Below you will find contact info to accommodation and things to do in the Palawan area that I had prepared for one customer and his family. It includes other places I had researched and tips from seasoned travelers. Since they only had 12 days, I suggested he start in El Nido (too much time lost traveling from Puerto Princesa and I felt the sites weren't worth visiting for such a short period), beach hop his way to the east coast, launch his four day boat tour from there, and spend a few days in the beautiful Linapacan area before ending in Coron. The places suggested reflect his higher end budget, but all are off the beaten track away from the tourist hustle and lovely places to spend a relaxing vacation. Otherwise there are plenty of places to stay for budget travelers and I plan to add those eventually. I prefer to focus on off-the-beaten-path places away from the tourist hustle.
Puerto Princesa
David suggests: https://www.booking.com/hotel/ph/bahay-kubo-at-emerald-playa.cs.html
Sabang
David suggests: https://www.booking.com/hotel/ph/cafe-sabang.cs.html
Port Barton
David suggests: https://www.booking.com/hotel/ph/harmony-haven-hostel.cs.html
The Alternative Beach Cottages
(4.5/80 Trip reviews), located over at Tabunan Beach near snake island (30 minutes by boat SOUTH from EN, west coast half way to TayTay) a friend of mine (Becky Cea / Glen..) owns the small beach and 4 cottages. alternativebeachcottages@yahoo.com, +639155999154
https://www.alternativecottages.com/home.html
https://web.facebook.com/The-Alternative-Beach-Cottages-211152589079627/
https://www.alternativecottages.com/family-beach-cottage.html - family beach cottage, 4pax, 16k/day (includes food) – there is also a cliff cottage at https://www.alternativecottages.com/family-cliff-cottage.html (15k/night)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fz42wc1mehe4r6t/01%20Alternative%20Map.jpg?dl=0/a>
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aocbgxvb2g0uscj/07%20Tabunan%20Beach%20%28title%29.jpg?dl=0
.jpg?dl=0){kind=link}
Closer up with Nacpan and Duli beaches appearing in the top left (Sibaltan is on the bottom right where Tapik is):
El Nido
Las Cabanas Beach Resort
(under zip line) – contacted them: [We have a double beachfront room that can fit 2 double beds.
For this couple and their two young children, we can offer a room rate of P6500 including breakfast.
http://www.lascabanasresort.com/, Dan las.cabanas.resort@gmail.com
Tripadvisor – 4/5 out of 154 reviews
Although this is in the centre of Corong, El Nido, it is inexpensive and has air-conditioning, which can be pleasant for a few nights after spending a few days in Sabang and Port Barton. (Mirek says)
https://www.booking.com/hotel/ph/island-hop-nido-hostel.cs.html
Nacpan Beach
Jack's Place
- jacksplacenacpanbeach@gmail.com, or possibly? jack.place77@gmail.com – contacted (but they said they tend to take reservations through facebook only (didn't seem overly excited or enthusiastic in our conversation): https://web.facebook.com/jacksplacenacpanbeach/
http://www.lakas.com.ph/2014/10/jacks-place-at-nacpan-beach-el-nido-palawan-philippines/
https://homeiswhereyourbagis.com/en/el-nidos-twin-beaches-nacpan-and-calitang-beach/ (third party sites)
We have a family cottage with 2 rooms, good for 4, for P3000/night with breakfast for 4.
Calitang Beach
(the other small beach at the end of Nacpan where the island is)
http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/Where-2-Next-Nacpan/El-Nido/95305
- campsite, Where 2 Next - https://web.facebook.com/Where2NextElNido/?_rdr, bookings@where2nexthostel.com, http://www.where2nexthostel.com/ +63 915 782 8323 contacted
4.5/23 reviews on Trip
Shared dorm:
Private room with bathroom:
Duli beach resort
further up from Nacpan. – (Elma) Duli Beach Resort info@dulibeach.com - contacted
http://www.dulibeach.com/, http://www.facebook.com/DuliBeach
Asked how to get to them but they did not respond.
The price for our bungalow is PHP 2500/N (3500/N for Pablo). We allow children that can stay in separate bedding for an extra fee of php 500 per pax per night. Normally we can accommodate 3 pax in one bungalow, but depending in the ages of the children we can make it accommodation for 4.
