Palawan - Experience from those who lived or been there

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

I have made 3 trips to Palawan and only gotten as far as Puerto Princess area, I stayed at Sabang Beach in the hotel Sheridian there.  Done the underground river, rode ATM, done the island hopping deal to like Honda bay etc.  I do find Sabang Beach outstanding, It is clear water, no rocks or coral and waves and white sand. To date best beaches I have seen in Philippines.

 

I have always planned on going to El Nido and Coron but loved Sabang Beach so much I never left. I understand it's like a 6 to 10 hour drive to either El Nido or Coron.

 

Looking for information on flights to El Nido / Coron from either Manila, Cebu or Davao City.  

 

How far is trip from El Nido to Coran, can this be done by van and how long is the trip?

[nelmagriffin 156]

Hello!

Please compare prices especially if you know the date of your flight as many times there are a lot of promos if purchase in advance, Also check other airlines as some have no direct fight to that area or airport.

 

https://www.airasia.com/ph/en/cheap-flights/philippines/flights-to-puerto-princesa.page

 or

 

https://www.cebupacificair.com/en-us

Do not forget to wander Cebu City! or maybe just maybe you like to dive with whale sharks!

Enjoy your stay,

NELMA

[Hank_ 9,174]

Coron is a boat/plane ride ... unless you have a really cool car.

 

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

18 hours ago, nelmagriffin said:

Hello!

Please compare prices especially if you know the date of your flight as many times there are a lot of promos if purchase in advance, Also check other airlines as some have no direct fight to that area or airport.

 

https://www.airasia.com/ph/en/cheap-flights/philippines/flights-to-puerto-princesa.page

 or

 

https://www.cebupacificair.com/en-us

Do not forget to wander Cebu City! or maybe just maybe you like to dive with whale sharks!

Enjoy your stay,

NELMA

I saw the are now offering limited flight to El Nido from Davao City from AirSwift, Never heard of the airlines.

 

 

[Hank_ 9,174]

I saw that airline in a video from the Phils recently, first I had seen it.

 

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

Here is a pretty good article regarding El Nido and Coron. Kinda breaks them down and gives pro and cons of both. Seems very balanced article

 

https://www.justonewayticket.com/2016/07/23/coron-vs-el-nido-which-one-is-really-better/

 

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

3 hours ago, Chris Duffy said:

I saw the are now offering limited flight to El Nido from Davao City from AirSwift, Never heard of the airlines.

 

 

I might have to look into that this year. My asawa has always wanted to go to Palawan but we are scared it might be like Boracay was last time we went. I like to go to more off the beaten path type places like: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g2052548-d2049088-Reviews-Anino_Kite_Retreat-Cuyo_Island_Cuyo_Islands_Palawan_Province_Mimaropa.html.

 

 

So I will look in to Coron Island as well.

Edited February 6, 2018 by cyberfx1024

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

9 minutes ago, cyberfx1024 said:

I might have to look into that this year. My asawa has always wanted to go to Palawan but we are scared it might be like Boracay was last time we went. I like to go to more off the beaten path type places like: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g2052548-d2049088-Reviews-Anino_Kite_Retreat-Cuyo_Island_Cuyo_Islands_Palawan_Province_Mimaropa.html.

 

 

So I will look in to Coron Island as well.

Camiguin Island might be good for you. I went there about 7 years ago.  It is pretty laid back, and not touristy at all.  They have all kind of hot springs and cold springs you can swim in and relax in.  Seems like they had about 8 springs you can visit, and entrance fee was around 6 to 10 peso entrance fee on average.

 

I rented a motorbike for 500 peso for 24 hours and kept it like 4 days, we  rented two of them and me and my wife just drove all over the island.  Very little traffic almost empty roads for the most part.

 

They have a white beach which is actually a sandbar in the ocean,  it's pretty cool and I remember you take a boat to get there.

 

We drove from Davao City to CDO and took a supershuttle boat to get to our final destination,  I think they have a small airport but at the time it was under renovations.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Chris Duffy

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

5 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Camiguin Island might be good for you. I went there about 7 years ago.  It is pretty laid back, and not touristy at all.  They have all kind of hot springs and cold springs you can swim in and relax in.  I seem like they had about 8 springs you can visit, and entrance fee was around 6 to 10 peso entrance fee on average.

I rented a motorbike for 500 peso for 24 hours and kept it like 4 days, we  rented two of them and me and my wife just drove all over the island.  Very little traffic almost empty roads for the most part.

They have a white beach which is actually a sandbar in the ocean,  it's pretty cool and I remember you take a boat to get there.

We drove from Davao City to CDO and took a supershuttle boat to get to our final destination,  I think they have a small airport but at the time it was under renovations.

