Taoist founder Lao Tzu was immortalized by saying “every journey starts with a single step”. Well, that ancient Chinese proverb didn’t exactly apply to me during my recent trip to Palawan. I was out of the house with my overstuffed backpack and enthusiastic vigor on my way to ride the ferry to Puerto Princesa City, Palawan from Iloilo City. When I got to the ferry terminal, the guard told me that the boat was already fully booked and I had to wait a few more days to catch the next one. Total Bummer! So I had no choice but to go back home and postpone my trip.

After four days of recuperating, I was out of the house again with a renewed fervor and the same unopened backpack, except this time, I have already secured the reservation for the ferry. I was really looking forward to visiting Palawan for a few months already. No other place comes to mind to do my first solo backpacking trip than in Palawan, which is definitely on my top places to travel in the Philippines.

Video Slideshow of my Solo Backpacking Trip to Palawan

Palawan Backpacking Route Map

My whole trip to Palawan including transportation lasted for 13 days. Starting in Iloilo City, I went to Cuyo Island and several destinations in the northern half of Palawan Island including Puerto Princesa City, Honda Bay, Sabang (St. Paul Underground River), Port Barton, San Vicente, Taytay, and El Nido. Here’s the route map I followed during my backpacking trip to Palawan:

Table of Contents

Day 1

Iloilo to Puerto Princesa Milagrosa RoRo (Roll On/Roll Off) Roro Ferry via Cuyo

I started my Palawan adventure by taking a RoRo Ferry from Iloilo to Puerto Princesa City. There are no direct flights between the two cities, the choice was to take the ferry or a connecting flight via Manila or Cebu. Other than being cheaper, the main reason I took the ferry was because it spends a stopover in Cuyo and I’ve always been curious about the island. I arrived in the ferry terminal in river wharf of Iloilo City at around 6:00PM. The terminal was already packed with scruffy people and mounds of cargo when I got there. It was hot and plagued with the smell of sweat and poultry, I was so excited to finally leave that place after the boarding gates were open but later realized that the conditions inside the boat wasn’t any different.

The boat had two decks filled with cramped bunk beds. The lower deck had a canteen and a closed off air-conditioned section and the upper deck had a more open-air set-up, which initially appealed to me but thing is, the air was so still and humid during the whole time of our sea voyage it was so uncomfortably hard to sleep. I did finally managed to doze off after watching a few movies in my ipod touch.

Day 2

Arrival in Cuyo Island

The next day, I woke up at 5:30AM, took a bath, and then had breakfast at the small canteen in the lower deck. The trip got so much better when small patches of land came into view. We were already in the Cuyo group of islands in the middle of the expansive Sulu Sea (between Panay and Palawan). It was 8:00AM when the ferry docked at pier of the main island of Cuyo.

Cuyo was popularized by the Philippine romantic drama film “Ploning,” shot almost entirely in the island and starred by veteran actress Judy Ann Santos. I haven’t seen the film yet but the movie stills posted online showing cinematic landscapes and seascapes of Cuyo were awesome. I had six hours to explore Cuyo Island and started with a walking tour of the town proper.

Capusan Beach

Beside the pier is a charming baywalk and a white sand stretch named Capusan Beach. The beach was great for a short stroll. A few of the passengers went to the end part to take a dip. There were some interesting photographic subjects in Capusan like this flock of migratory birds and two wrecked boats I saw.

Cuyo Fortess Church

Within the town center is the Cuyo Fortess Church. This massive church was first built in 1683 by Augustinian recollects to serve as a house of worship and a fortification against Muslim raiders. After asking permission from the parish priest, I climbed up the stairs and walked along the pathways on top of the fortress walls. The topmost level of the bell tower had a great view of the whole church complex, the town plaza, and a few outlying islands.

I had 4 hours more to spare for Cuyo, so I hunted for a motorcycle to take me to a few spots around the island like Magsaysay, Quijano Beach, and Tabunan Bay. The driver I approached offered me P400 for the tour, I told him it was too expensive. Luckily, a habal-habal (single motorcycle) driver was nearby and he offered me P250 for it.

Quijano Beach

It took 1 hour and 15 minutes from Cuyo Town Proper to Quijano Beach in Magsaysay Town. The road from Cuyo to Magsaysay town proper was fine but the section from Magsaysay to Quijano Beach was very rough. Would’ve been okay if the beach was excellent but the sand had a strong yellow-orange color and was a bit coarse. There’s also resort there called Quijano Windsurf Retreat. The beach was super calm during my visit but I read that the waves there are better during the wet season. What’s nice about Quijano Beach is that you’ll have the whole beach to yourself. Though, staying at the resort will set you back a hefty $70++ per night.

Tabunan Bay and Pier

Tabunan Bay is nearer to Cuyo Town Proper, around 10 minutes by motorcycle / habal-habal. It used to be a popular local’s hangout destination but my habal-habal driver told me that they’ve grown tired of bumming out on the beach all day all year so it’s not as frequently visited as it used to. Across is Bisucay Isand, which has a very inviting long white sand beach. The locals back in town told me there’s a passenger pumpboat departing Cuyo Pier for Bisucay Island daily at around noontime.

