, Koreans and Europeans. At the time I was there, a

five-month-old, blue-eyed Norwegian baby was being cradled by a bikini-clad

mother.

But it’s not all sunning, soaking and swimming (apart from three private beach

coves, there is a 47-meter-long, five-foot-deep pool and two minor pools for

kids). Guests can request to go on visits to the countryside, like a tour of

nearby Catmon town on Thursdays, which are market days, or of Bogo, the

cleanest town in the Philippines (a Hall of Fame awardee, actually, with its

elliptical-shaped municipal hall and Moorish-looking church).

Bogo has a clean wet market, too, and is home to a Gaisano mall and the

Mercedes Plantation Golf and Country Club. Alegre is a member of the club,

so guests who play golf have access to it.

Ihris took me around the grounds, where we noted the foreign vacationers

slathering on sun block lotion, reading Bridget Jones’ diary or snoozing on deck

chairs by the pool. It was tempting to join them. My guide observed that

Filipinos and Koreans like to pack a lot of activities in their holiday schedule,

unlike most Caucasians who just lie lizard-like in the sun and take an occasional

cooling dip.