PALAWAN ADVENTURE!
Last 2019 of February, I had the opportunity to make the itinerary for our Palawan trip with my cousin and her friends from UK. I was so excited because Palawan was in my bucketlist for quite some time and I finally had the chance to visit it! and it was even better because I was with my favorite cousin who was more like a sister to me. Anyway, I would love to share the itinerary and activities we did incase you'd want to travel in the Philippines soon. We stayed in Palawan for almost 2 weeks which gave us just enough time to get to see all the wonderful sights it can offer. But if I were to choose, I'd definitely go back once I learn how to scuba diving/free diving!
Palawan has 3 main areas where people travel to. It is (1) PUERTO PRINCESA , (2) EL NIDO and (CORON). Usually travellers who want to see all of Palawan would go in this route:
- Fly from Manila, Cebu or other destinations to Puerto Princesa
- Ride a van/bus from Puerto Princesa to El Nido
- Ride a ferry boat from El Nido to Coron
- Fly from Coron to Manila, Cebu or other destination
But personally, my favorite stay was in El Nido and Coron and that's where you should also probably spend most of your days.
The best time to travel there is during the dry season which is January to April. Note that peak season is March - April because that is the summer holiday/vacation in the Philippines.
Puerto Princesa is the capital and largest city in Palawan. We only stayed 2 full days and 1 night there. We wanted to see the Puerto Princesa Underground River which was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and voted as one of the 7 Wonders of Nature in 2012.
♦️ WHERE TO STAY?
Since I was with a group and we were on a budget, we decided to stay in a hostel (Green Turtle Backpackers Guesthouse) which had double decks and shared bathroom. We were able to request that we all stay in the same room. Anyway, we were mostly out, we just needed a place to sleep and leave our bags. It had lockers to leave our things, a wifi although the connection was quite slow, and free breakfast.
There's a lot of accommodation to choose from, so it just depends on your budget and people you are with. Our hostel was just within the city and accessible to a lot of places such as restaurants, bars, market and other shops. Public and private transportation weren't that hard. We asked our hostel to help us book a van going to Sabang Port where we would ride a boat to see the underground river.
♦️ WHAT TO SEE?
Definitely go to the Underground River of Puerto Princesa. One of my cousin's friend was from UK and has travelled to a lot of Asian countries and she said that this underground river was the best she's ever seen. It is the longest navigable underground river and you'd see some rock formations, thousands of bats and limestone landscape.
♦️ WHAT TO DO?
Other than the underground river, my friends and I wanted to spend our second day in the beach. We asked recommendation from the receptionist as to where we can find a nice beach to chill and get burnt. haha she helped us get a jeepney, it was a 30 minute ride going to the beach called Emerald beach.
Walk around the city and visit gardens, bars, public market and foodmarket/streetfood. Explore and try interesting dishes you can see. I would recommend you try the Filipinos' fun way of eating which is called Boodle fight.
Here's a photodump:
♦️ WHERE TO STAY?
We decided to go to one of the most beautiful beaches near the town of El Nido called Nacpan Beach. It has a long strip of white sand with crystal clear waters and has a quiet and serene environment. Since it is still underdeveloped when we went there, we had a hard time getting cellular signal and wifi, there were no establishments to buy most things except for tiny stores too.
We stayed at Seaside Hue Resort for our 2 days at Nacpan then went to Big Paul Hostel in Corong-Corong El Nido for another 2 days and one night stay which was where we would do our island tour.
♦️ WHAT TO SEE?
Definitely book an island tour. When you search for El Nido tours, there are Tours A, B, C, D and E that you can choose from. If you are in a big group, it is suggested that you book a private tour instead so you can take your time and don't have to wait for anyone. We only did one tour in El Nido because of time constraints, but if you have more time then you might want to check out Tour C which is also one of the recommended tours.
