Palawan Island, the Philippines, End of July 2017
Condé Nast readers have voted Palawan in the Philippines the most beautiful island in the world. So naturally, no questions asked, the island became my next destination. For who can say no to pristine beaches, crystal clear waters, breathtaking scenery, long sandbars, hammocks hanging just a few centimeters above the water, panoramic views, first class service, cool breeze, fresh exotic fruit for breakfast, delicious BBQ for dinner, chilled drinks at sunset, lovely company, inner peace, mind and soul stimulation and above all amazing photo opportunities? Who can say no to something most beautiful? Who can say no to something that is number ONE? I’ve been looking for my paradise island for a long time. And now I have arrived at one. At last. I am one lucky girl, am I not? Let’s dream on.
It took half a day to travel from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia via Manila to Puerto Princesa, the capital town of Palawan. I was toying with an idea of spending a few days in Manila but then decided against it. The glimpse of the city from the airplane and then another glimpse while changing terminals was more than enough. Changing terminals turned out to be a stressful and time-consuming drag due to total traffic chaos. Not only did it take at least half an hour to get from one terminal to the other only 500 meters away but we also had to climb a high flight of stairs, up and down (with luggage) as the bus stops on the other side of a very busy road. 40 minutes altogether.
Tip: If you need to change terminals, make sure you travel light and have plenty of time. Alternatively, fly with the Philippines Airlines to avoid terminal change.
Palawan welcomed me with an amazing sunset. But (as the story continues :)) that was the only welcome I got. From then on the events took its own course.
Nobody welcomed me at the gate which is (apparently) customary in this part of the world. Instead, I had to take all my luggage and walk to a designated area 200 meters away then look for a specific spot to catch hotel transfer ride.
There was no welcoming committee at the hotel either. Instead, I was met by staff who were only interested in selling various trips and that before they even checked me in. Hold on, let me check in first, let me get rid of my luggage, let me rest a minute, let me have dinner and perhaps a cocktail, then we can talk.
Once I was checked in I went to the hotel restaurant to get a bite to eat. I ordered Filipino national dish (what else?) – pork Adobo and was looking forward to a lovely meal and then relaxing evening by the pool. It didn’t work out that way. The Filipino national dish turned out to be a plate of rice with small cubes of pork fat in gravy. Yes, pork fat. I am not exaggerating; it was 95% fat and maybe 5% meat. Unbeatable. I let the staff know I couldn’t eat that but no efforts were made to replace the dish or compensate it in any other way. The only response I got was a snotty reply; “This is the way we like it“. Ouch. I left it all and went to bed hungry and angry … but after all (considering) still in good spirit for even though the start of this trip hasn’t been all that great I had some wonderful days ahead of me on paradise beaches on the most beautiful island in the world. Nothing else mattered. Definitely not a piece of fat.
So first thing in the morning I set out to scout my paradise. I was walking up and down, right and left, North, South, East, West, along with the coast, studying maps, asking people .. and …. couldn’t find anything resembling paradise. Nothing Nada. Zero. There are no beaches in Puerto Princesa, let alone paradise beaches. All I could find was a stretch of land by the sea that technically one could call a beach but in reality, it was a sandy, dirty, muddy and most unwelcoming swamp where I could never, would never put my foot. Nobody would. And with an exception of fishermen, nobody does. The ‘beaches’ of Puerto Princesa are unusable and as such totally deserted.
Problem with Puerto Princesa beaches like with most of Palawan beaches and in fact, most of the Philippines islands’ beaches is the mangrove. As beneficial as it is for our Earth’s wellbeing it is sadly not very pleasant for beach lovers who’d rather walk on white sand and swim in crystal clear water then hop in smelly, un-walkable and a half of the time (depending on the tide) un-swimmable swamps.
This five-star resort is right on the beach. It even have a phrase “beach resort” in its name. The beach, however, is… well… closed. Shut down. Fenced off. Inaccessible and unusable. Deserted. Water villas for which you pay double are not standing in crystal blue/green water but right in the mangrove. To get to the clear water and walkable bits and pieces of sand you need to walk some 500-meter long bridge through the mangrove.
