October 27, 2010 (Wednesday) - Last day in Puerto Princesa (T.T) Since we'll be ending the trip tonight, we still the time to do something that will leave us MORE good memories. And tuhdaa (*.*), we decided to do the famous Honda Bay Island hopping on the first half of the day and before we step on the plane back to Manila, we need to stop by the city for some "Pasalubong" (Souvenir bought for family and friends). !Shopping! :)))
| Time | What? | Price | Additional Notes |
| 6:00am | Breakfast at De Loro Inn + Prepare for Island Hopping | | |
| 7:00am | Depart for Sta. Lourdes Wharf (Honda Bay) | Tricycle: P500/2 way | Don’t forget to ask Manong tricycle driver to come back at 1:00pm |
| 7:30am | ETA in Sta. Lourdes Wharf + Rent a boat | Boat: P1300/boat [good for 4 persons] Sta. Lourdes Wharf Terminal Fee: P21/person | |
| | ISLAND HOPPING: Pandan Island Snake Island + Lunch Pambato Coral Reef | Island Entrance Fees: Pandan Island – P25 Snake Island – Free Pambato Coral Reef (not an island XP) – P50 [Other islands: Starfish Island – P50 Cowrie Island – P25 Luli island – P50 (Lulubog-Lilitaw) Dos Palmas – P500 (30 mins.) Senorita Island (Lapu-Lapu) Meara Marina Bat Island] | Bring Snorkelling Gadgets |
| 1:00pm | ETD for De Loro Inn | | |
| 1:30pm | ETA in De Loro inn + Prepare for check-out | | |
| 3:00pm | Check-out in De Loro Inn + Pasalubong Shopping + Visit the Palawan Museum and Immaculate Conception Church + Buy Take-out dinner + Go to the airport | Tricycle: P200 (arrangement made with the Tricycle Driver) | If you choose to arrange with the driver, the driver will wait for you guys in every stop so you can leave your baggage with him. (The crime rate in Puerto Princesa is very low so no worries needed when leaving things with the driver =)) |
| 5:00pm | Check in at Puerto Princesa International Airport | | |
| 7:00pm | ETD for Manila | | |
| 8:15pm | ETA in Manila | | |
The Honda Bay Island Tour costs P1,200/person if you got it arranged by a travel agency or your accommodation.
We did a DYI tour since it's cheaper. The night before the Honda Bay Island Hopping Trip, we made an arrangement with the tricycle we rode on our way home from Kalui. We asked him if he does arrangements and how much will he charge us. According to Eric, the tricycle driver, it will cost P500. I actually thought that it's only P300 (from some a blog I read beforehand) but since we were all tired to find another tricycle, we all agreed to have the arrangement with him. We asked him to fetch us at 7 in the morning. It's also advisable to get his cellphone number.
Kuya Eric was on time but we got off from the inn at 7:15am in the morning wearing our swimming attire. The travel time from the city to the Honda Bay Wharf is around 30 minutes, so we got there at around 7:45am. We reminded Kuya Eric to get back at 1PM and headed at the terminal desk where you can arrange your boat and rent snorkeling things in case you weren't able to bring one.
The boat costs P1300 (good for 4 person) or P1500 (good for 5 - 6 person). I think its P200 per additional person, I'm not sure though. There's also a terminal fee of P21/person.
Beside the desk, there are stores selling snacks. You can buy bread there for fish feeding in the islands. One store sells underwater camera packs which I think is a must especially when you're planning to go to Pambato Reef.
After the booking of the boat, the boatmen will lead you to the boat. Since we are limited with time, the boatman recommended that we go to 3 islands: Pandan, Snake and Starfish. But since me and my brother loves snorkeling, instead of the starfish island, we asked the boatmen for Pambato Reef.
PANDAN ISLAND - 30 minutes from the Wharf
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| Isla Pandan Resort |
There are lots of trees in the island. The sand in there is fine. The water is clear and clean. You can start your fish feeding here, there are small fishes swimming around the island.
However, we only stayed in the island for 30 minutes to take some pictures.
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| Large Trees |
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| Great Scene at Pandan Island |
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| Star Fish |
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| Tiny Fishes |
SNAKE ISLAND
The island is not infested with snakes. It's called snake island because it is a sand bar shaped like a snake. A must do things here are definitely Fish Feeding and Snorkeling. The entrance in the island is free.