Yes, we can make it a 4 person room as long as the children will sleep in separate bedding.
Most people rent a bike for a few days to get here or hire a tricycle/ private van to get to Duli Beach.
Duli Beach Resort is the first and only establishment that offers accommodation on Duli Beach. This 2 km long beach is picture perfect; it has clear blue water, wide white sandy beach, many palm trees, jungle backed, rocky parts on the side, six months per year good waves and is pretty much secluded.
Sibaltan
Tapik Beach Park Guest House
http://www.tapikbeach.com/, tapik.beach.park@gmail.com (contacted)
Tripadvisor – 4.5/5 rating out of 147 reviews
You can check out my own pictures on
http://www.islandhoppinginthephilippines.com/palawan/island-hopping-launching-pad-east-palawan/
and check out some of the other places you can stay at in Sibaltan if they cannot squeeze all four of you into a single space.
Says no rooms large enough for four people. Told to download pics from their pages. Asking again if can put all four into the same space.
It's nice to hear from you again. Of course we remember you. I hope
all is well with you.
We can actually arrange a direct transport from Puerto Princesa to
Tapik for 700/person.
If they need a transport for beach hopping we can hire a van and
usually they give it for 3500 for whole day.
For August, our room rates as follows:
Beach Cottage: 2000/night breakfast included
Beach Hut: 1000/night no breafast
Please let me know which room you prefer. We require full payment
before confirmation of booking. Payment is by PayPal. Does that work
with you?
Best Regards,
Floralina/Voltaire Alcantara
Tapik Beach Park Guest House
Sibaltan, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
+63 921 509 3637 I +63 9157680688
Deserted islands
Bolina
, and several others
Takling
CalaCala
Bamboo or Banana Islands
Bamboo (small)
http://bambooislands.ph/, vacations@bambooislands.ph – contacted
Bamboo Private Islands on facebook,
< Research: privateislandsonline.com (rent out through) –ie- http://rent.privateislandsonline.com/islands/bamboo-island
run by 250k kiteboarding
Thank you for considering our Private Islands for this trip. It would be our pleasure to be their host. We do have huts available that can accommodate all four of them and the rate would be :
Adults: $100 per head /per night
Children 2-7 Years of Age: $50 per head/ per night
Upon arrival at the Island , they would need to pay an additional fee for the food and airport transfer (not necessary if you will be arriving by our boat):
$90 per head / per night for the Adults
$45 per head / per night for Children below 2-7 years old
Inclusions :
- Accommodation
- Airport pick up ( car and boat )
- Fun activities : snorkeling, stand up paddling
- breakfast , lunch , dinner , apero -selected local beers and spirits
Banana Island
Banana Island Resort – on Trip (1 review) – seems budget and not for Pablo
http://www.travbuddy.com/Banana-Island-Resort-v478645 - consider checking out this site sometime
Facebook, bananaislandcoron@gmail.com - contacted
Coron
Discovery Island Resort & Dive Center
http://discoverydiversresort.com/, bookings@discoverydiversresort.com - Little Mama (wrote to them asking, and again if can all stay in one room)
Tripadvisor – 4/5 rating out of 188 reviews
The price of our native cottages (twin occupancy) with en-suite bathroom
with balcony and fan is P2,600 per room per night.
The price of our modern island rooms (twin occupancy) with en-suite
bathroom with balcony and aircon is P3,000 per room per night.
All our modern resort rooms and some cottages can accommodate 3 people
and we add P400 for the extra bed.
Our family native cottages offer 3 beds at P3000 and 4 beds at P3,400
per night.
MDI Divers (formerly Discovery Divers) has been operating in Coron for
over 20 years, is the most experienced dive school on the wrecks and is
the only dive operator offering technical diver instruction.
Dive package (up to 15nm) same day is
2 dives with single tank (incl boat, tank, weights, guide) P2,800
3 dives with single tank (incl boat, tank, weights, guide) P3,600
Equipment hire is complimentary
To confirm a booking please send us a security deposit of P5,000 per
room through
• Via paypal deposit to account mncoucher2@aol.com
Balance due 30 days prior to arrival.