Here’s a video I took when I was at Tabunan Bay:

Cuyo Town Proper

I asked my habal-habal driver to drop me off at an intersection I spotted earlier lined with a few old houses. He told me some of these houses, now used for commercial purposes, appeared in the movie “Ploning.” I went in a carinderia (local eatery) near a school for a proper meal. A serving of adobo, one cup of rice, and a bottle of Coke was just P55.

It started raining on my way back to the pier. I was a little worried at the time since my time of travel was bordering on the transition from dry (summer) season to the wet (monsoon) season. It rains a lot during the monsoon season for weeks on end in tropical Philippines and I didn’t want to have my trip compromised because of it. Luckily, the rain stopped after a hour, which was a great relief. Unfortunately, the ferry got broke down and left Cuyo at 5:00PM, two hours behind schedule. The ferry people informed me that we might be arriving at Puerto Princesa late too, probably at 10:00AM the next day.

In the ferry, my spot was near a few backpackers. I really wanted have other people to talk to but I didn’t feel like interacting with them. There was just something about their aura that I was uneasy about. Though if you’re travelling alone, it would make things so much easier and pleasant to make friends so you’ll have someone to pass the time with and possibly watch your backpack when you’re away (keep in mind to carry with you your valuable items at all times). The second night at the boat was the same humid / still-air / movie marathon affair. I got sleep much easier though because I was already tired from exploring Cuyo. Yes … the boat takes two whole nights to get from Iloilo City to Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

Day 3

Arrival in Puerto Princesa City

Woke up on and off early morning anticipating the arrival in Puerto Princesa City. I was still hoping to arrive in Puerto on time at 8:00AM. I was on edge since I planned on catching the bus straight to El Nido after arrival and the last bus leaves the city at 10:00AM. If I were to miss the bus, I will have to take the shuttle (L300) van, which is twice as expensive. It was 11:30AM when the ferry docked at the pier in Puerto. First thing I did was to find an ATM machine to stock-up (there aren’t many ATMs outside of the city) and then took a jeep bound for San Jose New Market Terminal along Rizal Avenue (P12).

San Jose New Market Terminal

At the bus terminal, I still actually entertained the chance of finding an El Nido bus but there were none left so I headed over to Fort Wally’s van terminal. There were two vans stationed at Fort Wally, one headed for El Nido and the other for San Vicente. At 1:00PM the El Nido van was still empty and the San Vicente van looked like it was already ready to leave so I made a quick decision to switch-up my itinerary and go to San Vicente first instead.

On the Road to San Vicente Town Proper

The San Vicente Van left at around 2:10PM and arrived in Roxas Town’s Terminal at 3:40PM. Roxas Terminal is the transportation hub of Northern Palawan. During the 30 minute stopover in Roxas, I was able to watch election forerunner Ninoy Aquino’s proclamation as the country’s President-elect. I was contemplating about the feeling of timelessness during my 3 days of travel (so far) dimply aware of the daily affairs of the world. Anyways, we were soon on our way to San Vicente again. San Vicente is one of Palawan’s emerging destinations because of “Long Beach,” a 14 kilometer stretch reputed to be the longest white sand beach in the Philippines.

Here’s a short video I took while on the van to San Vicente town proper:

Arrival in San Vicente Town Proper

We arrived in San Vicente at 5:30PM and stopped at an intersection. The van driver asked me if I had a place to stay in town. I told him that I still haven’t found any so he suggested to drop me off at Picardal Lodge. I’ve actually already had a few other places in mind I wanted to checkout first and confessed to him that Picardal was over my budget. So he further suggested I inquire in a convenient store nearby. So I did, and incidentally, they had a room available. Checked out the room, it had ample space, a bed for 1-2 persons, a fan, and a private bathroom. It was a bargain for just P200 per night so I took it.

The local’s call the place as “John Eric Lodge” named after the owner, who also runs a few businesses in town (including the convenient store). After a bit of rest, I went around town to ask about the passenger boat to Port Barton from San Vicente. Luckily, there was still someone manning the tourism office. Her name was Chamby and she told me that there are no regular passenger boats to Port Barton. I can rent one to take me there for P1,200 (pretty steep since I’m traveling alone). So I dumped the idea of going to Port Barton by boat and went on to stroll along San Vicente’s seaside park / pier area while watching the gorgeous sunset.

Day 4

It was a beautiful morning the next day! Long Beach in Brgy. New Agutaya, San Vicente is only around 5 minutes by habal-habal from the town proper. The weather was fine so I decided to go there by foot. It took me 40 minutes to reach this awesome super long almost deserted white sand beach, which looks to be twice the length of Boracay’s long beach. People always like to tag places as the “Next Boracay,” and many have certainly done so with Long Beach. I’m not a big fan of that particular tag, I think Boracay has a character of its own that sets it apart from any other “Next Boracays” and it’s not exactly what you could call as a model tourist destination either, considering the ecological problems it is now facing. I’d rather prefer aspiring tourism destinations to junk the idea of being “the next boracay” and instead learn from the successes and mistakes of Boracay and make a name for themselves.

