Palawan - Puerto Princesa to El Nido and back again

Route: Hong Kong - Ililo - Puerto Princesa
Carrier: Cebu Pacific
Time of travel: February 10 - 19, 2013

The Chinese New Year holidays are a busy time of year for any traveler in Asia. Prices are high and there are crowds a plenty at every holiday destination across the continent. That is unless you are prepared to look beyond what most tour companies offer. Palawan province in the West of the Philippines - particularly El Nido - it's tourist hub - is no exception to this. It seemed like every teacher, intern and expat working in the continent was heading to what is often referred to as 'the last frontier of the Philippines'.  However, in my experience of this holiday period it is not necessarily about where you travel to escape the crowds, it is how you travel. This is how we got on in this beautiful, massively diverse and still relatively undeveloped group of Islands. In our limited time there we only skimmed the surface. If you have more time, take it.

Puerto Princesa 

After a 10 hour delay in Iloilo (which actually turned out OK as Iloilo turned out to be a pleasant enough place for an afternoon!), we were sailing above the clouds over turquoise waters towards our destination of Puerto Princesa. We had made a (very) last minute booking into the dorm room of the uber cool Banwa Art House   which is located on a small street nearby a seafront shanty town. Dropping off our bags we immediately took to the streets for a walk which took us down the small street where a stage was being set up for an evening FIESTA - more on that later. Down on the beach the sun was setting and locals were out in force: romantic evening strolls, fishermen returning with the days catch or embarking on the evening shift, kids playing basketball on a makeshift court, shuttle-cocks flying back and forth between school girls, women washing clothes or firing up the stoves while men, chatting away, were on their first bottles of Red Horse or Tanduay rum.

The whole scene was bathed in the softening glow of the evening light, clouds ablaze with the warmth of the setting sun.

Our lazy wandering took us on past this magical scene, through a series of wooden walkways that meandered through little wooden huts on stilts. Pinoy commentary on the latest NBA highlights was blasting out through some of the open window frames. Smiles from ear-to-ear greeted us around every corner.

Coming out onto the main street, the century-old Gothic church - the Immaculate Conception Cathedral - loomed over us in the evening light. We took a walk through it's gardens and headed back to Banwa for a long awaited feast and ice-cold San Miguel. By this time we were well aware of the fiesta that sounded like it was in full-swing further down our street, so we took our leave with a Tanduay long-neck  in hand. We were met with a cacophony of distorted guitars and Tagalog rap, with 40 or so kids bouncing happily in front of, underneath and around the stage, onlooking mums and dads sat together with rum and coke open on their tables, Filipina style.

We danced and made merry, the five of us the only foreigners among the lively crowd and we were soon the main attraction! Our attention however, was focused on the bouncing rhythms created by the band, with their incredible musicianship, charismatic front man, beautiful female singer (the one with red dress!) and their ability to cover any pop song the way only Filipino bands know how. We don't know quite what time we made it back but judging by the way we felt the next day I'm quite sure it was late enough. Luckily, the '9am' bus to Port Barton left at 10am and, although late, we made it - quite literally - onto the bus. It was a warm morning and getting hotter, but we wouldn't have swapped seats for no-one!

The only space left on the bus. Not only a great hangover cure but also not a bad way to cruise through the jungles and mountains of the 'the last wild frontier of the Philippines'. (From left: Kadin, Lucas, Charlotte, Pauline, Adam)

Port Barton

After 4 hours dodging telephone cables and overhanging branches the azure waters of Port Barton's sheltered bay appeared through the rain-forest. 10 minutes later, the bus pulled into the village square, a stone's throw away from the white sand beach.  

The tourist information center by the entrance to the beach advises you to check yourselves in for security purposes. Activities here included island hopping, snorkeling, waterfall walks and anything else you care to do on a beautiful tropical beach. I spoke to a local boatman named Daniel if it was possible to do a short island hopping and snorkeling trip the same day we arrived. "No problem, where are you staying? One of my guys to come pick you up in 40 minutes!"

One hour later we set off with snorkeling gear on a traditional Philippine 'pump boat', explored some coral gardens and set foot on a lonely desert island where we stayed to enjoy the late afternoon sun. 

Charlotte, Pauline and Lucas left the next day to visit a friend working in San Vicente, a 40 minute boat ride from Port Barton, again arranged through Daniel. San Vicente - relatively undeveloped - boasts the longest stretch of beach in the Philippines at 14km....

Despite it often being tagged as the 'next Borocay', others are hopeful that sustainable development will not only ensure more tourists and thus more infrastructure, but also a brighter future than the one currently faced by Borocay when one considers the ecological problems it now faces.


This hope is not a forlorn one; the local government in Palawan has won numerous awards in recent years for it's strategies in environmental conservation while building a sustainable tourism industry.




The evening was spent drinking San Miguels at the north end of Port Barton's beach, a small village community can be found further up the path where basketball is always on the evenings agenda. Sunset from this end of the beach is spectacular, and there is plenty of accommodation available all year round.

We stayed at Besaga Cottages, where a cottage between the 6 of us cost 2000 pesos - around 50 US Dollars. Emelie will be more than willing to help you find a place!

