Beach Overdose Trip (An Overview)

"Trust me, it's paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed.  For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts, you know what? It's probably worth it."  - The Beach (film)

Hidden Beach, El Nido, Palawan
Map Source Edited by Arni
Philippines is a country that cannot be explored in one trip. An archipelago of 7,107 islands. The sites are so spread out and it's wise to stay in one region at a time to fully enjoy the experience. 

We met a lovely  lady from Wales named Siobhan who's traveling alone in Palawan for two weeks during her vacation. She's based in Brunei teaching English and she mentioned that, "Philippines is one of those places where you keep coming back to visit."

Matinloc Island, El Nido, Bacuit Archipelago

If ever you spare two -three weeks of your vacation looking for a trip that will give you a daily dose of breathtaking sea, adventure, coconuts and seafood, this is the itinerary for you my friend.


Itinerary A : Beach Overdose Loop  (Highly recommended)
Duration: Three Weeks


Manila to (1) Busuanga / Coron by plane - By boat from Coron to (2) El Nido - (3) San Vicente 14 km Long Beach - (4) Port Barton - (5) Sabang - (6) Puerto Princesa - Manila
* We have visited Coron separately two years ago and we fell in love with the place.


Itinerary B: Beach in Large Doses Loop (What we did)
Duration: More than Two weeks (16 days)


Manila  to (1) Puerto Princesa  (2) El Nido - Northern Tip of El Nido- (3) San Vicente 14km Long Beach - (4)Port Barton - (5) Sabang - Puerto Princesa - Manila


Here's an overview of our Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Manila

Day 2: Manila to Puerto Princesa
Puerto Princesa (PP) is the capital of Palawan. The domestic flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa is an hour. We booked our flights online via Cebu Pacific several weeks before our trip. We found a cheap promotional air fare online, so be on the lookout. There are other airlines flying to PP (Puerto Princesa) such as Zest Air and PAL Express formerly known as Air Philippines.

Day 3:  City Tour of Puerto Princesa on a Moped.

Day 4: 6- Hour Bus Trip to El Nido and How to Get There 
Day 5: El Nido Island Hopping
Day 6: A Day Out in the Sea
Day 7: Exploring the northern beaches of El Nido on a motorcycle ( Nacpan and Dagmay Beach) and the Rice Paddies

Day 8: 4-5 Hour Bus Trips to San Vicente Poblacion
Day 9: San Vicente: Full day visit to the 14 kilometer Long Beach and neighboring towns
Day 10: San Vicente Town & 1 hour Boat Ride to Port Barton
Day 11: Port Barton Island Hopping - Coconut Garden Island, Twin Reef Snorkelling, German Island and Double Reef Snorkelling
Day 12:   Port Barton Jeepney Ride to Sabang

Day 13:  Chillout Day at the pool in Sabang

Day 14:  Underground River Tour and Jeepney Ride to Puerto Princesa

Day 15:  The End. :(  Puerto Princesa flight back to Manila

We decided to skip some popular sites like Ugong Rock in Sabang, Honda Bay in Puerto Princesa and some trips down south to visit Tabon Caves. There were days when we just wanted to relax at the beach or in a pool in exchange for visits to mentioned places. 

On a personal note:


You might notice that this blog is slowly going through a slight shift in becoming more information driven while gladly sharing our future adventure and experience in a new project. 

My husband and I are planning to move to the Philippines for good. We're in the hunt for a land where we can settle. Remember that post sometime back about Finding Home? I've been extensively traveling throughout the islands to search for that place and we finally narrowed it down to where that might be. Palawan. We initially planned to set up a small family-run guest house for backpackers.


Boy, that didn't work out, because we realized the complexity of setting one up there. Then we thought of setting up a restaurant and backed out after watching all episodes of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares :))) . No seriously, the location we have selected would not be feasible after studying the tourists there. The restaurant should either be right at the heart of town or the restaurant is part of a hotel if the location is slightly away.  We thought of another endeavor and there were land limitations. 

A year later, we ended up in Cebu. Here we are finally settled.

It's funny when I said "I'm never coming back." aboard the plane ten years ago, while watching the city disappear below. I ate my words. When I came home for that unplanned trip last December, it made me realize that I have an unfinished business in my country and it's calling me to return.

I'd be happy to answer questions or information request --email me at arniderivera@gmail.com

Have a lovely day!
XOXO,
Arni





You Might Also Like

3 comments

  1. I can certainly understand why the Philippines is a place that you'd come back to over and over. There's so much to see, and it's all so beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, that place looks stunning. And how exciting for your plans to move there and set up a guesthouse!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had actually notice that your blog is being loading with information about travelling around Philippines but it's still really nice to read and I like that you still write somewhat more "experience posts" in between every now and then.

    That's a really great adventure to begin, running your own guest house with your husband, I wish you all the best and hope to see part of the making-of here :)

    ReplyDelete