Long Beach in San Vicente

I don’t know how accurate Google Earth is but I measured the length of Long Beach and it was only an uninterrupted 8 kilometers, which is nearly half of its 14 kilometer popularized end to end measurements. Still, it’s twice the length of Boracay’s White Beach and just standing at the mid-point I was amazed at how long it was. The sand has a off-white to yellow color similar to Station 3 of White Beach. To fully realize the tourism potential of Long Beach, an airport is currently being built in the town proper and roads are being developed. This place, in my opinion, has more potential than Boracay for accommodating huge tourism developments since it’s located on the mainland and there’s ample space to build more and bigger hotels / resorts on a more sustainable level.

After laying down a few kilometers worth of footprints. I decided to walk back to the town proper to check out the other sights in San Vicente. It started raining at one point so I decided to take shelter in a hut I passed by earlier.

A local told me that there was another beach past Long Beach, so out of curiosity, I started walking northwards to see for it for myself. Along the way, I approached a woman and asked how to go to this other beach. She told me the beach was called “Tandol Beach” and that I can either go there through the main road or take a shortcut through the rock cliff area between the two beaches. She pointed out that it was low tide at the time and the cliff area was passable. I took her word for it and walked along the beach towards the northernmost end. When I got there, there was this rocky area at the edge of the coast where you can walk your way through.

My Misadventure in Tandol Beach

I was in the middle of the rock cliff area with no sight of long beach when it started to rain … heavily. To avoid getting drenched, I went in one of the cave openings. I had to share it with a colony of bats but I’m don’t particularly have a fear of those little critters so it didn’t bother me that much. See video:

The rain got only stronger and the reality of my situation finally dawned on me. What if I stayed there for too long and the high tide would catch up on me making it impossible to cross to Tandol or even back to Long Beach. I went out of the cave and braved the the heavy rain to avoid the possibility of getting stuck there.

The coast got more irregular there were parts where I had to wade through the water and do a bit of free form rock climbing. I finally did manage to reach Tandol Beach but, unfortunately, it still wasn’t the end of my misadventure. Tandol Beach was easily 3 kilometers long. It had an even more secluded feeling than Long Beach and the sand was a bit whiter and finer. In the distance, I could see another beach with a sizeable fishing community past Tandol Beach.

It was still raining. I couldn’t see any roads from where I was standing. Much of the inland parts were closed off by barbed wire fences. I really wanted to take a rest so I crossed a gap on the fence and took shelter in a shed. From there I could spot a house nearby but I was having an uneasy feeling about the place (since I knew I was basically trespassing) so I decided to wait around and think things through first.

When the rain got weaker, two guys went out of the house, each carrying a bolo/itak (cutting tool similar to the machete) on one hand. I was already panicking a bit, having thoughts of horror suspense movies suddenly pop-up in my mind. As they were coming closer but still with a considerable distance away, I played the stupid tourist role (which was probably true) and asked them where the main road was to get, at least, some sort of reaction and gauge whether they were hostile or not. Much to my relief, they weren’t hostile and pointed out that the road was further inland and that I had to go past a hill to get there. Less then five minutes walk inland and I was already lost, so I headed back to the shore to try my luck on finding a road at the village I spotted in the distance earlier.

I passed by many scenic spots, I just loved the raw look of the beach after the rain. The rock cliff area past Tandol was much easier to cross. There were many houses, boats, and people when I got to this next beach.

A road crossed through the village, which was great, and there was a habal-habal for hire, which was even better. The driver told me I was already in Brgy. Alimangoan and charged me P100 for a ride back to town. According to his speed-o-meter, I was 17 kilometers from San Vicenter Town Proper. I know I did a very “hearty” walk but I was shocked (17kms?!?!) since I didn’t expect to have walked that far. It’s like walking along EDSA in Metro Manila from Mall of Asia (Pasay City) to Araneta Center (Cubao). I was so exhausted when I got back and immediately dozed off after dinner.

Day 5

Transportation from San Vicente to El Nido

I was bound to leave San Vicente for El Nido in the morning. I missed the bus when I got to the market terminal so I had to take the van again. I dropped off in Roxas Terminal at 9:00AM to catch the bus to El Nido. The bus took so long to arrive that I decided to ride the bus to Taytay (the town before El Nido), and just wait for it there.

Unplanned Sidetrip to Taytay

After my arrival in Taytay Terminal at around 2:00PM, I decided to make a quick visit to the town center. I read about Fort Santa Isabel in Taytay and wanted to take pictures of it since I love old architecture/structures and stuff. Taytay surprised me, a lot! The have this promising seaside promenade being developed beside this gorgeous 17th century fort. The town is encircled by hills and in one of the tall ones, there was a hollywood-like sign prominently displaying the town’s name. On top of Sta. Isabel Fort is a well-maintained garden with a great view of the coast and the whole town. I also went to this place called Casa Rosa Cafe, built on top of one of the hills, which had a nice view of the fort itself.