Cancellation Policy:
No Show- 100% charge
Cancellation 7 days prior to arrival - 50% charge
Puerto del sol resort palawan
puertodelsolresort@yahoo.com, http://www.ddivers.com/resorts-and-accomodation/puerto-del-sol-resort/index.php, reservation@ddivers.com - contacted
4/5 of 66 reviews on Trip
> Rhoanne Bolohabo
> Resort Manager-Puerto Del Sol, 09772012223 (but doesn’t seem to want to email or phone concerning business, wants me to come to her. About 7-8k outa town.
Thanks for your message, please contact these resorts directly regarding accommodation and their prices.
Puerto Del Sol Resort <office@puertodelsolresort.com>, Frontdesk BBL <frontdesk@busuangabaylodge.com>, jimmy lohser <info@alfaropalawan.com>
Sangat Island Dive Resort
1/20, 4.5/333 reviews on Trip (certificate of excellence)
http://sangat.com.ph/, info@sangat.ph – contacted
rates: http://www.sangat.ph/index.php?cmd=01.04.00.01&lac=en-us – seems like about $400+ ??
The rates are per person and the 2 first persons pay the full per person rate (about $120 each, depending on which is chosen). Then any additional person pays only 50% of the per person rate (because it is usually children). Also, children under 3 years old are free of charge.
I am pleased to confirm availability for you during the requested
period in either a Hill Side Cottage, a Hill Side Chalet, a Bungalow
suite, a Hill Top Chalet, a Beachside chalet or our Lambingan Villa.
If you would like to see our rates or make a reservation request
please click this link
http://www.sangat.ph/index.php?cmd=01.04.00.01&lac=en-us
and follow the steps.
Once we receive your booking request we will send you an approval and
a PayPal link (please click the 'Purchase' tab) so you can pay the
deposit using a credit card. If your requested accommodation is no
longer available by the time we receive your request we will send you
either another accommodation option or if fully booked an alternative
date option for you to consider.
After you have a received an email from Sangat confirming your
reservation request you will see buttons in your confirmation email
labeled "Domestic flight assistance" and "Layover accommodations". If
you would like us to book your domestic flights and/or a hotel in
Manila please click on either of these buttons and fill out the forms
on the screen and we will take care of the rest.
Eva Lenain
Phone: +63(916)400-8801
Sangat Island: +63(908) 896-1716 and +63 9176509191
Two Seasons Coron Island Resort & Spa
3/20 in Coron, 4.5/170 reviews on Trip
bliss@twoseasonsresorts.com – contacted
Noemi Trinidad noemitrinidad@twoseasonsresorts.com
We are giving information
about our 2 properties in Coron Palawan.
Feel free to advise your
preferred property and types of accommodations.
***Website Page, please
click on this link for more details and photos - http://twoseasonsresorts.com/corontown/
Two Seasons Coron Bayside
Hotel - Located in Coron Town (from USU Busuanga
Airport is about 45 minutes to Two Seasons by land)
Attachments:
-Rate Sheet
-Accommodation with Photos
and Description
-Tour Packages (operated
and handled by 3rd party service provider)
GENTLE REMINDERS:
•There are no beaches in Coron Town but among the facilities are the infinity
pool and view deck where you can give indulgence and simply laze away while
enjoying the panoramic view of Coron bay.
ACCOMMODATION INCLUSIONS
-Daily Breakfast
-Complimentary welcome drink upon arrival
-Complimentary bottled water and coffee/tea selections in the room daily.
-Complimentary internet access in selected areas – not
available for further notice
-Baby crib (free of charge)
EXTRA PERSON
Php 1,830.00 net per person per night with breakfast
Children 6 years old and below are free of charge staying on existing bed
configuration with parents; 7-11 years old is chargeable of breakfast fee at Php
396.50 net per day
TRANSFERS for Airport Pick up and Drop Off (optional if
you wish to avail our services) rates will be added on top of accommodation
charges
From USU Busuanga (Airport Php 300.00 net per person per way (minimum of
2 persons)
Children 5-10 years old are half the adult rate Php 150.00 net; children
4 years old and below are free on a lap seat basis.
*Approximately 40-45 minutes travel time from the airport
Two Seasons Coron Island
Resort and Spa - Private island
resort (from USU Busuanga Airport is about 45 minutes to Coron by land and 45
minutes to 1 hour boat ride to our island resort) **travel
period by boat vary from sea and weather condition.
