Travel Philippines

Calamianes Group of islands is located in the northern part of Palawan, Philippines. It consists of Busuanga (largest island), Coron and Culion Islands.

How to get to Busuanga from Manila:

By Plane, daily:

South East Asian Airlines
Asian Spirit
PAL Express
CEBU Pacific

By Ferry, twice a week:

Negros Navigation
Super Ferry
Super Ferry’s schedule: Manila - Coron every Thursday & Friday afternoon
Super Ferry’s schedule: Coron - Manila, every Saturday & Sunday

What’s confusing is Coron Town is located in Busuanga Island instead in Coron Island.

Coron is a haven for wreck divers because you can find a lot of World War 2 Japanese ship wrecks around the area. It is actually considered as one of the best wreck diving sites in the world! So be sure you have your snorkeling, diving and underwater cameras ready because you’ll do a lot of island hopping!

For those who doesn’t want to go island hopping, you can visit Culion Island where you can find the former leper Colony, climb the 786 steps of Mt. Tapyas, have a dip in the 40 deg. celcius water of Maquinit Hot Spring, or see different African animals in the Calauit Game Reserve & Wildlife Sanctuary.

Our family (my hubby, parents-in-law, and our baby) went to Coron Last November 25 - 29. This was taken while we were waiting in the NEW NAIA Terminal 3.

Before, only small planes like Sea Air and Asian Spirit can land in Busuanga. Since the renovation of their airport, planes from Cebu Pacific and PAL (Air Philippines) can now cater flights going to Busuanga. As you can see this is not the typical Cebu Pacific plane because it is smaller and you can see the propeller outside.

The plane is just small so the entrance is just a few feet above the ground.

Honestly, I was scared when I saw the plane’s size. I was just relieved when we landed safely in Busuanga. Upon arrival, you will just wait for the small truck to drop off your baggages. As usual always be alert in looking after your bags!

Ka Lui

If you plan on eating out in Puerto Princesa, dining in Ka Lui is a must! It  is like 15-20 minutes walk from Asturias Hotel but you can always take a tricycle! It is the only place that I’ve been to where you will eat bear footed! You need to leave your shoes/slippers before you can enter the dining area. If there’s one complaint that I have though is they have a limited menu. But even if it’s limited, their food, ambiance and friendly staff are all superb! They only serve the freshest seafood, fruits and vegetables! Try the Ka Lui Special which is a set meal that includes clam soup, vegetable, fish, shrimp tuna and fruit shake.

TIP: Be sure to reserve a seat before going there because its running out fast!

We're barefootin'

Ka Lui is located in 369 Rizal Avenue, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

We had one of our lunch in Balinsasayaw Inato and Grill Restaurant.  We heard from one of the couples in our tours that it is famous for their Nido soup, so we ordered one. The serving is big enough for two but the taste is just ok for me. I don’t know why, probably because I’m not a Nido soup fan??!! hehehe… Same goes with the other food that we ordered… The ambiance is good though because we dine in one of their nipa huts!

Kinabuchs Grill and bar is also a must try if you want to hang out and have a drink! The nipa huts plus the dim lights makes the place romantic. Kinabuchs is famous for exotic food like the Tamilok! Since my hubby and I are not brave enough to try this, we just opted for gising-gising (literal translation: wake up-wake up) which is like bicol express but a lot spicy!

TIP: Be sure to apply mosquito repellant before you go there at night because it’s an open area. Although they have mosquito trap lamp (the one with purple lights) under their tables, it is still safe to apply a mosquito repellant!

We stayed in Asturias Hotel during our vacation in Puerto Princesa. Their room is great for the price. Sorry, we were too tired to take pictures of our room! LOL! Their food is also great not only because it’s on buffet but also the quality is ok.  Even if they’re on buffet, be sure to give room for food outside the hotel! They serve Filipino and Western food so we were always on fiesta mode whenever we eat there.

Front of Asturias

These shots were taken while we were waiting for our van to arrive.

For those who still want to take a dip after a whole day tour, you can do so with their pool.