At 2:30PM, I was back in Taytay Terminal. When I got there, the people at the terminal told me that the bus had already passed by and left for El Nido. They were most likely hoping that I would take the pricey van. Fortunately (to my favor), the El Nido bus arrived just a few minutes afterwards. All the seats were taken so I had to stand for half the ride. I’m used to it so it was bearable.

Arrival in El Nido

The time was 5:30PM when the bus arrived in El Nido. After getting off, I went around to look for a place to stay in town. The cheapest I could find was a room (shared bathroom) in El Nido Plaza Inn for P350/night. Then I checked out the beachfront area of El Nido. The town itself is more like a resort town with hostels / small resorts built side by side occupying most of the beachfront and filled with backpackers and some touristy tourists. The rest of the town looks like any other ordinary coastal village with local eateries, bakeries, shops, a school, park, municipal hall etc…

The biggest attraction of El Nido are the picturesque islands sprinkled off its coast. There are a handful of organized island hopping tours in El Nido codenamed Tour A, B, C, D, and E with prices ranging from P500 to P900 per person, which is surprisingly cheap! The tours are a whole day affair with a picnic lunch included. I stayed in El Nido for two more nights so I could do two different island hopping tours.

Day 6

Woke up at around 6:00AM. I was so excited to finally be able to do the island hopping tour. I read from everywhere that the best tour was A and C so I booked tour C first with Kuya Jason (I got Kuya Jason’s mobile number from Eric) and waited at Rovic’s to get my morning coffee. I got introduced to my new travel buddies Jen and Nick. The three of us had the whole boat to ourselves, which was great! Jen and Nick were very friendly and It was so nice to finally have like-minded people to talk to.

El Nido Island Hopping Tour C

The tour goes around a couple of beaches and snorkeling sites in Matinloc and Tapiutan Islands before the last stop at Helicopter Island. We left El Nido town proper at 9:40PM, it was so exciting seeing Cadlao Island and its towering steep mountain up close. We only passed by it since it’s not part of the tour but I can just imagine how great the view up that thing.

Getting up close to Cadlao Island

Our first destination was the Hidden Beach in Matinloc Island. It was surrounded by steep limestone cliffs (but not totally closed off) and if you’re just passing by it out on the coast, you wouldn’t notice it because it’s hidden by the cliffs. The crystal clear water coupled with the scenic setting was perfect for swimming. There was not much to see when snorkeling though so we moved to this snorkeling spot off the coast of the next island, Tapiutan Island.

Hidden Beach in Matinloc Island

Snorkeling Site off the coast of Tapiutan Island

After snorkeling, our boatmen took us to Star Beach, named after the abundance of starfish in the area. Gen and Nick did some snorkeling and I went around the beach to explore while waiting for lunch to be cooked and served. It was raining on and off yesterday so I was happy that we’ve been having gorgeous blue skies since the tour started.

Star Beach in Tapiutan Island

Lunch at Star Beach

We were supposed to go to Matinloc Shrine and Secret Beach next but the engine of our boat suddenly stopped while we were in middle of the channel separating Matinloc and Tapuitan Islands. The boatmen told us that their engine broke down. Gen and Nick told me they’ve had the same bad luck during their previous island hopping tour … great! To make things worse low dark clouds were starting to form in the distance and it looked like it was closing in on us … fast. We were stuck there for almost an hour, it was horrible.

  Stuck a channel in the middle of the middle of Tapiutan and Matinloc Island

Good Great thing another tour boat came by! (most probably, they just came from Secret Beach) So our boatmen got their attention and next thing we knew, the other boat was already towing our boat to our next destination, Helicopter Island. After snorkeling in Helicopter Island, the boatmen took us to Cadlao Lagoon, which isn’t actually part of tour C. I think the boatmen wanted to make up for the mishap earlier. Thing is, we couldn’t dock at the beach since it was low tide. We tried snorkeling but the water was murky and the corals were too “in your face” so we decided to end the tour right then and there. When we got back to the town proper at 5:30PM, I asked for a discount because of the boat engine failure so I only paid P600 for tour C.

Getting towed by another pumpboat to Helicopter Island

Helicopter Island

  Beach at Helicopter Island

Cadlao Lagoon

Sunset Walk at Calaan Beach

The town center of El Nido doesn’t have a sunset view because of the super tall cliffs on its west side. What I was recommended to do was to walk past the guardhouse in the north end and go to this beach called Calaan where you can bum around and see the sunset.

Dinner at Squidoo

Wanted to try this place after Gen and Nick mentioned it. I ordered stuffed squid with garlic rice and mango shake with rum (P290). It was just so gooooood and was a nice break from the staple carinderia food.

