This trip was a treat for myself like literally and figuratively 😉 My friend booked the flight without my knowledge and told me that I don’t have to worry about the airfare anymore, I’ll just shoulder my own tour expenses. How can you say no to a very nice deal right 😅
So I had searched for recommendations for the Palawan tour and found Mr. Michael in the travel group I was a member of. My friend contacted him and we paid right after. Below are the given itineraries for our trip.
We arrived at Puerto Prinsesa Airport around 5 oclock in the afternoon and the pickup van is already waiting there to fetch us in Elnido. We spent almost 6 hrs of roadtrip with 2 stopovers for dinner and stretching. Mostly the signal is off during the trip :3 We reached the hotel just in time for us to sleep and get ready for tomorrow’s activity. We stayed at Sea slugs inn where the staff are nice, the foods are decent however you will experience sudden brown outs at nights. They have generator there but I can remember waking up one night feeling so hot because they don’t have power as well. All in all it was manageable.
DAY 1 TOUR A (ISLAND HOPPING: SECRET LAGOON| BIG LAGOON| SMALL LAGOON| SHIMIZU ISLAND AND SEVEN COMMANDO BEACH)
On our first day, a tricycle service picked us up in the hotel with one of the boat guide and dropped us at El Nido Town Proper. We waited for other people that composes the group to begin the tour.
In a group there is always the VIP one and we waited for them for quite some time (Let me rant again here hahaha) Good thing that TOUR A turned out amazing. I recommend this tour if ever you’ll have to choose among the tour offers. We did boat top loading and hang out with the boatmen while they prepare foods for lunch. I enjoyed it more and got to separate ourselves from others and felt like an exclusive tour .
We first arrived at 7 commando beach. I feel disappointed here coz I feel like I’ve been cheated with the price of the photos they took with different camera tricks. Part of it is maybe my fault for misunderstanding them but still LOL. We stayed here for awhile and then proceeded with the Lagoons.
Oh my goodness. The lagoons left me breathless. I could use the word paradise for it. It was gorgeous. Seeing the lagoons already made my visit to Palawan worth it. I am not even exaggerating. The water is crystal clear with different shades of blue surrounded by the beautiful limestone cliffs. We enjoyed kayaking (P500 each) in the secret lagoon where it was so calm and peaceful. It felt like you are on a different planet with less people living on it.
We spent lunch on one of the Islands, its kinda like stopover. The foods are mostly seafood and eating it with the amazing view of the ocean is just very fulfilling. I could say that it’s a good lunch .
We headed on the last Island for the day which is the SHIMIZU. I maximized my time here and enjoyed snorkelling. This has been the best snorkelling spot I had by far. The fishes and corals are incredible. That time I realized how rich the Philippines with natural resources. I hope and pray that the beauty of Palawan be conserved.
DAY 2 TOUR C (ISLAND HOPPING: HELICOPTER ISLAND| SECRETBEACH |STAR BEACH| MATINLOC SHRINE AND HIDDEN BEACH)
Before this tour we are supposed to hike taraw cliff however it rained that night which made it cancelled because it can dangerous when it’s slippery. So we only have tour C as our agenda for the day. We ate our breakfast in our inn and rode Tricycle again to go in El Nido town proper. We were with different group of people this time. New faces with some foreigners. The boatmen said that these islands are kinda far than what we traveled last time.
For the first island we went to Matinloc shine, as usual the limestone cliffs were amazing. We did a little hike to see the top view of it. And it never fails. It’s kinda challenging to go there tho so be careful.
We headed next to the secret beach, there were a lot of baby jellyfish here. Some corals and fishes too. We stayed for awhile and went to the Star Beach for lunch 😀 Its so nice to swim here coz the water is so clear. That’s all I can remember. I had swam most of the time. haha
We visited the hidden beach next, it’s just amazing how you can walk in the middle of the ocean. Yup. The waters are low and only a few walks and you’ll be in the deepest ocean already. Im not sure if you can imagine what I had just described 😅 that’s why you have to see it for yourself 😝 We enjoyed the beach and took some photos 😀
And the last itinerary for the day was the Helicopter Island. Here, we saw a lot of foreigners doing sun bathing, getting their tan on point. Some are actually not giving a f*ck and were completely naked. We enjoyed the beach again and just stroll around. Some people did snorkelling 🙂
We headed back to our inn, took a shower changed clothes and went back to the town LOL. We wanted to see the nightlife however we ended up food tripping, walking by the shore and ended up buying pasalubongs. We capped off the night by buying some beer and slept 😀
We checked out after lunch and rode the tricycle that brought us in the terminal of the Vans going to Puerto Princesa. We felt exhausted when we arrived in the PPS-Airport Side Inn. It was a budget place. The bathroom is small. Idk. I just feel like the place was small LOL. We slept to get ready for our tour the next day.
We woke up early morning and the van picked us up in the Hotel. We enjoyed the company of other travellers here, they are fun and so nice. Even the tour guide has a high energy all through out. Small world coz one of the group live nearby where I live. LOL We first went to the Ugong Rock Adventures. Did caving for 200 pesos. It was nice coz it give the locals jobs. After which we went to the boat terminal, had some buffet lunch first before riding the boat going to the underground river.
At the time, there were news of possible abduction happening in the area but to my surprise it didn’t stop the foreigners to visit it. It has a long line. Puerto Princesa Underground River was surely majestic. I didn’t bother to take photos inside the cave just because I want to appreciate all the formations with my eyes. It was incredible. Like I cant imagine how those things things had formed. It feels short tho. We rode the boat back to the terminal and the van to get in the airport side.
We took a shower again and decided to eat dinner outside. We went to Baywalk Puerto Princesa. Ordered a lot of food and some drinks. Enjoyed the music and went back to the Inn 😀
The next morning we flew back to manila. Guess what. I ended having sick leave that day hehehe. Palawan is a place that I don’t mind to go back. Indeed, it is the best Island in the world 🙂
Traveling Thoughts 