Balesin Island is a tropical island and

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolita ...

off the eastern coast of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is located in Lamon Bay and is administered as part of the municipality of Polillo of

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...

province.

Geography

Balesin Island is situated within Lamon Bay and has a land area of .

Climate

The weather of Balesin Island is dominated by the

trade winds The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisp ...

, creating two seasons. The ''

amihan In the Philippines, ''Amihan'' refers to the season dominated by the trade winds, which are experienced in the Philippines as a ''cool northeast wind''. It is characterized by moderate temperatures, little or no rainfall in the central and west ...

'' (northeast monsoon) brings moderate temperatures, little or no rainfall, and a prevailing wind from the east. Typically it begins in November or December and ends sometime in May or June. Throughout rest of the year, Balesin Island experiences the ''habagat'' (southwest monsoon) season, characterized by hot and humid weather, frequent heavy rainfall, and a prevailing wind from the west. The island is periodically subject to severe tropical storms.

History

During the

Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Japones sa Filipinas''; ja, 日本のフィリピン占領, Nihon no Firipin Senryō) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the ...

, a contingent of seven soldiers lived on Balesin Island, reportedly existing peacefully with indigenous local fishermen and their families. Balesin Island was once owned by businessman Baby Ysmael. The island was later acquired from Ysmael by Edgardo “Ed” Tordesillas, who began to develop it with basic facilities for

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

. Early customers were predominantly Japanese. Today Balesin Island is a property of Alphaland Corporation, a private company majority owned by its Chairman Roberto Ongpin, a prominent Filipino businessman.

Balesin Island Club

Around 10% of the island has been developed to create a luxury resort, Balesin Island Club, with membership fees reportedly in the range ₱2.4-4 million. The resort was master-planned to optimise ecological sustainability. Runoff from the 1.5 km runway of

Balesin Airport Balesin Airport ( fil, Paliparan ng Balesin) is a private airport serving Balesin Island, an island under the jurisdiction of Polillo, Quezon but currently occupied and operated by Alphaland Corporation as a membership resort. It is also known ...

provides over 100 million liters of water annually which passes through several man-made lakes and filtration to provide potable water. In addition used water is recycled for landscaping during the summer. The island's coral reefs are managed for diving and sustainable fishing with local species including

parrotfish Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, ro ...

butterfly fish The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atla ...

yellowfin tuna The yellowfin tuna (''Thunnus albacares'') is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from the Hawaiian , a name also used there for the closely related bigeye ...

mahi-mahi The mahi-mahi () or common dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus'') is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado (not to be confused with ''Salminus brasi ...

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is ...

, and deep-sea crabs. File:Beach at Phuket Village Balesin Island.jpg, Beach at Phuket Village, Balesin Island Club File:Balesin Island Club Beach 01.jpg, Beach outside the clubhouse at Balesin Island File:Balesin Island Club Beach 02.jpg, Beach outside the clubhouse at Balesin Island File:St Tropez Village at Balesin Island.jpg, St Tropez Village, Balesin Island Club

Transportation

The island is served by the E.L. Tordesillas Airport, also known as Balesin Airport which has a runway. Balesin is served by buses, jeeps, electric golf carts, and service vans around the island.

References

External links

Official website of Balesin Island Club
{{Calabarzon attractions Islands of Quezon Barangays of Quezon Resorts in the Philippines Private islands of the Philippines