Day 7

Its day two of my El Nido island hopping adventure. I wanted to do tour A this time. At around 9:00AM, Kuya Jason was ringing my phone since everyone was already set to go and they were all waiting for me at the beach. When I got there, I joined up a Filipino group. While listening in on their conversation, they mentioned meeting each other in an online forum. The Philippine Exchange (PEX) forum first came to mind so I asked them about it to confirm. My suspicions were true, they were indeed fellow PExers … what a coincidence! The group was composed of me, Ana, Fritzie, Cyril, Jo, Cyrus (Cyril and Jo’s cute toddler), and Nanay.

Island Hopping Tour A

The tour takes you to a few lagoons and beaches in Miniloc Island and snorkeling in Shimizu Island. Our first destination was the small lagoon in Miniloc Island. To get to the entrance, the boat passes through this scenic narrow channel walled on both sides by steep limestone cliffs. It was the only part I was able to take photos since we had to leave our stuff behind at the boat to go to the small lagoon. The pumpboats cannot enter the small entrance so you either have to take a kayak or swim there (like what we did). After the small lagoon, we went to the big lagoon but there wasn’t much to do so we didn’t spend long and moved on to our next destination, Umbrella Beach.

On our way to Small Lagoon

Big Lagoon

Umbrella Beach was where we had our lunch. Across Umbrella Beach, you could see the upscale Miniloc Resort (actually, the umbrella beach itself is owned by the resort but they allow the public to go there for a visit). I found this kayak on the shore and I just couldn’t resist taking a self portrait photo-op.

Umbrella Beach

Lunch at Umbrella Beach

We managed to wipe everything clean … lunch was so much better than the day before. We then went on to Secret Lagoon, which I think was the best spot during my whole island hopping experience. When we got to this beach, we had to wade in the water and go through this small hole. At the other side was this closed off Lagoon. The beach outside was totally awesome. It reminded me of the set-up in “The Beach,” a 1990s movie starred by Leonardo de Caprio and based from a similarly named novel. The author, Alex Garland, was rumored to have stayed in El Nido while he was writing his novel and it was one of his inspirations for creating his mythical island paradise.

Secret Lagoon

Beach outside the Secret Lagoon

Our last stop was Shimizu island. We stopped at the coral garden off its coast to do some snorkeling and fish feeding. There were so many fish of varied types and colors and the corals looked so alive, it was the best snorkeling spot I’ve been to in El Nido. Then, we docked and bummed out at the beach for a while. We saw a few patches of rain in the distance. It was my first time seeing self contained patches of rain like that.

Closing in on Shimizu Island

Fish feeding

Patch of rain

Sunset Walk at Corong-corong, Santikan, and Marimik-mik Beaches

We got back to El Nido town proper at around 5:30PM, Tour A cost me P550. Wanted to see the sunset from another viewpoint, so I rode a tricycle to nearby Corong-corong Beach, which has a clear view of the sunset. Ended up walking two more beaches past Corong-corong. Covered at least 3.8 kilometers that afternoon even with my overstressed ankle … the sunset was so worth the pain.

Dinner at Sea Slugs

Had dinner at this beachfront place called Sea Slugs with Fritzie and Ana. Ordered garlic butter shrimp with rice and two bottles of beer for P350. The food was nothing to rave about and overpriced, IMO, but it was great to spend time and talk with Fritzie and Ana … and also to drink beer, which helped me sleep early.

Day 8

Getting to Port Barton from El Nido

Woke up super early to catch the 7:00AM bus out of El Nido. My next destination was Port Barton. To get there, I had to drop off at Roxas terminal and ride the 12:00NN jeepney to direct to Port Barton. When I got to the terminal in El Nido, the bus still had a lot of vacant seats left but I told the driver that I wanted to ride at the top of the bus, So I did! I topload jeepneys back in Iloilo but it was my first time doing it on the bus so I was very excited about that. It was fun for the first few minutes but it started to rain halfway, and it wasn’t as fun anymore. Arrived in Roxas at 12:00NN just in time for the jeepney bound for Port Barton to leave.

Arrival in Port Barton

Port Barton is popular to Loney Plannet touting backpackers … more than local tourists. I just wanted to spend the night there to check out what the fuzz is all about … see the main beach and probably a few places in the mainland. The main beach was lengthy and is cleaner and better for swimming than El Nido. They also have island hopping tours around the off shore islets just like in El Nido. Port Barton is actually a barangay of San Vicente town but there’s no direct road from the town proper to Port Barton so you either have to rent a boat to get there or double back the highway via Roxas.

Unsucessful trip to Pamuayan Waterfalls

After checking-in and leaving my stuff at Princesa Michaela (P200/night), I attempted to walk to Pamuayan falls, which is located on the mainland approx. 45 minutes by foot. You can either use the main road or go through the beach path. I decided to do the latter but I couldn’t find my way 30 minutes in so I decided to head back to the beach and bum around until the sunset.

Sunset and Dinner at Jambalaya Cafe

Had dinner at this place called Jambalaya Cafe along the beachfront. Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence similar to the Paella. Other than different variants of their specialty, the menu at Jambalaya Cafe wasn’t very extensive so I ordered their Jambalaya and mango juice (P240). I managed to finish my plate, so I guess it was good enough. They served Cajun Jambalaya, which is spicy and I would have liked that except that it was so hot and humid that time so I was sweating a lot and it became a bit uncomfy. Overall I rate it above averageISH.

