Puerto Princesa Adventures: Summary of Expenses

Here's a table summary of the expenses hubby and I incurred during our 4 days/3 nights Puerto Princesa adventure. I excluded from here items that I thought were not relevant, namely airfare and the stuff we bought for our loved ones at home as pasalubongs. Hope this helps you in planning your own Puerto Princesa adventure!

Honda Bay Tour: Island Hopping and Snorkeling

Day 3: Honda Bay Island Hopping

We were fetched by the van early in the morning for our Honda Bay tour. This was part of the tour that was offered to us by the 3B's agency, which we got for Php1150 each. Standard Honda Bay Island hopping tour currently costs Php1300.

Puerto Princesa City Tour Part 2: Baywalk Park

Day 3: City Tour Part 2

Baywalk Park

After having our merienda of chaolong at Sweet Ambet's, we then walked towards the Baywalk Park. This is Palawan's version of Manila's Baywalk along Roxas Blvd., sans the noise and pollution. This promenade stretches parallel to Malvar St., beside the port area. It has several benches where people can pass their time, peacock-like lamposts with colorful lights and several fish-figure accents lining the bay.

Sweet Ambet's: Puerto Princesa Restaurants

Day 3:  Merienda at Sweet Ambet's

After dropping by Immaculate Conception Cathedral and Plaza Cuartel, we walked around in search for a place where we can eat merienda. We passed by Sweet Ambet's signage and we went in to have a taste of its chaolong.

Puerto Princesa Underground River: Touring Our New7Wonders of Nature



Day 2: Underground River Tour



Stalactite formations, Underground River, Palawan



 

As the Baywalk is just a 5- to 10-minute walk from Aniceto's Pension House, we decided to go jogging at 6am. There, we saw a manong selling taho so we bought some. It was my first time to eat taho with condensed milk on top. It started to rain shortly after so we had to go back, have our breakfast and prepare for our Underground River (UR) tour.



Puerto Princesa City Tour Part 2: Plaza Cuartel

Day 3: City Tour Part 2

Plaza Cuartel


Just across the Immaculate Conception Cathedral is Plaza Cuartel, a very historic place not only for Filipinos, but for Americans as well.

Plaza Cuartel entrance

Puerto Princesa City Tour Part 2: Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Day 3: City Tour Part 2 

Immaculate Conception Cathedral

Since we were not able to finish our City Tour on our first day, we decided to visit the remaining stops ourselves after our Honda Bay Island Hopping tour. Being near Aniceto's Pension House, we started off by walking towards the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. 

KaLui Restaurant: Puerto Princesa Restaurants

 

 Day 3: Dinner at KaLui Restaurant



Behind the gates of KaLui



After our long day of having the Honda Bay Island Hopping tour and Part 2 of the City tour, it was time for dinner. We already called KaLui Restaurant the day before for our 8 pm reservations, their second batch of serving dinner. Their first batch was at 6pm, and we found it too early since we planned on doing the remaining stops of the City tour we had missed that afternoon.

Kinabuchs Grill and Bar: Puerto Princesa Restaurants

Day 2: Dinner at Kinabuchs Grill and Bar

Kinabuchs Bar

We decided to have dinner at Kinabuchs Grill and Bar after our Underground River Tour. This is one of the most famous restaurants in Puerto Princesa, being one of the few restaurants serving crocodile meat and tamilok, a local delicacy. Its name was derived from 2 words: kina (at) and Butch (the name of the owner), literally meaning at Butch's place.

Puerto Princesa City Tour: Mitra's Ranch and the rest

Day 1: Puerto Princesa City Tour

Mitra's Ranch

By the time we were done with the zipline activities at Irawan Eco-Park, it was raining quite heavily so we just breezed through the remaining stops of the City Tour. Our next stop was at the Rancho Sta. Monica or Mitra's Ranch, as it is commonly called. Basically, it's a ranch owned by former Senator Ramon Mitra in the uphill area of Sta. Monica.

Puerto Princessa City Tour: Irawan Eco-Park, Asia's Longest Canopy Zipline

Day 1: Puerto Princesa City Tour

Irawan Eco-Park

  

From Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center, we proceeded to our next stop, the Irawan Eco-Park, home of Asia's Longest Canopy Zipline. The location of the Irawan Eco-Park is not that far from the Crocodile Farm. We first stopped by Hacienda Breboneria, which houses the Irawan Art Cafe and Gallery and also doubles as the ticketing office. Here, we registered and paid Php800 each for the 1.3km Forest Canopy Zipline ride.

Puerto Princesa City Tour: Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center

Day 1: Puerto Princesa City Tour

Kuya Abet, the trike driver who drove us to Aniceto's Pension House, offered to take us around the city for just Php500. The standard City Tour package costs Php600 per trike, good for 3 to 4 people. While with an agency, it's Php600 per person with a van being the mode of transportation. If we were to do a DIY City Tour, we would have to spend Php200 to Php250 each. And since there's only 2 of us doing the City Tour, it's just about the same price so we took his offer.

Aniceto's Pension House: Puerto Princesa Budget Accommodation

After getting our Visitors Entry Permit for the Underground River tour, we then proceeded to our Puerto Princesa budget accommodation of choice, Aniceto's Pension House.

A month before the trip, I already reserved a room here (through email) because of its good feedback as a budget accommodation in Puerto Princesa. As it turned out, Ms. Tess, the proprietress, wasn't able to take note of the reservation because of a PC/email malfunction. They ended up giving us a room reserved by a guest that was to check in the following day.

Securing Visitors Entry Permit at the Underground River Booking Office

Upon our arrival at the Puerto Princesa Airport, we immediately set out to find a trike that would take us to the Underground River Booking Office to obtain Visitors Entry Permit for our Underground River (UR) tour. We followed the tips I read from bloggers and walked a few meters to exit the airport premises before hailing a trike, as this is cheaper, for the regular fare of Php8. We were stopped by a manong while on our way to the exit gate and he offered to take us to our destination for just Php20, saving us Php30 if we were to ride trikes waiting for passengers just outside the airport.

Puerto Princesa Adventures: Itinerary

This post has long been overdue (we did our trip September 2012), but I've been meaning to keep my New Year's resolution of finally starting this blog so here it goes...

I've long been planning a trip to Palawan with my hubby since purchasing 2 round trip tickets bound for Puerto Princesa via Cebu Pacific, courtesy of their Piso Fare promo last January 2012. It's for a 4D/3N stay with must-do activities such as taking the Underground River (UR) tour, Honda Bay island hopping and taking a tour of the city.