New Yacht Club Philippines: Santa Ana, Cagayan
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Image courtesy Girlie Cervantes
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It is not often that a new yacht club opens in Asia, even less often that one opens in the Philippines. The Santa Ana Yacht Club has this month announced its opening in the northeast corner of Luzon, in Santa Ana, Cagayan.
If you are a cruising yacht or power boat owner, and you have previously wondered where to tie–up in the North of the Philippines, the Santa Ana Yacht Club has the answer: tie–up in Cagayan. The facilities are a little bit limited at the moment but it is just a question of time before moorings, a clubhouse, restaurant and a bar will be finished to satisfy everyone’s needs. In the meantime an anchorage and partner beach resorts will more than satisfy.
Why Santa Ana? Rikk Price, the Santa Ana Yacht Club Commodore, explains: "if you were arriving in the Philippines from across northwest Pacific then there was nowhere to stop that was guaranteed to understand your needs".
In fact, prior to this day, the first city you would sail to, that may offer any sort of expectation of assistance at all, is Laoag, Ilocos Norte, and that is a long haul to sail after entering Philippine territorial waters. Also, if you are leaving the Philippines to the northeast, the same challenge would present itself. So Santa Ana is the logical choice for a yacht club that will understand what you are talking about and be interested enough to find answers to your questions.
The objectives of the Santa Ana Yacht Club are two fold. First, they want to be the first and last place in the Philippines where sailors can enjoy a cold beer, a hearty meal and replenish ship’s stores of fresh vegetables, meat, fish and water. Second, they want to encourage local enthusiasm for the sport of sailing and plan to have a small fleet of sailing dinghies on the water next year. If there is a third objective it is to have a good time, exchanging sailing stories with like minded folk, while enjoying beautiful Cagayan sunsets over the West Philippine Sea and spectacular sunrises over the Pacific Ocean.
The Santa Ana Yacht Club is perfectly positioned to achieve its objectives, on the side of Luzon’s northeastern peninsula sheltered from the mighty Pacific Ocean. The long, gently shelving sandy beach will provide easy access to concrete block moorings – to be laid during the coming few months. Sheltered from the Pacific Ocean, the welcome relief it will offer to arriving boats will be matched by the welcoming smiles ashore. For departing boats, the chance of a last jolly tale ashore before braving the timeless Pacific swells will surely make Santa Ana the fondest memory of the Philippines for countless hundreds of crews over the coming decade.
For outward bound voyagers, becoming a member of the Santa Ana Yacht Club will provide immediate reciprocal rights at the famous Hawaii Yacht Club. For inbound voyagers, the same facility is planned with the Puerto Galera Yacht Club – the Cruising yacht club of the Philippines. And, according to Rikk, "it you sign up for a life membership now it will cost you only US$200. . . . inclusive of ten days free mooring and a club burgee".
If you have not been to Santa Ana before then you should know that it is a growing tourist destination, offering a wide variety of attractions for anyone interested in the history and ecology of the northern Philippines. From the old Spanish lighthouse, atop the nature reserve of Palaui Island, to the rolling foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains; Santa Ana is packed full of places to explore and indigenous wildlife to capture in pixel memory.
You can scuba dive, kayak, snorkel, whale watch, sail and catch some of the largest game fish in Asia, here on the waters off Santa Ana. You can trek, climb and watch forest birds or, marvel at the soaring white–bellied fish eagles and Brahminy kites that are resident in these parts; in the Fall, you can observe migrating birds of prey as they enter the Philippine skies above Santa Ana, from Siberia and Mongolia, on their way to winter hunting grounds on the islands of Mindanao, Indonesia and beyond.
Unquestionably, Santa Ana has a lot to offer and now offers the first and last yacht club in the Philippines.
Go to Santa Ana now and experience a way of life that has been interwoven with the sea for centuries. Join the Santa Ana Yacht Club and become a part of an international sailing community that reaches out to Hawaii, Guam, Vladivostok, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Shanghai.
For more information about the first and last yacht club in the Philippines you should visit Santa Ana Yacht Club website
