Planning the Great Palawan Escape

Getting that first city, province, or country on your itinerary is indeed exciting but many struggle with finding the best destination to begin. So where is the best place to start? For those like us who would usually have a hard time choosing a place, there is an easy technique we learned and that is to travel through the alphabet. As a head start, you can map out five places starting with one letter you have picked from the alphabet. Then choose from the list those that you can visit based on your budget and available dates. 

Last year, we have picked the letter "B" and eventually chose three dreamy destinations in the Philippines - Boracay, Bohol, and Batanes.

This year, we have picked the letter "P". And what would be one destination that comes to mind when you think of this letter? Palawan. Easily the first destination that comes to mind when planning a local trip. In fact, it has been voted as the world's best island and was visited by about a million tourists in 2015.

Sand sculpture at Sabang Beach, Puerto Princesa

So how did we plan for this particular trip? We referred to this personal guide we have been using for our trips to break down the process and to make the planning a whole lot easier.

1. Decide on a Budget and Save

Always plan your travel budget. Once a budget has been identified, start saving money. When we planned for this Palawan trip, we decided on a budget of Php5,000 per person. It took us two months to save enough for this one trip (this is easier if you do not have monthly bills like mortgages and other stuff). Of course, if you have saved more than the budget you will have extra money for additional and unplanned expenses while on your trip.

2. Book a Cheap Flight

We would usually be on the lookout for flight sales. Savings on flights have a huge impact on the budget. For this trip, we were able to book a round trip Air Asia flight for only Php796.96 per person. We booked these flights two months prior to the travel date. For more savings, you may opt to pay the flight using the mode of payment with the lowest processing fee. For Air Asia, they are charging around Php268.80 for credit card and Php134.40 for other payment channels like 7-Eleven and Bayad Center. Other airlines more or less charge the same amount. You can use a credit card if it provides free travel insurance when booking flights, privileges of earning flight points or miles, or lounge access at the airport. We usually use a BPI Blue MasterCard with free insurance for flight transactions or a UnionBank Gold Card with access to Club Manila Lounge at T1. Both credit cards also let cardholders earn points and convert it to Mabuhay Miles.

3. Book a Good Accommodation

Since Puerto Princesa is a popular tourist destination, there are a lot of hotel options for those planning a trip there. The options range from basic inns and lodges to first-class hotels and resorts. Getting a hotel will always depend on the budget. You may want to compare prices on various online travel agents like Agoda.com or Travelbook.ph to get the best rates or deals. Sometimes, checking on the hotel directly may get you a much cheaper rate as they could beat the rates of these travel sites. They do this to be able to book guests without the need to pay commission to third parties.

For our accommodation, we booked two nights at Go Hotels Puerto Princesa and an extension night at Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham. We were able to book our accommodation at Go Hotels for Php688++ for the first night and Php888++ for the second night and an additional Php8.00 per person for a round trip airport transfer. We booked direct with Go Hotels, two weeks before our arrival. As for Microtel, we were able to come across an exclusive promotion for TripAdvisor users. We were able to enjoy a rate of only Php2,500nett inclusive of breakfast and a round trip airport transfer. This was also booked directly with Microtel.

4. Plan the Itinerary

Plan out the major activities you want to enjoy and research on how much they cost. The internet is one of the many resources that you can tap. One thing that we also did was to go to the NAITAS Travel and Trade Show at the Mall of Asia where we got to check different hotel and tour packages. We also had the opportunity to ask around and identify if we needed to make reservations for our preferred tours and activities or if it's possible for us to just DIY the tours. After all the researches, we decided to book our Underground River Tour via Inland Travel and Tours and DIY our Honda Bay Tour.

Read about planning the tours here: Puerto Princesa Tours: To DIY or Not to DIY, That is the Question

5. Plan Where to Eat

Ka Inato at Rizal Avenue, Brgy Bancao-Bancao

Do research on restaurants before you go. Food can be one of the good things about a trip or it can ruin the entire trip. Identify the location of your hotel and check out the local restaurants and even fast-food chains nearby. Get the specific location, operating hours, menu, pricing, and payment options. This way you can schedule your meals and prepare your budget. For this trip, we mixed eating at cheap fast-food chains to save money and at local restaurants to experience the best of local cuisine and hospitality.

6. Be Prepared for Cancellations and Delays

Sometimes, flights or tours can get cancelled. Be prepared for such eventualities. You can purchase travel insurance for your peace of mind. For this trip, we did not purchase travel insurance but made sure our schedule was flexible to accommodate any cancellations. True enough our flights were cancelled. Since we allotted the first and last days as rest and relaxation days, the cancellations did not affect any of our planned tours and activities. Always be ready with the contact details of your airline, hotel, or tour operator as you might not know who you need to contact. When our outbound flight got cancelled at the last minute, we missed to inform our hotel of the changes in the flight and arrived with no transfer service waiting for us. Good thing, there is a tourist desk at Puerto Princesa Aiport who helped us contact Go Hotels for the pickup arrangement.

By following the above checklist, we were able to stay organized and enjoy our Palawan trip.