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But once you get there, once you pass the mangrove, it is pretty magical – you are in heaven. Shallow crystal clear water, long sandbanks, plenty of lovely spots for a picnic (you need to bring everything yourself though), the perfect place for romance and sunset watching. However, there won’t be any sunset watching for you – the bridge closes at 5 p.m. and you need to rush back to the resort and most probably spend the rest of the afternoon and evening by the pool ‘enjoying’ overpriced cocktails and meals.
Resorts in Puerto Princesa are pretty isolated. Could it be purposely? There is nothing nearby, no local restaurants, no local shops, no place you can walk to and no public transport either. Wherever you go, you need to take a tuk-tuk. Even though it isn’t very far between the places, it can nonetheless be stressful to always have to depend on transportation. In addition, as a solo female traveler, I didn’t feel very comfortable riding a tuk-tuk at night with the moon as my only light source. Furthermore, you need to have excellent negotiating skills and a lot of patience to convince tuk-tuk drivers to take you to an isolated resort from where they have no chance of getting a ride back. So I, as many others, stayed in ‘imprisoned’ at the resort paying double, triple, quadruple for the pleasure of dining there rather than going downtown to contribute to local economy.
Note, all restaurants/bars in hotels/resorts are overpriced. The more isolated resort and/or higher starred the more overpriced dining.
To get better access to the local vibe, restaurants, bars, malls, nightlife you need to be as near the main street as only possible. It is also from there you can catch a jeepney, local public transport and visit surrounding areas at a fixed price. A 20-30 minute jeepney ride for 20 pesos will take you to Honda Bay, Puerto Princesa hot spot from where you can do island hopping, diving, snorkeling or just beach bumming.
The attraction of Honda Bay wasn’t as attractive as I was made to believe – not for a beach bum, anyway. Tiny, overcrowded islands, super tiny beaches or lack of them. Rocky shoreline making sea access from difficult to almost impossible. Far from clean water. None of the islands were inhabited hence there were no hotels, restaurants, bars or an overnight stay. Visiting the islands is not that cheap either as besides boat transfer and lunch you need to pay the government tax for each and every island you visit.
Oh well, what to do? Not much. I accepted my ‘defeat’, dropped the idea of finding paradise on Palawan, went back to my hotel and shifted my focus to pool activities instead. I was staying in Deep Forest Garden Hotel, a rather unusual resort but warmly recommended full of (out of place) ‘wild’ animals in the garden and overpriced restaurant. Kitsch at its best. However, I enjoyed staying there. Even though the place was somewhat isolated, it was near the fishing village where local people lived and attracting local commerce. I was lucky to have few tiny shops and a bakery right at the entrance. I managed. Not only that, I also found my inner peace there and could focus on writing again. All was good. But not for long.
One day it all came ‘crashing’ down on me. I found out that all those beautiful paradise beaches, breathtaking views, fantastic resorts not in or around Puerto Princesa but in the Northern part of the island, a place called El Nido some 230 kilometers away. OMG. What a bummer. How could I have missed that? I will never know. Shame on me.
A quick look at the map, at the mangrove, at the shore and the nearby islands. It looked optimistic and very promising – I was almost sure I could find what I was looking for on one of the islands. But all that came at a price. Crazy price at that, even for a Westerner. All those fantastic resorts were five-star romantic luxury treats not very suitable for a solo female flashpacker. But above all, it would take me 7-8 hours of a very bumpy ride to get there. Due to my recent surgery, the ride felt hazardous, and I didn’t want to take that risk. I never went. What an irony of life. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Not this time. I may be back one day. But then I’ll fly directly to El Nido.
Tip: Instead of flying to Puerto Princesa you can fly directly to El Nido from Manila. There are four flights a day. Take one of them and enjoy (presumably) the most beautiful island in the world.
Puerto Princesa in pictures
