Puerto Princesa: The Baywalk

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The hotel we stayed in while in Puerto Princesa, Puerto Pension, had this restaurant on its highest floor. And since the hotel sits on top of a hill overlooking the Puerto Princesa Baywalk, the restaurant had a 360-degree view of the place. This view was what greeted us in the morning for breakfast. It was perfect.



This gave me the idea that maybe, I could shoot one of Palawan's famous sunsets from the Baywalk. However, on our boat ride back from exploring Honda Bay, we could see ominous rain clouds in the distance. I guess I would have to wait another time, another trip, before I get another chance to capture a Palaweño sunset. I was not hopeful, to say the least.


Still, though tired from all the beaches we visited the entire day, I dragged myself onto Puerto Princesa's Baywalk, just a few meters from our hotel. It was really cloudy that afternoon. Plus, I was not even sure if the the city's baywalk had sunsets, if it faces west. I went there still, tried to capture whatever was worth capturing.



Most of the people I saw on the baywalk were locals. The baywalk concludes their long day, I guess. I was about to conclude mine as well when I suddenly saw the colors of the "magic hour" come my way. Puerto Princesa's Baywalk do get sunsets, I was very happy to discover.


In my travels, I notice that a place rewards most those who are open enough and patient enough to stay with her. The point of traveling, I think, is for the traveler to open himself or herself up to new experiences, new sights, new people. You do miss a lot when you stay inside your comfort zones during your travels. Like this Puerto Princesa sunset, I am glad I witnessed it.

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Puerto Princesa: Honda Bay

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It was rainy the previous two days. So we were really banking on what locals were telling us that because Honda Bay was on the side of Palawan facing Sulu Sea, a much smaller body of water than the South China Sea on the other side, Honda Bay gets little to no rain. Thankfully, local knowledge didn't fail us.


Again, tour operators in Puerto Princesa are sort of centralized. Your hotel reception will know the people to contact to get you into a tour group and the people in charge in the tour group will know the procedures, permits to get, etc. Puerto Princesa is well set up for tourism like that.


The tour group we were on picked us up by van from our hotel and took us to the Honda Bay Port. On the port, our guide registers at the tourism desk and orders us a boat. A few minutes later, we were off.


Honda Bay is a relatively big body of water and the destinations, the islands we were hopping to, were sprawled around a wide area of sea. There were basically three destinations with one or two pit stops. The first, a pit stop, was Luli Island, named so because depending on the tides, it surfaces or it sinks. In Tagalog, lumulubog, lumilitaw. It was high tide when we got to Luli. Basically, we just passed through it.


Now, at this point, I may have already concluded that Puerto Princesa is a very touristy destination, which, I know, does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. It makes for a very easy-to-organize, safe family vacation. You would clearly feel that touristy air in this Honda Bay Island Hopping tour. More so, I think, in our next destination, Starfish Island.


Being Starfish Island, I would have guessed that there would be a lot of starfish on the beach here. I did not find any. The boatmen had some with them and apparently, the popular activity here was the distorted perspective photo-op thing. The photographer holds the starfish close to the camera while you, standing at a distance, pose like you're holding a giant starfish above your head. Something the kids would enjoy, I think.



Starsfish Island makes for a good swim, though. The water is crystal-clear and calm. It does entice you to get in and enjoy. The sand is white and fine, too. And the island had a long, partly submerged sandbar, which I always like.


We left Starfish Island at around 11:30 a.m., just in time for lunch at the next island destination, Snake Island. No, the island was not home to a huge population of snakes. Rather, the shape of it, the beach and the sandbar, snakes through the water.


Our guide told us to do whatever we want (beach bum, swim, snorkel, whatever), while she prepares the lunch. Yes, lunch is included in the tour cost. And what was lunch? Fresh, freshly grilled fish, shrimps and liempo with adobo eggplant on the side. The kind of foods that tastes best when eaten on a beach.


We stayed the longest on Snake Island, I think. Because after lunch, being full and all, nobody wanted to do anything, naturally. So, we walked further from the beach, settled on a sand bar away from the crowd, and had our this-is-the-life moment. It was sweet.


The last island we were to visit on this trip was Pandan Island. Our guide tells us that this is where a lot of colorful fish and coral reefs are located, the best site yet for snorkeling. Local knowledge succeeded again. At this point, I decided to put down my camera and enjoy the beach one last time. It would be a while before I go to another one. I am glad I made the right decision.

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