Balabac, Palawan

[riandrew]

Remember that NatGeo's winning photo by George Tapan? It was taken in Balabac.
In case you wanna see the beauty of south Palawan...


Where is Balabac?
 - at the southernmost tip of Palawan

Travel time from Puerto Princesa to Balabac?
 - PP to Rio Tuba by van - 4hours. Rio Tuba to Balabac by passenger boat - 4hrs

Is it for everyone?
 - no, only for those who are ready for adventure. it's not the usual touristy palawan. there are only pension houses and limited food centers. electricity is not 24/7.

Is it worth it?
 - there's no contest. this is the best I've seen. if you think you've seen the best of palawan, think again. endless white sand, super clear water, pristine beach, and super cheap seafood. crab is P80/kg, tanigue at P100/kg, isang piling ng saging all for P5. hardcore!

Itinerary
Day 1 - Fly to Puerto Princesa and take van to Rio Tuba
Day 2 -  Arrive in Rio Tuba and take passenger boat to Balabac town by 9am. Alternatively, hire a private boat and go straight to Punta Sebaring. Fidel Villajos - 0999.561.4998. Travel time is 3-4 hours. Overnight in Sebaring island. No accommodation. Just basic open cottage. Restroom is available. Beware of niknik. Insect repellant wont help at all. 
Day 3 - Island hopping. Candaraman, Punta Sebaring, Mansalangan Sandbar. Overnight in Balabac town.
Day 4 - Onuk, if permitted
Day 5 - Take passenger boat by 5AM. Depart Balabac. Arrive in Puerto Princesa at late afternoon.


in case you need more details, just check my blog.

[luvko23]

sis riandrew, any tips how to avoid the niknik? June 2017 pa naman travel namin and most likely gayahin namin itinerary mo but we are with kids.

[riandrew]

sadly, hindi tumatalab lahat ng insect repellents dun. wala pa kong kakilala na hindi nagkaroon ng niknik bites.
if you want to avoid the nikniks, do not go or do not stay long sa Punta Sebaring, though ayun pa naman ang broadest shoreline.

[shegothim]

di kami natuloy last summer sana makapunta rin ako din. ang ganda ganda sa picture. lalo na siguro sa personal.

[luvko23]

Thank you sis. Pagisipan ko if itutuloy yung overnight or balik sa Balabac town. Sayang din kasi travel time especially if limited lang time period namin. If overnight, do we need to bring tents and is there fresh water available? Do we also just arrange the food with the boatman?

[riandrew]

merong open cottage sa Punta Sebaring. may fresh water at clean toilet. actually may family na nakatira dun so sila nagluluto for us. just tell the boatman what food to buy tas yung caretaker sa Sebaring na bahala magprepare. OK sana talaga except for the niknik. hehe

[naughtybrat]

Any updates sis? Planning to go this July with friends and I'm wondering if we could take the bus going to rio tuba instead of the van?
another thing is that ang na search ko na tour operator/guide/boatman ay Kap Andong, kina khan, and kuya Fidel. Any feedback (aside from riandrew note on food for kuya Fidel)? In terms of the boat sank yung may shade and comfortable and upuan, may ganun ba? iniisip ko kasi mahaba ang byahe. Noted again Riandrew about the Niknik, won't stay long/overnight quasi kagatin talaga ako ng mag insects.
Onuk Island - they are asking for 3k/head for day tour and 5k/head overnight. worth it? Ang MAHAL =(
please help. Thanks!

[luvko23]

^sis naughtybrat, we just came from Balabac a week ago. We went with Kina Kuan tour. Highly recommended ko sila. We were 8 adults and 3 kids we paid 3300 for 3d/2n tour, lunch and dinner meals. Ang daming food, lagi pa may meryenda. I'm not sure ano yung boat ng other tour operators. Based sa pics on other blogs it was quite small. But I required si Ate Helen ng medyo malaking boat.  Boat size was okay for me. Comfortable kami and may shade. First draft ng itinerary namin was overnight sa Sebaring but sinabi ni Ate Helen marami talagang niknik so we just opted to stay sa Balabac town.

Onuk island - yes ganun ang rate ngaun. We opted not to push thru kasi mahal na nga and hindi pa namin masusulit ang stay since pauwi na to kami to puerto princesa.