One of the popular tour from tourists' reviews was Tour A. We checked the photos and opted to get this tour as well. The stops included: Small lagoon or Big lagoon, Secret lagoon, Shimizu island and Commando beach. The beach, the sand, the crystal clear water, the rich marine life, the beautiful weather and the amazing landscape and shapes of the islands were all so amazing and breath-taking! I just can't describe the feeling when we did our tour. Food was great which was served in a boodle fight way. We made friends with the other tourists during lunch. We did snorkelling, some were free diving, kayaking and picture-taking.
♦️ WHAT TO DO?
When we were in Nacpan, we walked and explore the whole shoreline. When we reached the tip, we sat by the chairs, got some drinks, played in the sand and watched the sunset. At night, we went to Mad Monkey Hostel where all the party is happening. We had a good time dancing, getting free drinks from the kind bartenders (hahhaha my cousin had a big mouth and was using her charm lol) and playing beer pong with strangers.
When we got to Big Paul, it was more lively than Nacpan. A lot of shops, restaurants, karaoke bars were around the hostel. It was also just near the beach. Everything we need was just a walking distance. Big Paul also hosted a small party. They had a common area where people can chill, play board games, and order drinks and food. So much to do, so many interesting people. I barely had any sleep, maybe just 2-3 hours in a day. lol It was fun tho!
Here's a photodump:
We took the Montenegro ferry boat from El Nido to Coron. It was a really REALLY bumpy ride, it was a windy day so there were big waves. It was a very bad boat experience for me and my friends. I suggest that you bring seasickness pills just in case. I'm not sure if it's like that most of the time or if it was just a bad day at the sea. But yeah, book your tickets in advance too because they sold out fast and there's no guarantee you'd get a ticket if you buy on the counter (please note that this was pre-pandemic, lots of tourists).
Coron is famous for World War II-era wreck diving sites, big lagoons, marine life, coral reefs, clean ocean water and limestone landscapes.
♦️ WHERE TO STAY?
When we reached Coron, we decided to stay for the rest of our trip until our flight back to Cebu. We stayed at Hop Hostel which was a really nice hostel I must say. It is fancy, clean and affordable. It is at the top of a hill too, so you'd get a beautiful view of the island from the balcony.
♦️ WHAT TO SEE?
We took an island tour to go to the famous attractions such as Kayangan Lake, Twin Lagoon and Skeleton wreck. Don't miss these amazing tours, it will be a highlight to your adventure in Coron! If you are on your own or small group, it is cheaper to do a shared tour, but if you're in a big group, then do a private tour, ask if the tour includes lunch and request to go to the opposite direction of the tour so you can avoid the huge crowd.
Kayangan Lake is a popular destination in Coron and it was super clean and clear.
When you search Kayangan lake on Google, you'll see this famous photogenic spot. Don't forget to take a picture there!
♦️ WHAT ELSE TO DO?
We rented a motorbike for a day and went around the small island. We dropped by some restaurants by the beach for a good seafood lunch. We also went to Maquinit Hot Springs late in the afternoon to enjoy a nice hot bath.
It is like a mini city there. Everything was also walking distance from our hostel. Bars, restaurants, Karaoke bars, Cafeterias, Souvenir shops, Streetfood are everywhere. Enjoy yourself walking and exploring the little Coron Island.
Here's a photodump:
THINGS TO EXPECT WHEN YOU TRAVEL THERE (from my experience, hopefully already there's some improvements already):
- Have extra allowance or money for environmental fees and terminal fees
- Wifi is slow in most area, well definitely will give you a social media free time
- Bring mosquito and jellyfish repellant
- Book ferry tickets in advance, we had a bad experience in the ferry at that time because one of the boats weren't working and there's only one trip for one boat to and fro Coron. Hopefully they did something about this like add more boats and trips to accommodate the hundreds of tourists.
- Public and Private transportation were easily available and you can just ask help from where you are staying. Public transpo include tricycle, jeepneys, buses and vans.
Welcome to Chill with Shanna. Shanna is a life enthusiast and a wanderer. She is easy going, spontaneous and want to challenge herself by testing her limits. She aspires to be an effective storyteller and content creator.
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