LOTS OF FISHES IN HERE! The moment you throw your pieces of bread, school of fishes will rapidly attack the bread. I really had fun here because it was the first time seeing so many fishes swim around me.
If you're not a good swimmer, make sure to wear a life vest because the sea floor is steep (?) Just a few step from the shore and you'll find the water high. Got it? I sure hope you do.
Snorkeling is also fun in here especially when you go a little far from the shore, you'll find different kinds of fishes, no corals though. Try to bring bread during snorkeling to have a closer look on the fishes.
After making ourselves tired from swimming, we bought fresh fish (Samaral) and our nice boatmen broiled it for us. You can also buy cooked rice there. And if you're not a fan of seafood, they also sell pork chops there.
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| Fish Feeding |
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| Fish Feeding |
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| FISH! |
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| FISHES! |
We got off the island at 11:30am and head to Pambato Reef which is 15 minutes near the wharf.
PAMBATO REEF
Yeah! Coral Reefs! The entrance fee is P50 but it's worth it! However, the people who manages the reef is kind of strict but it's for the maintenance of the reef. Some rules they have include: Everyone is required to wear a life vest when snorkeling, no one should step on the corals, and the reef is closed during low tides (because you won't be able to swim without hitting the corals).
We were lucky that when we got there it wasn't low tide. It was my first time to snorkel in a coral reef so I was really amazed when I saw the life under the water. There are harmless jelly fish that almost made me panicked, hehe, but as mentioned, they're harmless, thank god. I don't know how to explain what I saw in there but I highly recommend that you see it for yourself! The corals were alive! Though the higher ones are dead, maybe because during low tide, they are exposed to the sun. There are also different life forms in there. Really cool. But according to the boatmen, it's better to go there on a summer because the water is clearer.
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| CORALS @ Pambato Reef |
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| CORALS @ Pambato Reef |
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| CORALS @ Pambato Reef |
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| CORALS @ Pambato Reef |
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| Floating Cottage at Pambato Reef |
At 12.45pm, we were on our way back to the wharf with wet clothes because there are no changing rooms in the reef (obviously). There are changing rooms at the wharf but my brother doesn't recommend it so we decided to go home without changing which was not a problem. But before anything else, I have to give praise to the boatmen who did a great job. They were gentlemen who would help you with almost anything. If you want a snorkeling buddy, they would even help you with that. And like what I said, they would even cook lunch for you, haha! Thank You So Much guys! :)))))
We arrived at the wharf at 1pm and it started raining, and there was Kuya Eric waiting. He brought us to our inn and we paid him the P500 upon arrival at our accommodation. We also made another arrangement with him so that we still go buy Pasalubong with our baggage in hand (after checking out at the hotel). He agreed to stop by at the De Loro inn at 3pm to fetch us.
(Reminder: double check with your accommodation regarding your check-out time to prevent additional payments, our accommodation allowed us to stay until 3pm)
After changing our clothes and fixing our things, we checked out at the Inn. We had some problems with the Inn (see De Loro Inn review - to be followed), but in the end we were still able to get to Tiangge, Tiangge at the city to shop for pasalubong. I love that place because I love native things. You find there many sort of things from dried fish to pearls to to clothes and native things like bags.
TIP: Bargain or Ask for discounts when buying at the Tiannge especially when your bulk buying. :)
After the shopping, we headed to the Palawan Museum. I'm fond of museums since I'm an Anthropology Major, so we really intended to go there. I won't go into detail about the museum because I know that there are those who yawn at the idea of museums. But if you are interested with Manunggul Jars (Secondary Burial Jars), Tabon Man, and the like, the Palawan Museum is a must. I liked it there. After the museum, we went to the Immaculate Conception Church, to offer some thanksgiving prayer for the wonderful trip. The church is so blue (color). Nice! Our last stop was Jollibee (FYI, there are no McDonald's in Puerto Princesa) to get something for dinner. We find airport food expensive, so we just had to make a take-out.
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| Manunggul Jar |
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| Tabon Man Skull Cap |
Our flight was at night and Manila was surely a sight from the sky. Our flight was almost nothing but darkness. The moment we saw the the lights, we knew we were home, Manila.
