Tiny Sabang has a long expanse of beach and is famed for the navigable Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (admission P200), which winds through a spectacular cave before emptying into the sea. Tourist paddle boats are allowed to go 1.5km upstream into the cave (45 minutes return); in the June to November low season [...]
The bustling capital of Palawan is generally regarded as little more than a jumping-off point for excursions elsewhere on the island. Often overlooked as an attraction in its own right, this underrated town has some decent hotels and good restaurants, and is an excellent base from which to explore central and southern Palawan. ‘Puerto’, as [...]
On the west coast, the refreshingly quiet town of Port Barton is a low-key tourist haunt. The town itself is on an attractive beach with colourful sunsets. Even better beaches can be found on the islands scattered throughout the sheltered bay, and up the coast at Long Beach (both are accessible by boat from Port [...]
Palawan is one of the real treasures of the Philippines. Stretching from the Mindoro Strait down to the tip of Borneo, it is a magnificent, coral-fringed range of jungle-clad mountainous islands jutting up dramatically from the Sulu Sea. The flora and fauna in Palawan is quite unique to the island, and is said to have [...]
El Nido is the gateway to Palawan’s greatest natural treasure: the Bacuit Archipelago. El Nido itself commands a stunning location, sandwiched between towering limestone karst cliffs and Bacuit Bay, with the fantastic contours of Cadlao Island looming right offshore.
Coron Town is the main town on Busuanga Island and the commercial and population centre of the Calamian group. It is a convenient base for wreck divers, snorkellers, island-hoppers and other sun-worshipping explorers (the town itself has no beach). The best-value activity is to hire a pumpboat (around P1000 per day, holds a maximum of [...]