It's our third day at Puerto Princesa and it's time for some island hopping! We were picked up by my girfriend's family van and went straight to Honda Bay. There's no need to get a packaged tour for Honda Bay Island Hopping, all you need to do is find a ride to get there, either by tricycle or van, rent a boat for the day and you're all set. We rented a boat for Php1,300, rented a few snorkeling gears, bought some bread for fish feeding and then we're off!



After a short boat ride, we arrived at our first island destination, Isla Pandan.

Go Family at Isla Pandan

Strong man

Isla Panda is a big island and offers picnic tables and huts for rent. We were offered some fresh catch to be grilled and enjoyed it together with our packed lunch. We stayed at Isla Pandan for quite a while. My mother had a refreshing massage while the rest of us enjoyed the clear waters. A few meters from the beach, you can enjoy some snorkeling and fish feeding as guided by your boatman for no extra charge. After swimming, our boatman was eager to teach us some camera tricks that my father enjoyed. Our boatman was very proud of his tricks asking us if such were taught in Boracay. Palawan pride in the hizouse!


Next stop was Pambato Coral Reef. We docked on a floating platform and enjoyed circling around, snorkeling through the multi-colored coral reefs.


After 20 minutes of snorkeling, we headed next to Luli Island, named as such since the island is "Lulubog, Lilitaw," only visible when low-tide. Unfortunately, Snake Island was closed for some reason and Luli Island became our last stop.

Luli Island

Back in the city, my girlfriend recommended we try Halo-Halo at Nokinocs, just opposite of the Provincial Capitol. Their halo-halo costs Php75 and will give the famous Razon's a run for it's money. Their burgers and pasta aren't bad as well, making Nokinocs a great place for merienda.

Entrance at KaLui

We headed back to the pension house to get some rest and by 8PM we went to Kalui. Almost everyone who's been to Puerto Princesa recommend the place. The food is unique but we never really understood what the buzz was all about. Maybe it's the experience, eating barefoot, sitting on the floor or maybe we expected too much that we were not that impressed. To cap our Palawan trip however, we dropped by Kinabuch's to get my hands on Palawan's delicacy, the Tamilok (Wood worm). It tastes much lake talaba (oysters) but is much sweeter with a hint of wood.


For all our expenses compared to packaged tours, click here.

Tamilok