Day 9

Getting to Sabang, Puerto Princesa from Port Barton

At 8:00AM, I checked out of the guest house and rode the jeepney back to the highway intersection in Roxas called San Jose. From there, I rode a bus headed southwards and dropped of at Salvacion, which is the intersection going to Sabang Pier. At 10:40AM, the overcrowded bus arrived so I hopped in and I finally reached Sabang at around 12:45AM. I was planning on visiting the St. Paul Underground River that afternoon so I bought a permit (day pass) at the tourism information office for P150 and went to Mary’s Cottages to book a room and leave my stuff.

Sabang Beach

Sabang Pier is the main jump-off point to the Underground River, beside it is a similarly named white sand beach lined with restaurants, resorts, and guesthouses. Mary’s cottages is located at the far end of Sabang Beach, although I’ve read bad reviews about it (and I’ll probably write one myself), it’s a short walk to the starting point of the Jungle / Monkey trail to the underground river so I decided to stay there since I was in a hurry.

Jungle Trail to St. Paul Underground River

To get to the Underground River, you either have to take a boat from Sabang Pier or by foot via the Monkey / Jungle Trail. Not only does it cost nothing, trekking through the jungle sounded more exciting so I decided to do it. I got to the starting point at 2:00PM. From there I rode a banca (P10) to cross the river and on to the another beach. This is also the place where you can get a paddle boat for the early morning tour of the mangrove forest in Sabang.

Upon reaching the northern end of the beach, I walked through this trail made of wooden platforms and stairs and then to a dirt path with concrete steppings, which meandered through the forest. It was so cool doing all of this on my own. There was just this sense of exploration and uncertainty that was a bit thrilling. Standing still, I could hear the sounds of birds, buzzing insects, falling tree branches … awesome!

The stone steppings ended at one point and I arrived at a fork in the path where I had to choose between the monkey trail and the jungle trail. I wanted to do the monkey trail since it takes a shorter time but the path was closed off so I had no choice but to take the other trail. It was jungle time! There was no well-defined path laid down only red markings on the trunks of trees that you have to follow religiously. I was seriously worried that I would miss one of the markings and get lost but fortunately, I managed to find my way through the right path.

After 1 hour and 45 minutes of trekking from the starting point, I was back at the end part of the monkey trail and only 15 minutes away from the Underground River. This part of the trail was my favorite. I just loved the rock formations and lush foliage.

There was a picnic area at the entrance of the underground river. A rowdy group of tourists went out of the river’s mouth on a paddle boat. The boat was maneuvered by their tour guide who pointed out at me and mentioned that I was the only one left for the tour. I was like … cool, private tour!

Paddle Boat Tour of the St. Paul Underground River

The St. Paul Underground River became widely popular when it was voted as a finalist for the “New Seven wonders of Nature.” Now known as the Puerto Princesa Underground River, it is the longest navigable underground river in the world at 8.2 kilometers. My “private tour” lasted for around an hour and I got to see spectacular stalactite / stalagmite limestone formations, spacious caverns, and the native fauna living in the underground river. The tour guide also made it interesting by inserting fabrications of the limestone formation’s look-alikes. He pointed out the vegetable section, cathedral, candle, image of Jesus, half eaten bacon, and all sorts of other things.

After the tour, I spent some time on the shore to take pictures. Since I couldn’t cross the jungle trail again, which closes at 3PM, I had to rent a pumpboat for myself to take me back to Sabang Pier (P600).

When I returned to Mary’s Cottages at 5:30PM, I got to meet a few solo backpackers also staying there. Got into lengthy conversations with Jose. He’s an anthropology teacher in Spain and was interested in the Spanish influence on Philippine Culture, particularly, the language and dialects. Like Gen and Nick, whom I met in El Nido, he was surprised after finding out that Filipinos still use Spanish words to count money and refer to common landmarks. He said the Philippines has many similarities to Latin America, which is probably true. I wish I could visit South America in the future.

Day 10

Getting to Puerto Princesa City Proper from Sabang

Went to Sabang Pier to catch the 10:00AM jeepney back to Puerto Princesa. Decided to topload again to see the view on top of the jeepney. It was around 1:00PM when we arrived in the San Jose New Market Terminal in Puerto Princesa City. From there, I rode the jeepney to the city proper and dropped off at Rizal St. to look for a place to say. I found this promising place called “Backpackers” during my online research so went on to check it out. The room (shared bathroom) in Backpackers was a steal for just P200 per night.