Day 1 - Flight to Puerto Princesa

Day 2 - Underground river. 6pm van ride to Rio Tuba. Took 5 hrs. Overnight in Rio Tuba

Day 3 - Registered for public boat to Bancalan port. Only one boat a day. No estimated time as the boat leaves whenever it is full. We left at 9am. Arrived in Bancalan port at 11:30am. Had lunch and started the tour. If I remember correct we went to Patawan Island, Canabungan Island, and Candaramanan island (Dito yung maraming maraming star fish sa mga blogs). Grabe gigantic ang star fish dito.  We finished the tour and arrived in Balabac town around 6pm.

Day 4 - We were suppose to go to Sebaring and Angela sandbar but since malayo. We went to Camiaran Island/PInk Island, snorkling near Pink Island, and swimming in the middle of the sea na low tide (I forgot the name of the place). Sobrang enjoy ang kids and kami rin adults sa swimming dito. Nakakatuwa kasi low tide in the middle of the sea.

Day 5 - We were suppose to go to Onuk, but namahalan kami and buti na rin hindi natuloy because umulan. So we went to Sebaring Island and Angela's sandbar. Hindi na ito kasama sa tour nag pa add na lang si ate helen ng gas and food. Hinatid na rin kami to Rio Tuba.

Van ride per head is Php 400. Dito lang medyo aberya, ang driver buwis buhay magmaneho. Nagbigay na ako feedback kay Ate Helen na ibang driver na irecommend niya sa tours. But aside from that 5 star rating ako with Kina Kuan tours.

Just to add, due to security issues na rin dahil malapit na sa mindanao ang Balabac, meron lagi kasama na security officer (marines ata) sa tour. Nakacivilian lang siya. I can't say ano favorite namin dahil lahat super ganda! Agree with mga sis natin and other blogs Balabac will be also my number 1 beach destination! And I'm definitely going back!

[naughtybrat]

Hindi ba nakakatakot bumyahe ng gabi pa Rio Tuba? We'll be arriving in PPS around 7:30PM ata yun, planning to go straight to Rio Tuba and stay until we can reserve the seats for the boat. May i ask where you stayed?
Sige, I'll try to ask her if we can ride a bigger boat. Malaki ba alon sis? natakot ba yung mga kids?
For the islands na hindi kasama sa tour, did you ask them to bring you there or did they offer? magkano po? para mai chika ko din =)
And yung paghatid sa Rio Tuba!! Pano mo ginawa yun sis? plan ko kasi after Onuk we'll ask them to drop us off sa Rio Tuba, since ganun sa inyo, pano sis may add'l payment? How much? I read someones blog that they paid 5k e. Sorry puro magkano tanong ko, we are 3 in our group and I'm afraid we might get short on cash kaya nagtatanong na talaga ko para alam namin magkano kailangan dalin baon.
Thank you Thank you for answering my questions. Will definitely share here our experience after =)
Excited!!

[luvko23]

^solo namin yung buong van since 8 adults kami and 3 kids. Hindi na namin napansin kasi tulog kaming lahat. Nagstay kami sa Fanz lodging, very near the port lang. 600 aircon room, 300 fan. Yung boat ni Ate Helen is okay na malaki na rin siya good for 14-16 pax. Papunta hindi maalon, pero nung pauwi umulan kasi dun medyo malakas yung wave. Hindi naman natakot mga kids.

Yung mga islands sis malalayo. Tipong travel time is 1-2 hours. Meron malalapit pero the max you can do in one day is 2-3 dahil kukulangin na talaga sa oras and bawat island sobrang enjoy.  Sabi sa amin ni ate helen kung ano kasya sa buong araw kasama sa tour package. Wala na kami additional except nung pauwi na kami since extra day na yun.

If you plan to go to Onuk then pahatid sa Rio Tuba, babayaran niyo yung gas. Depende kasi sa rate ng gas nila ngaun paiba iba.. Last week 5k ang one way. If three lang kayo medyo mapapamahal nga kayo. Onuk to Rio Tuba around 3-4 hours travel time.

Overall ang ganda talaga sa Balabac, medyo pricey lang talaga if hindi kayo malaking group. Babalik ulit kami for Onuk and some other islands na di pa napuntahan and yung iba gusto ulit namin balikan.

[naughtybrat]

Noted. Thank you so so much

[audioscience]

Can't wait to visit Balabac this coming November! Hopefully, di masyado maalon