Attachments:
-Rate Sheet
-Accommodation with Photos
Description
-Tour Packages (private
island tours, operated by Two Seasons)
***Website Page, please
click on this link for more details and photos - http://www.twoseasonsresorts.com/coron/
Inclusions:
· Daily
breakfast (Buffet breakfast is served on a mid to high-occupancy status and
based on allotted room occupancy)
· Round-trip land
and sea transfers
· Welcome
drinks and snacks
· Complimentary
use of non-motorized water sports facilities, excluding the Hobbie sailboat and
Molokini transparent kayak
· Daily
complimentary bottled water (based on allotted number of room occupancy)
in the room
· Daily
complimentary coffee/tea selections in the room
· Free
Wi-Fi Internet access in selected areas
· Golf
cart service (subject to availability)
· Baby
crib (free of charge
Child
Policy:
-Children 6 years old and below sharing the same bed with parents are free of
charge on accommodation, breakfast and transfers.
-Children 7 to 11 years old sharing the same bed with parents shall be charged
PHP2, 500.00++ or PHP 3,050.00net per child per night, inclusive of breakfast
and transfers. If child requires an extra bed, a rate of PHP1, 000.00++or PHP
1,220.00net per night will apply.
-Children 12 years old and above are considered as adults and shall be charged
the extra person rate of PHP4, 500.00++ or PHP 5,490.00net per person per night.
-Number of children allowed per room shall depend on the maximum capacity of
persons per bungalow.
-For safety concerns, children are not allowed in the Sandbar and Island Tip
Bungalows.
How to get there / Flight bookings reminders, please
click the link below.
http://www.twoseasonsresorts.com/coron/getting-there/
Two Seasons Airport Representative will be waiting for
your arrival at Busuanga Airport to facilitate your land and sea transfers
holding a Two Seasons signage(40 minutes by land to Coron Town Port and another
40 minutes to 1.5 hours scenic boat ride to our island).
We kindly redirect you to our transfer reminders below for
your flight bookings:
Our daily sea transfers are from 6:00 am to 5:00
pm only. Please note that land and sea transfers to and from Busuanga Airport
and the Resort takes approximately 1½ to 2 hours, depending on sea and weather
conditions.
We highly recommend an early flight from Manila to Busuanga (Coron). Please do
not opt for the last flight, as it may impede your travel time to the Resort.
For your return trip to Manila, please select flights from 9:00 am. onwards.
· Guest
under the same room must share exactly the same flight details as the Resort
will only be providing one land and boat transfers per accommodation.
The Funny Lion
Close/in Coron? 2/20, 4.5/214 reviews on Trip
http://thefunnylion.com/, inquiries@thefunnylion.com - contacted
Corto del Mar Hotel
4/20, 4.5/290 reviews on Trip
http://www.cortodelmar.com/, couldn't find contact (must book online)
Asia Grand View Hotel
6/20, 4.5/173 reviews on Trip
http://asiagrandview.com/, info@asiagrandview.com – contacted
Glen says:
Las Cabanas Beach Resort, which is right next to Delpeldet Island where the Zip Line goes to, it is a beautiful place, best beaches out of any place within 20 minutes of El Nido, not exactly cheap, but good.
http://www.lascabanasresort.com/
Dolarog Beach Resort is nice, further along from Las Cabanas, but more expensive than Las Cabanas.
My friends Thelma and Toby own this amazing beach Camp at Port Barton, it is by far the best place to stay anywhere in the Philippines (i am biased of coarse) and our property is 5 minutes by boat from their camp.
Daluyon Resort at Sabang, great place, but a bit expensive, however Sabang only have about 3 nice places to stay, the rest are very old and run down cottage accommodations, and are located away from town.
http://www.daluyonbeachandmountainresort.com/
Another one in Sabang
and the Sheridan Resort, which i will never recommend, because i don't like giving my money to big multi nationals, i only stay at places owned by the locals.
http://www.sheridanbeachresort.com/
As far as Sabang goes, if they will be in El Nido first, they should go to Port Barton by Van first, then another Van to Sabang, then to PPS.
The boats between EN and Port Barton (5 to 6 hours) and Port Barton to Sabang (3 hours) they can be dangerous, and even tho they are short trips, there is no guatantee that they will depart, all depends on the weather, but when they do go, they usually leave at 7am because the mornings are usually the best weather, and the winds don't roll in until the afternoon.