Puerto Princesa City Tour

Got out of the guest house at 2:00PM to check out some of the sights in the city proper of Puerto Princesa. I had a snack first in Divine Sweets to try their sans rival and then it was off to Mendoza Plaza and the Palawan Museum. Also visited Plaza Cuartel and the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception (Puerto Princesa Church). It was Baragatan Festival season so I went over to the Palawan Provincial Capitol grounds to see their trade fair and possibly buy some pasalubong. It was such a shame I didn’t get to see the highlights of the Baragatan Festival, particularly the street dance parade. Cuyo has this thing where the dancers paint their whole bodies with blue paint and they totally look like the creatures from the Avatar movie. Had a quick visit to NCCC Mall to buy some groceries before going back to Backapcker’s.

Sans Rival and Iced Tea at Divine Sweets

Mendoza Plaza

Palawan Museum

Immaculate Concepcion (Puerto Princesa) Church

Plaza Cuartel

Busy Intersection in Puerto Princesa City

Palawan Provincial Capitol

NCCC Mall

After freshening up, went to Puerto Princesa’s baywalk  area to see the sunset. There were a lot of people there too mostly families and friends. We witnessed a very beautiful sunset that afternoon. After dark, I rode a tricycle to Ka Lui restaurant located on the highway going towards the airport.

Dinner at Ka Lui

Just had to try Ka Lui since it’s one of the most popular restaurants in Puerto Princesa. There were a lot of people when I got there. I only needed a table for one so I didn’t have to wait long to get a seat. I ordered tuna steak and wheat grass juice (P285), which tasted so good and was a healthy choice … the drink was a bit too “healthy” for my taste though. After finishing my plate they gave me a complimentary dessert of mixed fruits topped with brown sugar and served in a coconut. My dinner at Ka Lui was totally a great way to cap my first day in Puerto Princesa.

Day 11

I booked a tour of Honda Bay immediately after I arrived at Backpacker’s the day before. Personally, I prefer do it yourself (DIY) trips but I crunched the numbers and it would have been expensive if I rented a boat to take me around the islands of Honda Bay by myself. I had no choice but to play the tourist and got myself a hassle free packed tour for P1,100 (lunch included). The van picked us up at around 8:30AM at backpackers and when around a few hotels to pick up other passengers. My travel buddy for the day was Teresa, a Canadian and fellow solo traveler also staying at Backpacker’s.

Honda Bay Island Hopping Tour

The van dropped us off at St. Lourdes Wharf, the main jump-off point for the island hopping tour of Honda Bay. The thing I hate about these touristy packaged tours is that you get travel guides who say these memorized lines in an almost “pre-recorded” fashion, which just kills that thrill of discovering something new. There’s also the fact that you have to stick with the tour’s schedule so you don’t have a choice in staying longer in a spot you like or leaving early in a spot you don’t find very interesting. In addition, what’s nearly as bad is having adjust to other people in your tour group. I was happy that I was with Teresa, at least there was someone I can relate with and talk to during the whole ordeal. After 45 minutes on the boat, we reached our first destination, Pandan Island.

Pandan Island is named because of the abundance of of Pandan leaves in this tiny patch of paradise. The island is a popular spot for picnic lunches and there were a lot of open cottages there. We spent a generous time in Pandan Island to explore the beach. I wasn’t expecting much for Honda Bay but I was already having such a great time so far. The corals were so colorful and there were plenty of fish in various kinds and sizes. We had lunch in one of the cottages before heading out to Snake Island.

There were also open cottages in Snake Island but it had a less developed feel to it. There was a sari-sari store there where visitors can buy drinks and bread for fish feeding. There were also a few vendors selling cheap pearls. Me and Teresa walked a large extent of Snake Island, named after its snake-like long winding sandbar. It was a pretty scenic island with perfect azure waters on one side and a protected mangrove patch on the other. The caretakers could do some improvements by clearing washed up leaves and garbage on the beach though. Teresa bought some bread in the store and brought it for the fish feeding. I was surprised since there were a lot of big fish there. You can feel them nibbling your fingers if you hold the bread underwater.

Our last destination was Starfish Island, which was the best place we visited. Aside from the caretaker, we had the whole island to ourselves. Me and Teresa went to the end of the sandbar and while she was working on her tan, I went in the water to collect some starfish and brought them to shore.

We tried to make a Starfish tower for fun but we realized that they don’t make good building materials so we put them back in the water before they die of dehydration. Teresa shared her plans of going back to the Philippines and do some volunteer work here. I thought it was very noble of her to contribute a part of her life to help underprivileged people in the Philippines. I mean … she was off visiting this tropical paradise and all she was preoccupied about was thinking about how she can pull-off doing volunteer work. That’s pretty remarkable stuff.

Silica Beach and Dinner at Bajao Seafront Restaurant

The boat dropped us back to St. Lourdes Wharf, where we rode the van to Backpacker’s. It was around 6:00PM when I set-off to Silica Beach located just within the city proper. I’ve heard that it’s a popular local’s weekend family place. Too bad it was surrounded in a mangrove area. It might not be an ideal place for swimming but the sand was super white and it had a great view of the sunset. It was also near this other popular restaurant in the city called Badjao Seafront Restaurant. There’s not a lot of tricycles there at night, so you might probably have to leave the place before dark so you can catch a motorcycle to take you to Badjao if you want to skip the 20-minute walk.