Swimming Pool

Although it’s not part of our itinerary, we tried to take intro dive in Dos Palmas. This was our first time to dive and we loved it! The funny thing is, I don’t know how to swim! But I know how to float though! LOL! According to our dive instructor, it’s ok to dive even if I don’t know how to swim. I just have to know the basics of diving. Hand signals is the only means of communication while you’re under water. So before we went to the ocean, we were taught basic hand signals & how to neutralize properly. In diving, thumbs up doesn’t mean everything is ok but it means you want to go up. Thumbs down if you want to go down.

Here are the other diving hand signals:

• Circle with thumb and index finger, while keeping middle finger straight = “I’m OK” or “Are you OK?”
• “Cutting” or “chopping” throat with a flat hand = “I’m out of air”.
• Wobbling a flat hand = “I have a minor problem”
• Waving the forearm in a wide arc = “emergency!”
• Hugging chest = “I am cold!”
• Hands indicating rising and falling chest = “I am out of breath!”
• Repeatedly clenching and unclenching fist = “I have cramp”
• Shrugging shoulders, arms bent, palms up = “I don’t know” or “I don’t understand”
• Index fingers of both hands extended, brought together repeatedly = “let’s buddy up”

OK! :)

me and the puffer fish

Look! It's nemo!

parrot fish

here... fishy fishy...

Hopefully, we could take up our open water dive certification next year!

Dos Palmas is located in Arreceffi Island, one of the islands in Honda Bay, Palawan. As you can see on the map below, it is just beside Snake Island. It is named as Dos Palmas because of the two tall palm trees in the island. But when we were there, there’s only one tall palm tree left. They have to cut the other one because it might cause accidents on the villa just beside the tree.

We just took the day tour to Dos Palmas because an overnight stay in the island won’t fit our budget!

From afar you will already hear the sound of Kulintang played by their staff. They play this instrument to welcome you and to say farewell. Your boat will dock just below this docking station. From here, you can already see some fishes swimming around because the water is so clear!

Dos Palmas dock

front desk

resting in a hammock

nice view of their bay cottage rooms

resting in one of their huts

Welcome to our Hacienda! (there's a shop at the back)

dos palmas' pool

This is where you can have your relaxing spa!

place for pampering

You can also do kayaking along the mangroves. My hubby is taking this photo from my back because I’m afraid to go on kayak alone!

Kayaking along the mangroves

This is the entrance and the exit of Dos Palmas. The cottages at the back are their bay cottages. Perfect for honeymooners!

bridgeway

front of mitra's ranch

The ranch is located on top of a hill overlooking the famous Honda Bay.

my hubby

Just a few minutes away from the Butterfly Park is Baker’s hill. It is a bakery, playground and super mini zoo in one! I’ve read from somewhere that their best seller is the Hopiang Ube but we didn’t tried it. We just bought cashew nuts because its my favorite! We didn’t stay there for long. We just took our photos and went back to the van.

On the way to our trip to the Underground River, we stopped by Buenavista Viewdeck. From here, you’ll have a good view of Ulugan bay.

Ulugan bay is a deep channel on the central western coast of Puerto Princesa. Inside the bay is Rita Island, a popular dive spot, Tres Maria’s, a cluster of three islets stand guard at the mount of the bay.

Local communities offer bay tours and adventurous eco-tourism activities. See lush mangrove forests amid a river cruise that will bring you to a Mangrove Foot walk Interpretive Area in bahile, or hit the water falls at kayulo after a short riverside forest trek.

Out into the bay, swim and snorkel into a number of coral reefs and peek into a colorful marine life. Delight the spectacular views of the surrounding seascape and mountains as you savor a picnic lunch at Isla Rita or in beach cove in Buena Vista.

The bay itself comprises more than 7,000 hectares, with, more than 110 kilometers of coastline characterized by small islands and inlets. Mangroves cover about 790 hectares and act as important breeding grounds and nurseries for diverse range of fishes and other marine life.

Ulugan Bay’s community-based eco-tourism activities link conservation and sustainable tourism, with the local people and the environment as the main beneficiaries

Ulugan Bay