Palawin Philippines

We had arranged for a rental car and a driver to met us at Puerto Princesa International Airport. This was a great choice as they were waiting when we arrived even though our flight was late. The first night we stayed in Puerto Princesa as we knew that we would have a five hour drive to get to El Nido at the northern end of the island. 

Taytay Bay

The drive is slow and we were happy that we had arranged our own driver as the passenger vans were packed. It also allow us to stop when we wanted. El Nido is a tourist town with lots of young backpackers. People come to this municipality for it's white sand beaches, coral reefs and to see the Bacuit archipelago, a group of steep karst cliff islands.

At Taytay we stopped and visited an old fort.

We chose to stay out of town on a section of beach that had numerous hotels and eating establishments. Our room had a fantastic view of the karst islands and China Sea. Each night we were provided with a wonderful sunset.

Our Hotel Stunning Republic Beach from the water.

Most people come to El Nido and take a boat tour our to the nearby islands. You can connect with a group tours and visit several islands on a day trip, book a private boat, or chose to stay overnight on several islands.

A standard tour might take you to Secret Lagoon, Small and Big lagoons, Shimizu Island and Seven Cammandos Beach. Because the large tour usually have booked up all the spots so you might not be able to see these areas on a private boat but there are lots of islands to chose from. Be prepared to board the boat from the water and be packed in like sardines. They do not provide snorkel equipment or water shoes which you might consider renting on the beach before boarding. This is a great area for the diving enthusiast.

Entrance to Secret Lagoon

Seven Commandos Beach

There are also a couple of beaches outside of El Nido worth exploring. The best beach is Nacpan Beach but closer to town is Vanilla Beach which is very commercialized. You can rent a chair, get a beer or food and relax for the day.

Nacpan Beach

After enjoy our rest and beautiful sunsets we were back in the vehicle heading south back to Puerto Princesa.

Sunset from our hotel

On the drive back we stopped to purchase Buko Pie from a local vendor which Adam our driver recommended. Buko is coconut and the pie is made form coconut milk and coconut meat. That evening we enjoyed our Buko pie.

Back at Puerto Princesa we stayed in town and did day trips. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area and is about 80 kilometers for the city on the west coast (China Sea).

We did not have a lot of information about how to make arrangements. If you do not want to pay for a private boat then you have to try and find someone else that will go with you to make a boat of six people. This can be very difficult as most people come by tour and have full boats. It might be better to pay for a private boat instead of waiting. Once you pay for the park fee and boat then you wait until the boat with the number you are assigned returns to the pier.

Getting ready to enter the underground river.

Once you get to the park and have a beach landing you need to prove you have paid the park fee before proceeding. Our boat man helped us with this part, arranging to pick up the tape recording devices and getting us on a river boat. It can be all overwhelming.

Inside the cave.

The beaches in of Puerto Princessa are not spectacular so we took another drive back northwest to Nagtabon Beach. This is a long white sand beach on the China Sea side of the island. There are a few service available but limited lounge chairs.

You can also take a trip to Honda Bay and tour the islands.

After experiencing Puerto Princessa we took Cebu Air back to Manila.