Badjao Seafront Restaurant is located in the middle of a mangrove forested area, which makes for a scenic dinner setting. Their specialty is seafoods so I ordered the “Pick of the Day” Seafood Platter with iced tea (P368). It comes with clam soup, rice, mixed-fruit dessert and a generous serving of fish steak, prawns, sea weeds (lato), and vegtables on the side. The food was great but considering the price, I’m not head over heels about it. The service was also not as snappy as Ka Lui … the only time when I didn’t have to wait long to request for something was my bill.

Day 12

Puerto Princesa City Tour

I wanted to DIY the tour of Puerto Princesa so I planned to do the jeepney / tricycle combo to visit a few attractions in the city. Fortunately, Connie went with me that day. Connie was a schoolmate back in college and lives in Puerto Princesa so she knows her way around the city. First we took a “City Hall” jeep (P7) from Rizal St at around 9:00AM. to the City Hall to check it out (not much to see there though) and then walked to the highway and rode the “Irawan” jeep (P7) to the intersection going to Mitra’s Ranch. From there, we rode a tricycle to Mitra’s Ranch (P30). Mitra’s Ranch provides a nice vista of the city and is owned by an influential political family in Palawan.

A theme park / bakeshop called Baker’s Hill was within a 10 minute walk from Mitra’s Hill. There was a mini zoo at Baker’s Hill and many interesting attractions suited for kids. I bought boxes of Hopia for pasalubong and then went back to the city proper for lunch at Balinsasayaw. Ordered their grilled chicken (inasal) and soda for just P110.

Flight to Manila
I didn’t have much time left to visit the other attractions in the city since I had my flight in the afternoon so I went back to NCCC Mall, where I left my backpack, and then rode a tricycle to the airport (P7). At first I had planned on taking the ferry direct to Iloilo but I had to go to Manila to pick-up my camera lens, which I left in a repair shop a month ago, and buy a new lens, I’ve been saving up for. So I booked a flight to Manila and then another flight to Iloilo.

I was surprised at seeing the Puerto Princesa Airport. It was small but the design was of good taste and did not look so utilitarian like most airports in the Philippines. I particularly like the all glass windows, modified roofing, and well-maintained landscaping. I checked-in at the airport at around 12:45NN and paid the terminal fee of only P40! The plane left Puerto Princesa at 1:45PM. Sat on the window seat at the right side of the plane. The aerial views of Palawan’s islands were just super awesome! Seeing the places I’ve visited for the past 12 days, I just can’t help but reminisce the adventures and misadventure I’ve experienced. The plane also passed by the group of islands further up north mainland Palawan and they looked so amazingly beautiful.

Arrival in Manila and visit to Hidalgo St., Quiapo

Day 13

Flight Back to Iloilo

Checked in at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 2:00PM. I stayed at the departure area for two hours waiting for my flight, flickering through the photos I’ve taken for the past two weeks. I’m not the kind of person who looks back at life so I didn’t feel sad that my adventure had ended. I’ve seen a lot, experienced so much, learned a lot about myself, got to meet new people, and have more stories to share in my blog. Hopefully, there will be more to adventures to come … I still have a lot of places in my travel wish list of destinations in the Philippines.

Backpacking Palawan Summary of Budget and Expenses

Within Palawan

• Transportation – P2,277
• Accommodations – P2,650
• Food+Water – P4,169
• Tour – P3,000
• Total – P12,096

Including Transportation to and from Palawan

• Iloilo to Puerto Princesa Milagrosa (Deluxe) Ferry – P1,070
• Puerto Princesa to Manila Flight – P912
• Manila to Iloilo Flight – P988
• Grand Total – P15,066

Tips when going on a Solo Backpacking Trip to Palawan

• Learn how to do the laundry by yourself, which will save you money from having your laundry done.
• Bring insect repellant and sun block … lot’s of it
• Bring a tripod so you can take lots of self-portraits and stunning sunset shots.
• Always ask the locals for bus/jeepney/tricycle fares … and from more than one source
• It’s always a good idea to befriend other travelers so you can ask about recommendations, prices, etc..
• Bring something to keep yourself preoccupied on long bus rides or whenever you get bored. For me it was my iPod touch loaded with hours of movies but a good book or something would be fine too.
• Bring more than enough cash, especially when outside Puerto Princesa where there’s no ATMs around, and always put it in a secure place.
• Always bring your most valuable items with you at all times or put it in a very secure place if you’re planning to leave it in your guest house/resort.
• Prepare yourself for walking long distances
• Bring over-the-counter emergency meds (For fever, pain, allergies, diarrhea, nausea, etc…) in case.
• Bring good maps of Palawan and the places you’re planning on visiting. I have maps saved in my iPod touch for offline viewing.
• Bring protective stuff for your electronic equipments in case it rains or when you’re doing the island hopping tours
• And lastly, leave a comment if you like this post or if you have any questions you would like to ask me if you’re planning on visiting Palawan anytime soon.