Club Balai Isabel – Along an Ecological Wonder

The 3.5-hectare property, along the shores of fabled Lake Taal in Talisay, Batangas, near the Tagaytay ridge, had changed hands several times, was finally foreclosed by the bank and had become a wilderness in recent years.

The path traversing the area had coconut palm trees planted over a hundred years ago. Wild grass had grown; there were plants and vegetation all over, and monitor lizards (bayawak) and snakes slithered around.

It was this unprepossessing property that a big-time real-estate developer from Talisay with an unlikely name, Nelson M. Terrible, and his wife Cecille Arenas, purchased in 2005 and turned into a high-end resort.

They named it Club Balai Isabel, after their daughter Kristine Isabel.
It was a fortunate move. The area, facing the ecological wonder that is Taal Volcano, was fast becoming an eco-tourist zone. The resort is also near the poblacion of Talisay, known for its fruit-bearing trees and a major supplier of ornamental plants to Luzon and even to the Visayas.

Getting to Talisay is no problem. Through Santa Rosa, Laguna and Carmona, Cavite, the trip takes only an hour and 15 minutes if traffic is light.

At the Tagaytay Rotonda, you turn left and then (after 6 km) turn right to Ligaya Drive, a well-paved zigzag with subdivisions and communities along the way, but still laden with trees and vegetation.
The 9-km road leads right to the town proper and the lakeshore.

Club Balai Isabel Resort Talisay Batangas

Indigenous and Modern
The architecture at Club Balai Isabel is both indigenous and modern. Air-conditioned rooms can accommodate 143 persons (250 by year’s end). Amenities include clubhouse and infinity pool, sports and leisure club, convention and training center, and commercial shops.
Since “team building” is now a buzzword among corporations, the resort has a group dynamics outdoor facility that includes mazes and obstacles, hurdles, tunnels and wall climbs, and a rope-swing challenge.

The resort has accredited boatmen who will take you on a cruise around the lake, whose waters are silvery from a distance (when you are looking down from Tagaytay ridge), but aquamarine up close.
There are also tour packages for trekking to the volcano, the world’s smallest but, like Mayon, active and dangerous, throwing tantrums from time to time through the centuries.

Fishes like tawilis and maliputo still abound in the lake, whose waters are good for swimming although there are weeds during the rainy season. Fishing, kayaking, snorkeling, cruising, windsurfing and even water-skiing are some of the activities offered by resorts around the area.

Fish pens and siltation are a problem in Lake Taal. “We have to do something about that,” says Terrible. A Bantay Dagat (Baywatch) team has been formed with the Knights of Columbus, local government of Talisay, and barangay officials. A zero-waste program is being implemented.

Superb View
The resort’s clubhouse and infinity pool face the lake, with the volcano in the background. It is a superb view in the mornings, as the sun shines brightly, with pennants waving along the shore, mountains and islets in the background and outrigger boats gliding by.
During our visit, we watched in the afternoon the rainshowers, a light-gray mass, falling over certain portions of the lake, gaining momentum until the contours of far-off mountains of Batangas disappeared, and only Taal Volcano and nearby peaks were visible.
The wind grew stronger, but the rains did not reach the resort. In contrast to the coolness of Tagaytay, it is normally warm and humid along the shore.

Club Balai Isabel Resort Talisay Batangas

In the evenings, you hear the chirping of birds and the croaking of frogs. It was an overcast sky the night we were there, and there were only a few stars visible. The low drone of a lone airplane pierced the stillness.

As the plane headed for Manila, its lights reminded me of a shooting star. “Go and catch a falling star/Get with child a mandrake root,: as the English poet put it, suggesting we attempt the impossible.