Palawan, the last frontier

Palawan is an archipelago and a province located about an hour's flight from Manila. It has 1,780 islands and islets and is the biggest province of the Philippines in terms of land area. The province boasts of two UNESCO world heritage sites, the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park and the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (formerly known as St Paul Underground River). Of the two, Rachel and I only managed to visit the underground river, which is about 21 kms long and about 42 kms in actual size (according to the most recent explorations done by a team from Italy, according to our guide). Of the 21 kms, one can only see and navigate by riding on a banca up to about 4.3 kms. The rest one has to go diving to be able to see the whole underground river. It was truly an amazing sight to see and quite an unforgetable experience. I am truly proud to say that this amazing sight is part of our country's natural resources. And I am more proud because Palawenos have become truly 'green' and are preserving this site and all the other beautiful islands and beaches that make up the whole province.

I was also happy to have read that the National Geographic Traveler magazine has rated Palawan as the best island destination in East and Southeast Asia in 2007, beating Bali and the islands of Thailand. Yehey! Truly something to be proud of.

Some of the must things to do while in Palawan?

Visit the white pristine beaches of Puerto Princesa
Visit Honda Bay and do not forget to do snorkeling and visit the Starfish Island and the Lowly Island (Lulubog Lilitaw Island)
Visit the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
Visit Baker's Hill and sample the mais con hielo (very nice after a warm sunny afternoon)
Eat at Kah Lui (nice ambience and reasonably priced and v fresh and good tasting seafood)
Get out of Puerto and visit other towns like Taytay, El Nido, Busuanga (if time permits), Cuyo Island
Go for dolphin watching (hopefully you will have better luck than us and the dolphins will be in a better mood)


But do not take anything from the islands and please leave the starfishes alone in the water! They do not need to be picked up and photographed by us!


I visited Palawan with Rachel from 22 April to 25 April 2008