Yeah we have went to Camiguin about that same timeframe back in 2011 if I remember correctly. That was the first trip I took to the Philippines and we had a great time on the island. We stayed at Secret Cove Beach Resort and at the time it was pretty decent. Which is funny because they had a "Mexican restaurant" right next door which I thought was funny. But we rented a motor bike and drove ALL over the island. We actually found a out of way water fall that we paid a local family to take us to, and the hike was amazing to say the least. I kept slipping and falling due to wearing sandals, all the while my then gf now wife is eating and throwing Lanzones at me after she ate the juices. We got back to the resort and they thought I had wrecked the motorcycle because of the cuts on my legs until my wife told them what happened. We still laugh because we stopped to talk to and buy stuff at the village above the sunken cross and I tried to talk to this little boy and he ran away scared yelling "Aswang Aswang". 

 

At snake island was the first/last place I have tried sea urchin to say I had eaten it.

 

My wife met me in Manila, we flew down to CDO and stayed there one night, and then took a ferry over to Camiguin. We then took a ferry back to CDO, and then took a bus from CDO back down to Davao City. It was funny because it stopped in Butuan City for an hour where we got off to eat and the girls at the local eatery(teenagers) was flirting with me the whole time, acting scared to talk to me(a guapo late 20 year old Kano guy).

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

18 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Camiguin Island might be good for you. I went there about 7 years ago.  It is pretty laid back, and not touristy at all.  They have all kind of hot springs and cold springs you can swim in and relax in.  I seem like they had about 8 springs you can visit, and entrance fee was around 6 to 10 peso entrance fee on average.

 

I rented a motorbike for 500 peso for 24 hours and kept it like 4 days, we  rented two of them and me and my wife just drove all over the island.  Very little traffic almost empty roads for the most part.

 

They have a white beach which is actually a sandbar in the ocean,  it's pretty cool and I remember you take a boat to get there.

 

We drove from Davao City to CDO and took a supershuttle boat to get to our final destination,  I think they have a small airport but at the time it was under renovations.

As you know a lot of Pinoys can't/don't travel around the country hardly at all. So I took my now wife to a lot of the islands in the Visayas on our trips. The only touristy places we went to that she wanted to go to was Boracay and Bohol. I like going to places like Camiguin, Bantayan, Malascupa Islands.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

30 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Camiguin Island might be good for you. I went there about 7 years ago.  It is pretty laid back, and not touristy at all.  They have all kind of hot springs and cold springs you can swim in and relax in.  I seem like they had about 8 springs you can visit, and entrance fee was around 6 to 10 peso entrance fee on average.

 

I rented a motorbike for 500 peso for 24 hours and kept it like 4 days, we  rented two of them and me and my wife just drove all over the island.  Very little traffic almost empty roads for the most part.

 

They have a white beach which is actually a sandbar in the ocean,  it's pretty cool and I remember you take a boat to get there.

 

We drove from Davao City to CDO and took a supershuttle boat to get to our final destination,  I think they have a small airport but at the time it was under renovations.

It does look like on TripAdvisor that Camiguin is getting more touristy now. There are a lot more resorts/nice hotels there now than there was back in 2011. Also the bus from CDO to Davao amazed me because they played movies that had nudity in the movie.

Edited February 6, 2018 by cyberfx1024

[Chris Duffy 1,257]

Cyberfex

 

Did you like Boracay?  I went a couple of times, It didn't do much for me.  

 

I think the reason most like it is there are no waves and you can go out in the water forever and it shallow.  Since most can't swim they like this.

 

My wife says her father likes Boracay due to all the activities you can do on or near the beach like jet ski, flying fish, etc.

 

It one of those been there done that for me

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

32 minutes ago, Chris Duffy said:

Cyberfex

Did you like Boracay?  I went a couple of times, It didn't do much for me.  

I think the reason most like it is there are no waves and you can go out in the water forever and it shallow.  Since most can't swim they like this.

My wife says her father likes Boracay due to all the activities you can do on or near the beach like jet ski, flying fish, etc.

It one of those been there done that for me

 

It was ok in my book, nothing to write home about. I found it to overcrowded and expensive to say the least. Luckily we brought along my SIL to be our yaya while we were there and she had a former batchmate of hers who married a Kano and is living there na. So we hung out with them a couple times and turns out he runs a couple restaurants and a dive shop on the island. He was funny because he owns a Cuban restaurant right across from Inasal on the strip and he was complaining how people want to come to his restaurant and order 1 or 2 plates for a party of 4-5, basically they would all share the food. He was also saying that he owns a restaurant in Dumagete as well.

Edited February 6, 2018 by cyberfx1024

[jskibo 588]

We had our honeymoon at Daluyon Resert Sabang Beach.  It was pretty awesome.

 

https://www.daluyonbeachandmountainresort.com/

 

My MIL is from Bataraza at the southern end, but I haven't made it down there yet.

 

We plan on buying more land on Palawan to build the summer / retirement home on soon.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

45 minutes ago, jskibo said:

We had our honeymoon at Daluyon Resert Sabang Beach.  It was pretty awesome.

 

https://www.daluyonbeachandmountainresort.com/

 

My MIL is from Bataraza at the southern end, but I haven't made it down there yet.

 

We plan on buying more land on Palawan to build the summer / retirement home on soon.

I will definitely look into this maraming salamat.