Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Truly Awesome

Puerto Princesa, Palawan is known for its awesome islands and is one of the vacations perfect for couples, friends, siblings and families.But what makes it truly awesome was how the people here care for their city. We had two tourist guides and both of them emphasized on how tourists should dispose their garbage. I find this amazing because if you are from Metro Manila, this things are usually taken for granted but in Puerto Princesa cleanliness is part of their daily lives.

It was our first family out-of-town vacation since Carlos and I got married. Carlos and I would usually choose the cheapest accommodation and the cheapest way to tour a city or province but since we were with my mother and my sister, we had to choose a more comfortable tour. So we just booked our tour with the Puerto Pension.

PUERTO PENSION

The ambiance of the place is very native and very environmental.

Our Air-conditioned room with common comfort room

My mother and my sister’s room with their own comfort room

Even the rooms’ walls were made of woven strips of bamboos. The disadvantage of this kind of walls is that you can hear the guests staying adjacent to your room. Some might have difficulty in sleeping in this kind of accommodation. But fortunately, the guests beside our room left already when we arrived.

THE RESTAURANT

The free breakfast was good enough for the price that we paid for. It was the common type of meal but definitely delicious.

THE CITY TOUR

                There was no one else to join us during our city tour so we were able to choose our destinations. We only chose the places where there was not much walking for my mother. So we went to the following places.

PALAWAN WILDLIFE RESCUE and CONSERVATION CENTER.

The crocodiles are the highlight of this place. There were a lot of crocodiles to be viewed and a couple of baby crocs are also available for picture taking. You may take your own picture or you can also have your picture taken by them and they will put a background and then print it, this cost around P50-P100 per picture. But since we just want to post our pictures in fb and instragram, we just have our picture taken with our phone.

BUTTERFLY FARM and TRIBAL VILLAGE

If you are into zoology, then you will definitely appreciate this place. There were butterflies and different kinds of small animals, unusual insects and of course plenty of butterflies and their cocoons.

The best part of this tour was the musical performances of the natives. They also showed how they hunt using their handmade weapons. It was such a delight to listen to their music and be able to help them by giving them tip.

BAKER’S HILL

This is one of the famous destinations in the city of Puerto Princesa but if you are looking for an adventure, there is nothing here. There are only two things that you can do here; first is to take pictures to their beautiful garden with lots of cartoon life sized statues and second is to buy delicious pastries and their famous hopia.

HONDO AGUA BAY

(Honda Bay)

 

This is my favorite part of this tour. There are many islands that you can go to but during our tour we only went to three of them. We were in a group tour during this island hopping activity and unfortunately I was not pleased with how we were always rushed. That is the downside of being in a group tour. I got used to taking as many pictures as I want and staying in the place for as long as I want so it was really a disappointing experience for me. But of course, I still had to enjoy and set aside my frustrations. So if you are like us you like to take your own time when travelling into a place. I suggest you DIY! Because that is what we are going to do, anyway it was a learning experience for us.

STARFISH ISLAND

The first island that we went to was the Starfish Island, and it was so exciting because I think that was my first time to see starfishes as big as those. Unfortunately we only stayed here for around 30 minutes only.

Our boat man was also kind enough to take our pictures and he even made some amazing camera tricks.

LULI ISLAND

The next island was called Lu-Li Island, short for lulubog – lilitaw (sink-float), because after some hours the whole island won’t be visible anymore and we were so blessed to have witness how the ocean seemed to swallow up the island.

There was a diving station and my Ayat was able to take a plunge. Snorkelling was one of the activities we enjoyed here where we saw the famous clown fish Nemo.

If you can see the waters seems to be crawling up the shore and later on the island was almost covered by the ocean.

COWRIE ISLAND 

This is my favourite island, not only because this is where we had our sumptuous buffet lunch, but because this is where we stayed the longest. The beach is so clear and so beautiful. It was after lunch that we were able to dive in. Many did not want to swim anymore because of the scourging heat but I was never afraid of getting dark and having sunburn especially when I already applied sunblock. The water under was so cool that you won’t really feel the heat once you plunged in.

UNDERGROUND RIVER

The Underground River, the most famous destination in Puerto Princesa will leave you in awe once you have sailed in. Unfortunately you won’t have time to swim here, you can only take pictures and be astonished with the wonders that the cave will reveal to you. The tourists will be given a device with earphones that will serve as your tour guide inside because any loud noise is not allowed during the tour. You can choose whatever language you like, and there are even dialects available.

LAMON TIME!

KINABUCHS

I love the crocodile sisig here. The food’s price is not expensive and the servings are quite good for 3-4 persons.

BADJAO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

Among all the restaurants that we’ve visited, this is my favorite.  It took us more or less 15 minutes tricycle ride from Puerto Pension, the farthest restaurant that we have been. The first thing that you will see is the boardwalk going to the main restaurant. This boardwalk was uniquely surrounded by mangroves which makes it such an amazing view. The main restaurant was situated on top of the clear waters. Your eyes will be fed with beautiful scenery and this is such a great appetizer already. They also have a terrific set of menu. A little pricey but definitely worth every penny, as they say.

The total amount that my husband and I paid was P11,140 to Puerto Pension.

Expenses
Room for 3 days (P1,380 x 3 days)	P 4, 140
City Tour (P600 x 2pax)	P1,200
Honda Bay Tour (P1,300 x 2pax)	P2,600
Underground River Tour (P1,600 x 2pax)	P3,200
TOTAL	P11,140

 We spent less than P3000 for food and souvenirs because my sister is very generous and she usually paid more than we did. Don’t you just wish you have a sister like her? Oh we are so blessed. With the souvenirs, i only collect magnets and my husband bought a nice simple barong worth P350.  This family trip was really something that made us all richer and prouder to be a Filipino. Hope you will visit and enjoy Puerto Princesa too cause its truly awesome.