What we did in Palawan!

It’s almost a year ago since our Palawan trip and still wasn’t able to write about it. This year Vic and I are planning to go to Boracay to celebrate our 2nd year anniversary. But before that and before sharing my soon to be Boracay experience, I have to write about Palawan! I know it was a year ago but the memory of a beautiful place like Palawan stays with you forever! Here it goes.

DAY 1

Van Ride

We are fetched from the airport by the hotel’s service. During our 20 minutes ride, we immediately made friends with the driver and asked him about the best place to eat in Puerto Princessa. He adviced us to go to two places that I will mention on the later part of this blog. For suspense! Hahaha! It’s a good idea to make friends with the locals because they can give you tips on where to go and what to do in their town.

Have a nice walk in Puerto Princessa Park/Bay.

We arrived late in the in Puerto Pension (our hotel) and we are kinda sad because it feels like we cant do anything anymore (other than have dinner and go to sleep). Good thing our hotel is near the bay! They have this park that’s like Manila Bay that we can make “tambay” and enjoy some of Palawan’s view.

Have dinner at Hotel’s Restaurant

Since we just arrived and we haven’t done our reservations we decided to have dinner in the Hotel’s Restaurant. Puerto Pension has a restaurant on the roof so it’s nice and airy. The food is usual and just right for its price.

DAY2

Breakfast at Puerto Pension!

Must have the unlimited egg and fruit! Mine was poached!

SABANG BEACH AND UNDERGROUND RIVER!

TIPS:

If you have time, look for a local travel agency. You can save a few bucks by
taking a trip from them rather than asking the hotel for the trip.

Inside the cave during the boat ride, sit in the front of the boat so you will have the opportunity to hold the flashlight. Its dark in the cave and you will have little time to see the rock formations. During our tour, a 10 year old boy held the flash light, he was so preoccupied with his own curiosity he did not follow instructions from the boat driver. Sheeesh!

Don’t open your mouth while staring at the formations and also the bats!

If you can’t stand smelly places, bring a face mask! It’s a bit smelly coz of the bat poop and urine (reason why you should follow tip #2)

Swimming is prohibited in the waters of the cave. Besides, I won’t try doing it. The water is like 40% bat urine.

The rock formations really rocked!

DINNER AT BADJAO!

I love the food and I think we spent less than a thousand for dinner. There’s a piano player and part of the restaurant is hanging over water. You can feed the fishes! I love the PALAWAN LUMPIA. They use fish instead of pork for the filling. YUM!

TIPS:
Ask the receptionist to get you a reservation, it’s a must! They definitely know the restaurant’s number.

Rent a tricycle, you can find a lot of them parked in front of your hotel. Tricycle ride from the hotel back and forth is 200. Don’t pay the tricycle early on, you have to let them take you back to the hotel first, I think you can let the driver wait for you to finish your meal in an hour or two.

DAY 3

HONDA BAY ISLAND HOPPING

Tricycle Ride: Roundtrip transfer from Hotel to the port then from the port back to the hotel is P500. Capacity of the tricycle is 5 people.

Snorkeling gear: P150 - can rent it either from the hotel or at the store at Honda bay.

Snorkeling booties: P100 - must have because the corals are sharp, can be rented from the store at Honda Bay.

Boat Rent: P1500 (whole day rent) can accommodate 8 -12 persons.

Entrance Fee: Each island may ask for 30-50 entrance fees. (Starfish Island and Pandan Island are my favorites)

TIPS:
Beware of the sneaky snakes at Snake Island! Hahaha!! Do not buy souvenirs from the locals, they overprice! As in almost twice the price you will pay if you go to the market! Trust me! The lady offered me pearl earrings, 3 for P100. I really thought it was a catch. Turns out you can buy them much much cheaper in the market, 6 pieces for P100!

I advise you to just bring food with you. Ask your boat driver where the best island to go for picnic. But we weren’t prepared with food, so we went to Snake Island for lunch. There’s this small store owned by a fisherman and you can buy their fresh catch for the day. Ask them to cook for you. For the cost I remember paying 500 – 600 (food and cooking fee) for a huge fish, crabs, fresh coconuts and rice (good for 5 persons).

Bring fresh water. Fresh water is a bit hard to get on the island. You need it for drinking and for washing your hands after eating.

Bring trash bags. You have to bring it with you back to the port so you can throw it there. Leaving trash is prohibited in each island.

Use the diving board found in one of the island! You have to pay for the use of it though, but you can use it more than once. I used it twice. It was fun!

Bring an underwater camera! It will be nice to take pictures under water with Palawan's fishes!

DINNER AT KA LUI

The interior is very FILILIPINO. You have to take off your shoes before entering the place. The Menu is great and it changes almost every day depending on the “Day’s Catch”. We were wondering why is there no dessert on the menu, it turns out it was FREE!!! We also took the nook were we have to seat on pillows instead of chairs. Over-all cost is a bit more than a thousand, and that is for 4 people already.

Again you have to ask your Hotel to have a reservation before going in here. They will surely know the number.

Tricycle ride from the hotel back and forth is 200 (or maybe a hundred, I’m not sure). Again don’t pay the tricycle early on, you have to let them take you back to the hotel first, I think you can let the driver wait for you to finish your meal in an hour or two.

TIME FOR SOME LOCAL COFFEE

Our tricycle driver and the driver who fetched us from the airport advised us to try the local coffee. Itoy’s coffee shop is like the Starbucks of Puerto Princessa. Nice place to hang-out if you have nothing left to do. Our only complaint is that they also house gigantic mosquitoes in the garden. Hahahaha!! It is near the vicinity of Puerto Pension and just a tricycle ride away.

DAY 4

CITY DAY TOUR

Before leaving Palawan we rented Kuya Pedro’s (forgot his real name) tricycle and went on a day tour. He took us to Mitra’s Ranch, Baker’s Hill and Crocodile Farm he said he can also take us to Butterfly farm but we refused. The rent of his “piped ride” is P500 roundtrip. Very cheap, compared to the rates given by other travel agency. The P500 does not include the entrance fee to the crocodile farm though.

TIPS:
If you a find a souvenir shirt you like at Baker’s Hill, BUY it! You cannot find the same design at the market.

If you want to eat at Baker’s Kitchen, BE PATIENT! The service is very sloooooooooooow.
Buy bake goodies, its yummy!

Other than the views of the islands, There nothing much to do in Mitra’s Ranch. NADA!

DAY 4

Time to pack our bags.

It was fun seeing the place! Next time we visit Palawan we are going to Coron!