Puerto Princesa, Palawan Honda Bay Tour

We just boarded our boat.

On our third day, we decided to take the offer of the tricycle driver again (Mang Lito - 09184397471) for the Honda Bay tour. Because there were four of us (Peachie and her sister Marichit were with us), instead of paying Casa Linda P900 each, we only paid the driver P400 for transfers from Casa Linda to Pier and back again, then paid P1,100 for the boat that will bring us to three islands - Pandan, Snake & Starfish. Solo namin ang boat and kami ang bahala sa time. Unlike if we were part of a package tour, nakadepended sa tour guide ang sked namin. And since it was not a package tour, it was up to us to prepare or buy our own food. It’s a good thing that the driver of yesterday’s Underground River tour, Kuya Nervon (09059681215), was very nice to us. He knew someone who caters and so we were able to order food for P200 each consisting of 5 dishes (fried shrimps, fried chicken, squid, kinilaw na tangigue, chopsuey, rice, softdrinks, water and fruits).

  

In the middle of the sea, we saw the mangrove forest on our left and this lone native house on stilts on our right. 

By 7am, Kuya Nervon dropped our food  baskets at Casa Linda. By 7:30 am, Mang Lito was already outside waiting for us. By 8am, we were the first batch of tourists to arrive at the pier and so we were able to get a nice boat exclusively for our group only. Our first destination? Pandan Island.

 

Pandan Island from afar….             Arriving at our first destination… 

 

Welcome to PANDAN ISLAND…! 

Pandan Island is the biggest among the three. It has cabanas and kubos where visitors can rest and eat. The sand is white, fine and solid. And the water was crystal clear. We saw a lot of fish swimming around  and we couldn’t wait to snorkel.  Farther away from the beach are seagrasses and starfishes.  It was kinda scary at first but we were able to manage.

 

We immediately hit the waters and played with the starfish we saw lying around… 

 

 

 

Below are Peter’s fantastic underwater shots: 

 

 

 

Next stop was Snake Island. This island is indeed shaped like a snake. On its right side are mangrove trees and to its left is the deep blue sea. We noticed some tourists playing with their kites only to find out after a closer look that they were KITE BOARDING. Awesome!!!! Too bad buying that kind of kite board cost more than P100,000! Over! It was fun to look at it, though.

 

Welcome to SNAKE ISLAND…! 

 

On our left is the deep blue sea while on our right is the shallow waters where mangroves thrive. 

 

Burn, baby, burn! 

 

This kite board may seem small from afar but once on the ground, it’s huge baby! 

 

Bikini Beach Bums 

Our last stop was Starfish Island. This is just a piece of island that has an irregular shape. Maybe this is the reason why it’s called starfish.

 

Welcome to STARFISH ISLAND…! 

For the first time in my beach hopping life, I saw dead sand dollars. They were so cute! A live sand dollar would look like this (c/o google pictures):  

 
close up view of a live sand dollar on the left  and a sand dollar bed on the right…

But what I saw were dead ones. So I picked up as many as I could hold on to and brought them home with me. They’re now displayed on our Narra table at home.

 

My sand dollars are now placed on our narra table beside my Taal Volcano rocks and Quartz Crystals from Hoyop-Hoyopan Caves in Sorsogon.

  

We stayed there unil 5pm, hoping to watch the sun go down. But we couldn’t wait for the sun to finally set coz it’ll be dark by then and the waves might be dangerous for our little boat.

 

Enjoying the setting sun in the horizon… 

We were back at Casa Linda before 6pm. In the evening, we spent our last few pesos dining at Ka Lui’s, Puerto Princesa’s most famous restaurant. They sell exotic food like Stingray and eels at a very affordable price. And their serving was really huge! They even gave us complimentary fruit salad on buko. How nice!

 

 

Ka Lui’s require guests to take off their shoes/tsinelas before entering their beautiful restuarant adorned with native decors… 

 

  

Sipping my watermelon shake while Peter was still choosing from the menu. 

  

 Seafood Sisig (P130) and Fish Cordon Bleue (150)

 

Sinigang Tanguige good for 4 pax for only P150 and their complimentary fruit salad on buko. 

The next day, it was time to go back to Manila. I enjoyed this trip so much despite of some hassles that came. I feel like I want to live there in Puerto Princesa. A city that is so clean and refreshing with people who are so hospitable and caring. I’ll definitely miss this place!

 

Waiting for our flight to Manila  

 

Bye-bye Puerto Princesa! Hope to visit you again soon! 

 

P.S.

We could’ve opted to spend an entire day at Dos Palmas (0484343119/0484343118) instead. Normally, it charges P1800 each for transfers,packed lunch, use of facilities like kayak, beach, billiards, volleyball, etc (except swimming pool & jacuzzi). But on peak season, they add a surcharge fee of P500.00. Maybe, on my  next visit.