Fridays Island Paradise

Back in September / October 2012, I was planning a trip around East Asia visiting friends followed by a week or two on a warm, sunny beach somewhere quiet and ideally naked. Not expecting to find anything, I searched the internet to see if I could find any naturist beaches and to my surprise, I found one in the Philippines; Friday's Island.

The more I looked at the Friday's Island website, the more I wanted to go. However, it was clear that although the island used to be a rejuvenation retreat with many visiting guests, the owner had retired quite some time previously and now only invited very select friends and guests.

However, I emailed the owner to see if it was possible for me to spend a week or two on the island and I was delighted when she agreed to accept me as a visitor to her now private island paradise.

When I arrived, I was shown to my accommodation which was a very basic, simple but clean raised cabin overlooking a 200 metre beach which was literally 1-2 metres away. Apart from the occasional fish, the food was primarily semi-raw vegetarian beautifully presented in coconut shells or on banana leaves. It was very tasty and fresh as a lot of it is actually grown on the island.

At sunrise every day, I would practice yoga, Tai Chi or Chi Gong with the owner on her sundeck overlooking the sea before swimming back along the beach for breakfast. Other times, we could go snorkelling or kayaking around the island or even visit other islands. I could also take a massage in the temple or a mud-bake right on the beach.

As there’s no bar or TV, we had to make your own evening entertainment although the owner often helped by offering beach fires, a movie in the temple or even a night in an open air Jacuzzi. The staff were also very warm, friendly and helpful with nothing being too much trouble.

And best of all, it’s all fully naturist. I spent my whole holiday completely naked 24 hours a day reluctantly putting my clothes back on when I had to leave to go home.

All in all, I had a fabulous time on my first trip to Malapacao so much so that I’ve been there 3 times now. Each time has been the perfect escape from the trappings of modern civilisation allowing me to re-connect with nature in its most basic pristine form.

I stayed a week in a most fascinating open air bungalow with gorgeous expensive-looking woodwork throughout and a wooden carved statue on the sea-side. Windows/shields, made of transparent plastic, can be closed in case of a storm but there was never a need. The view is truly a million dollar view, even from the bed, and the open air but private bathroom is my preferred styled of bathroom since visiting Bali many years ago, but this one was beautiful and full of charming little details (as is the rest of the bungalow), since most everything is made of local wood and materials.

The beach is just gorgeous and there is coral just a few meters away (so be careful when entering the water), run nude, swim nude, snorkel nude, I never thought I would find a place like this in Asia.

I was a bit too warm under the mosquito net, but with citronella I found that I could keep the mosquitos mostly at bay in the hours where they are active just after dark and then the rest of the evening and night was mostly mosquito free. There are no sand flies on the beach so the beach was quite usable at night, an unexpected and delightful surprise.

The unconventional food was very good and often delicious, including eggs in the morning on my request (duck eggs). I had a small allergy, maybe to noni juice, at the beginning and after staying away from noni fruit I was fine. Maybe this is what an earlier reviewer was alluding to. I am traveling for 5 months in Asia and I found the food here much safer from contamination than in most asian places.

I found the staff most friendly and the owner quite interesting and engaging. I had two hot tub sessions, massages, and an incredible floating bondfire the night before my departure. This was a meditative and nature retreat for me - there was no alcool (which I drink very little of anyway), no smoking, no crowds since the place is currently operating on a screened visitors basis.

This island is truly once in a naturist lifestyle experience, which is a jewel of a gift one can give to themselves.

I found this private island paradise idyllic. Although basic and simple, the facilities were very clean and well thought out with attention paid to details. Although the food was raw/semi raw, I thought the food was also very tasty. Finally, I found the people very warm, friendly and helpful.

It may not be for everybody, but if you want a back to basics private island paradise, then this is the place to go.

I would caution any travelers thinking about going here. This facility was closed in April 2011 by the authorities because of the many complaints they have received and on personal inspection they questioned the sanitation of the place. I stayed there and became sick and I have heard that many other people have as well.