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T R O P I C A L A D V E N T U R E S
Clockwise: Just another day at
the office for Eddie Brock; a day
of lazing around is absolutely
required; you’re welcomed with
big smiles
PHOTOS
KATHERINE JACK
The Tao of sailing
The “we” he is referring to is Tao Philippines, the company
he co-founded back in 2005 with best mate Eddie Brock. The
two met in Edinburgh, Scotland where they both attended
university. On a trip back to the Philippines (Eddie is from
Baguio City in the northern province of Luzon), they hit
upon the ingenious idea of exploring the hundreds of remote
islands between Coron town on Busuanga, the northernmost
island in the province of Palawan, and the northern tip of the
main island in the region, also named Palawan, by boat.
Stretching from its northern tip near the island of Mindoro
all the way down to the tip of Borneo, Palawan is known
romantically as the “Land of the Promise”. It has certainly
become a promised land for a growing contingent of travelers
entranced by news of roughly 1,780 islands and islets, virgin
rainforest and sugar-white sandy beaches. And a trip with Tao
is one of its undoubted highlights.
At first, Jack and Eddie used rented boats and temporary
crew to ferry friends and select others around, but word
of their odysseys soon spread among travelers eager to
get off the vigorously stamped South-East Asian path. The
Aurora
was purchased, a reliable pool of boat personnel was
secured through a combination of trial and error and happy
accident, and the business started to expand.