That night Daniel suggests we join him and his friends on a little trip out to a tiny sand bar in the middle of the ocean for a bonfire, some rum and conversation. "We like to go there when the moon is full", he says. Having loaded the boat with rum, beer and firewood we set off, torches in hand, to look for an illusive patch of sand that was to be our own private bar for the evening. The water was alive and sparkling with bio-luminescent plankton and our private party on a 10 x 10 meter stretch of sand, drinking and exchanging stories and singing songs with the locals accompanying us was a memorable one indeed. When in Port Barton, seek out Daniel!

Port Barton - El Nido

For this trip there are various options: by boat (dep: 0545, 1200 PHP, 4-6 hours), by van (6000PHP, 4 hours), Jeepney and local bus (250PHP, all day). Again, all of this can be organised through the friendly folks at the tourist information 'office'. We had originally planned to take a boat but as we kept ourselves and the poor boatman up until the (very!) early hours of the morning we were in no shape to leave so early in the morning. So we hopped into a van, closed our eyes, and when we opened them again we were looking out onto El Nido's famous islands, turquoise ocean and towering limestone cliffs.

El Nido and beyond

El Nido at this time of year really fills up. It took us a while to find a place to stay but ended up at some half-built beach huts in Corong-Corong, one the 18 'barangays' (Filipino term for village, district or ward) that make up El Nido proper. There is a peaceful beach here and it is only a (walk-able) kilometer from the town center so well worth checking out, especially if you have your own ride. There are numerous other guest houses along this beach which all offer spectacular sunset views, Lonely Planet recommends Greenview but it is worth checking out a few places to cater for personal taste and budget. 

Although most guest houses offer the usual services (bike rental, island-hopping tours etc) it is also worth checking out Art Cafe in town which provides free tourist information for just about everything, there is also a bag drop service and free WiFi. The petrol station by the port is the ONLY place to withdraw cash and charges $$$, so it is worth bringing lots of cash with you. 

Island-hopping tours typically include 4 stops at hidden lagoons and secret beaches as well as a pit-stop for a BBQ lunch specially prepared on location by your boatman. 

Beyond the attractions around the town, and the incredible island hopping tours (of which there are many options), the best way to get yourself around is by motorbike. We rented bikes in town, got hold of a map and headed north.

I would recommend the full circuit but we go as far as Calitang, Nacpan and Bucana on the north-west coast. These areas are relatively undeveloped and are home to incredible scenery, lovely people, and some of the best beaches I have set foot on in Asia. Our first day in El Nido was spent driving the 30km road up to Calitang village, home to Jay, and ex-fisherman who has taken the initiative and built four rooms raised above the sand to make for a cosy guest house. A few other places in the area offer basic accommodation. Jay was super friendly, helpful and cooked the most delicious Squid Adobo.

The two beaches, Calitang and Nacpan, join at either end and form two bays. For a breathtaking sunset stay put on Calitang, and for a long walk and a swim in the surf head further on down to Nacpan beach which stretches for some 3km. Apparently the surf picks up between April-August but the surfers don't know about that yet!

Calitang beach, beyond the palm trees to the north lies Nacpan beach, a 4km stretch of white sand

Colourful Calitang Village

The potential for development in the area is huge and having spoken to some of the locals, competition for land is fierce. I would not be surprised if this area features heavily in the itineraries of tourists in the not so distant future, particularly when the roads are improved and the El Nido International airport up and running. For now though, the place was deserted except for a handful of travelers. Turtles nest here during the summer months, the swell is good for surfing and there are a number of action packed day-tripping options to nearby caves and waterfalls.   

The next day we returned to Calitang to take Jay up on his offer of a room and a freshly cooked dinner. In the evening we met Eric, a Norwegian with blonde-grey hair, a well-weathered face and a broad smile, who was busy building his boat - the Aurora Borealis - from his little cottage on the beach. 

He was putting the finishing touches to his vessel which looked like something out of Popeye. 

I imagine him now sailing across the Sulu Sea with the wind in his hair and a smile on his face. 

Eric told me he could never get bored of the way the sunset made "fire in the sky" in the evenings...

The girls left the next day, hopping on the 11am van ride back to Puerto Princesa, arriving at 5pm and giving them time to catch their flight back to Manila later that evening. We took our bikes and went north beyond Nacpan to Bucana. Further north still lies Duli beach - I am told it is more even more remote, and boast bigger waves, but best saved until our next visit!

There are no tourist amenities here but the village was buzzing with life; men returning home with their victorious cockerels after a hard days fight, families playing on the beach and children getting up to all sorts of mischief. 

We sought out a small shop to quench our thirst and to buy a handful of sweets for the local kids who were more than happy to pose for a photo shoot!

With the daylight fading we headed back to Calitang for one last night at Jay's guest house. As well as giving us advice on Filipino cooking, Jay tells us about the turtles that come to nest here, and how he is putting efforts into stopping the poaching of the babies by local fishermen. He talks about the 6ft waves that break offshore in the summer months, and how he hopes the inevitable future development of the area will be sustainable. We light a bonfire, play guitar and sing songs until the moon disappears behind the horizon and all that is left are the stars and the sound of waves lapping the sand. The next day was my last; we returned our bikes in El Nido and spent the evening on the lively beach in town. Live bands cover reggae and soul music beautifully and later on DJs spin Hiphop and Dancehall to a young crowd who stay up late into the night.

We bid farewell to El Nido in the morning and caught the same van as the girls had two days previously. It was certainly not goodbye Palawan, just a'see you later'!

More detailed information on accommodation options and food can be found at:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Palawan

Words: Adam Darell
Photography: Adam Darell and Charlotte Lamy