I am not familiar with accommodations in PPS, as we never stay there much, and when we do stay there for a night or 2, it is at the Blue Lagoon resort, which is not far from the airport.
As far as Pastor Ilde goes, he has had some bad reviews lately, don't really know why, but i think that he really needs to look into his business practices and update the way he operates, because his website is very basic, and he actually doesn't have it updated because he told me his Web designer left town, and he has no idea what the password is for the Wordpress account that was used to create his website.
His internet skills and communication levels are not that good either, so if you was to consider him, then you need to go to his place in Caalan beach and meet him.
Not sure if i can help with anything else, but if you get stuck, you should contact Pierre, who is one of the people who helps run El Nido Paradise (office in El Nido) and he runs their website as well.
I never actually met him before, but we have got to know each other very well by communicating via emails, so i kind of know him, and their business pretty well.
http://www.elnidoparadise.com/
As far as someone who lives in El Nido and is connected to the Caalan Beach Resort is a Member of the forum called Caalan_B and she knows everything about that place, maybe send her a private message and have a chat with her.
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/members-forums/CaalanBeachResort
Cheers m8.
Original questions to Pablo:
What are your travel dates (when you are available
to travel through the Palawan area – start and end date): 6th August to 18th August.
How will you be getting into the Palawan area
(fly/ferry into Coron, El Nido or Puerto Princesa), and what time and date
arriving: Flight from Manila. Did not buy ticket yet, will keep you updated.
How will you be getting out of the Palawan area
(fly/ferry from Coron, El Nido or Puerto Princesa), and what time and date
leaving. Plane or ferry are Ok, we will take the most suitable.
What is your total budget: 150USD daily
How many of you are there (state how many adults and
children etc) and if you want separate rooms: 2 adults + 2 babies (1 and
3 years old) Need to be together in the same room
Do you want to do the underground river tour (near
the bottom of http://www.islandhoppinginthephilippines.com/palawan/puerto-princesa/)? Yes Sabang, where the tour
is located, is also a nice and quaint town to stay at, or you can do the private
tour of a friend of mine as written on that page. From there you can also take a
boat to Port Barton, another quaint town not far to the north: Yes, private tour with your
friend
About how long do you want to stay in El Nido (http://www.islandhoppinginthephilippines.com/palawan/el-nido/)? Not worth more than
a day unless you like to party (good live music scene there). The standard
lagoon tours are inundated with tourists. I can try to organise a private one
which goes in the opposite direction, otherwise the Coron tours might be better.
Do you want me to prebook a tour there? Yes, book a private tour in
El Nido to avoid tourist. Yes, book another similar tour in Coron. We prefer
relax to party as we are travelling with babies.
At what pace would you like to travel? Less time at
more places, or about how many days at each relaxing place: We want to do slow
traveling so no rush.
Would you like to visit my nature camp and for how
long? There are nice hotels in the area as well: Yes, let's arrange a couple of
nights at your camp and If we have time a couple of night more in a more fancy
place near by. We can extend the trip a couple of days if neceesary.
Do you like to scuba dive and would you like that
arranged in advance: Yes, I am Padi Advance Diver but do not want to leave my
family alone for long time, so please arrange just one day for Scuba.
As explained in my suggested itinerary link at the
top, my personal preference is to fly out of Manila into Puerto Princesa as soon
as possible. I find absolutely nothing appealing about Manila. I heard there are
some nice rice terraces to the north, but the Philippines is so large and spread
out, and difficult to get around, that you are better off coming back other
years and explore each area separately, depending on how much time you have –
there is so much to explore. Ok, understood
Once in Puerto Princesa you can slowly make your way
north until you get to Coron, from where I suggest taking the 2Go ferry back to
Manila (or elsewhere in the Philippines). OK, we will take this ferry
to Manila You can sleep overnight on a soft bed (they have private
rooms and fancier areas as well) enjoy the live entertainment on the deck and arrive
relaxed to Manila early the next morning. I personally always find flying very
stressful. I like it, we will do that.
Leave some comments here concerning all this and
your general expectations:
Thanks fro Everything Karel, I will be waiting for your
plan to buy my plane tickets from Spin to Philippines and to Manila to Palawan.