Many smiles, warm and beautiful faces, “welcome to the Philippines and may God watch over you” at every turn. And, above all, a desire to be of service to such an extent that it remains one of our best memories in almost a year of travel. The fact that Filipinos speak English is also a great advantage when communicating with them.
It has to be said that in 15 days, we favored slow travel and the intention of sharing with the locals rather than visiting the country’s most beautiful islands.
We chose to stay on the island of Palawan, which already boasts many incredible spots.
We could have moved around more. But transportation takes up a lot of time in the Philippines. You have to juggle boats, planes, vans… to get from island to island, and in the end you only get about ten days out of the 15 days.
I’d like to share with you our travel itinerary, useful addresses and sightseeing tips.
From Manila to Puerto Princesa
As soon as we arrived in Manila, we took a one-hour flight with Air asia to Puerto Princesa, where we put down our bags for a few days.
We stayed at the Pinaluyan Guest House where Bambi, her husband Chris, Rosalie and the whole family are incredibly hospitable. We felt right at home, with family. To thank them for their hospitality, we decided to cook them a Mediterranean meal.
Puerto Princesa is an ideal place to go diving or do a freediving course. This was one of my son-in-law’s dreams, which he was able to realize over two days and obtain a first-level certificate.
But what Puerto Princesa is most famous for is Underground River.
Puerto Princesa Underground River National Park is one of the Philippines’ most important protected areas. It features a spectacular limestone or karst landscape with one of the most complex cave systems. It contains an 8.2 km-long underground river that flows directly into the sea. It has been on UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 1999. Only part of the river, around 4.3 km, is open to tourist exploration.
To visit it yourself, you can ask Bambi to give a tuk tuk the address where you can check in in town the day before your visit (and pay the park entrance fee, 700 pesos per person or around 11 euros). You can then ask them to rent you a scooter (500 pesos or around 8 euros and 300 pesos for gas).
I recommend setting off in the morning and arriving for lunch. Round trip: 140 km in total, but it’s well worth the detour, and the road to the loading dock is just as beautiful.
There, you can introduce yourself and ask to share a boat with groups. If you can’t find one, you’ll have to pay for a private boat for around twenty euros.
After an hour’s wait, we managed to share the crossing.
Before leaving Puerto Princesa, we spent an evening at Kitu Kito Firefly on Bambi’s advice.
It’s a place where you eat an all-you-can-eat buffet and then head off into the night into the marshes and mangroves to observe fireflies and fluorescent plankton. I can’t remember the price, but I found the girl’s explanations of the fireflies and the tour very poetic.
From Puerto Princesa to Port Barton
We set off for Port Barton by minibus. The company we took is called Recaro transport service. You can find them at the old bus terminal. It costs 500 pesos per person for a 3-hour journey. Don’t hesitate to specify that you want the driver to be careful. We were scared several times on the way. But on the whole, all drivers drive particularly fast on the islands’ roads.
Life in Port Barton is truly peaceful. For chilling out, relaxing and admiring beautiful sunsets, the place is idyllic.
The colors of the sunsets were some of the most beautiful I’d ever seen. Every minute, the sky offered hues ranging from orange-red to violet, through all shades of pink and blue. It was magical!
We really enjoyed our walks and scooter rides to Coconut & White Beach and the Pamuayan Waterfalls.
We had found our accommodation at Trisha Lodging House. Rudimentary but inexpensive rooms.
On the restaurant front, we made a habit of going to Raquel’s Canteen for lunch. Very local cuisine and unbeatable value for money. In the evening, if you fancy a little treat with your feet in the sand, head to Besaga at the end of Port Barton beach. The BBQ is delicious!
From Port Barton to El Nido
To reach El Nido, north of Palawan, we took the same van company. In the middle of Port Barton, near the van terminal, we found a man in a small booth selling tickets. Expect to pay around 600 pesos per person for a 4/5-hour trip.
The last spot on our trip, El Nido is located in the Bay of Bacuit, one of the world’s most magnificent landscapes of islands and lagoons, surrounded by peaks and karst rocks.
El Nido is one of the most visited places on the island of Palawan, and it’s easy to see why: it’s paradise on earth!
But where there’s popularity, there’s also mass tourism. El Nido is a victim of its own success, with countless tourists flocking here every year for the famous “island hopping” tours. These boats take you from island to island all day long.
To avoid boats with 20 to 30 people on board and loud music, I recommend you opt for a private boat, to be shared with a small group of people. To do this, get in touch with other French people on the French in the Philippines Facebook page. We easily found two other couples and it was a pleasure to share the day with them. There were 7 of us in total, which allowed us to split the cost.
Simply go to one of the agencies in El Nido and negotiate a price for the day, including snorkeling equipment, food and drinks. There are 4 tours to choose from, which you can combine.
To avoid the crowds, I recommend an early start (6.45 a.m.) if you’re motivated enough. You’ll normally pay around 50 euros per person for a private boat if there are two of you, compared with 25/30 euros for a conventional boat. You can reduce the cost if there are more of you.
It’s also possible to do the tour in the opposite direction, to avoid the crowds of the classic tours. Don’t hesitate to discuss this with your tour operator, who will be happy to advise you on which islands to visit.
We stayed at the Airbnb Island Lyfe Adventures. The accommodation and breakfasts were perfect, but it’s unfortunately a bit out of the way from downtown El Nido.
After these last few days of adventure, we headed back to Puerto Princesa, where we enjoyed the company of our loving family at the Pinaluyan Guest House. We then headed back to Manila to catch another flight to Laos.
In Manila, if you have a little time, you can take advantage of the free and highly informative National Museum of the Philippines.
