Palawan, Philippines, Jan 2014

A little help for travellers on Palawan, Philippines.

There seems very little help out there for travellers going to the Philippines as it’s not a very well trodden path for your traditional backpacker.

For those of us who bargain for hours over 20p. Who will forgo comfort of aircon for the sake of being able to extend a trip by a day. Who take a spine-smashing local bus, squeezed up against a farmers armpit instead of a comfortable mini-bus for the sake of £3.

For us such happy masochists out there, here’s a little help.

We went from Puerto Princesa to El Nido, and wanted to do it on a budget. We found that local buses “Roro” and “Cherry”, between them ran every hour from about 5am. Don’t be tempted with a nightbus to save a nights accommodation, the journey is barely 6 hours, and that is with all of the stopping to drop off and pick up locals every 20 yards. This is the cheapest method, and you can get to the terminal (so-called, “the terminal”) by jeepney going along Rizal St. Jeepney is about PHP12, and bus should be around PHP370-380, though they do have promos.

Once you've arrived in El Nido, if your pack is light enough, the town is about 10-12 minute walk. The trikes will try and charge you about PHP50, which is ridiculous for the distance, so unless they agree to about PHP10, don’t do it.

Accom can be cheap if you are happy to not be on the beach or have aircon. We stayed above a café/restaurant called Sky Light. The room had a good fan, was secure, and not too noisy for PHP600 per night.

The boat trips advertised everywhere  are worth it, though try and get the tour A and C combined. This covers 10 places in one day, but can be done comfortably; it’s just a long day. For self-exploration, rent a kayak. These are PHP400-600, but get a good look at it first, and don’t flip it! You can easily paddle to one island which has several beaches on it, or you can go for Helicopter island which is a challenge, but either way, if you go in the morning, you will more than likely have the beach to yourself for hours, if not all day.

Trikes will constantly ask you if you want to go to Las Cabanas beach. This is a nice beach, but if you’re happy going for a walk, just walk it. It’s 3km, and takes about 40 minutes. There’s a couple of good photo vantage points along the way, and one section where wild monkeys play in the trees high above you, so save the PHP150-200. Just follow the main road straight out of town, and you will be able to see all of the trikes converged by the entrance.

For food, there are barbeques everywhere in the evenings selling fresh fish. The whole squid stuffed with vegetables is incredible. There are also some good bargains to be had in various restaurants, with happy hour of PHP35-45 for a San Miguel going up to about 10pm.

That’s it for Palawan! Afraid we had a bit of a flying visit, but hope it helped someone out there!