4 days, 3 nights: My Puerto Princesa (Palawan) Itinerary with Kids

My Puerto Princesa (Palawan) Itinerary with Kids
(4 days, 3 nights)

If you only have 3 days and 2 nights, see this

Below is the 4 days and 3 nights itinerary:

Day 0
Pack (see my packing list)

• Is there Malaria in Palawan? Things to add to your packing list to avoid Malaria.

Day 1

Departure from Manila, Arrival at Puerto Princesa

12:00 PM
Leave the house and go to the Manila Domestic Airport      

• see how to go to the Manila Domestic Airport 

1:00 PM 

Arrival at the Manila Domestic Airport    

• see facilities of the Manila Domestic Airport

3:10 PM 

Departure from Manila via Zest Air 6K 407

• Zest Air was on sale when we bought this ticket to we had no choice but to take the afternoon flight. Zest Air has only one flight per day.

• other airlines flying to Puerto Princesa: Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Air Philippines

4:50 PM 

Arrival at Puerto Princesa Airport     

• In 2009, Puerto Princesa airport arrival area has not been fully constructed. We got our luggage in one carousel at the side of the Puerto Princesa airport departure area. They prioritized construction of the departure area so the departure area building is completely built 
• We were picked up by Joseph Hidalgo of Wildrock Travel and Tours. See his rates and contact information 

5:30 PM 

Check-in at Casa Linda Inn

• Casa Linda Inn is only 5 minutes ride from the airport

7:00 PM 

Dinner at Ka Lui Restaurant

• Ka Lui Restaurant is just walking distance from Casa Linda Inn

Day 2

Honda Bay Island Hopping (Pandan Island, Snake Island, Starfish Island)

• see Honda Bay Island Hopping Tour with Kids

6:00 AM           

Wakeup

7:00 AM          
We were picked up at Casa Linda Inn by Wildrock Tours

8:00 AM 
Arrival at Sta. Lourdes Wharf

8:30 AM 
Arrival at Pandan Island

11:00 AM-1:00 PM 
Buffet lunch at Pandan Island 
2:00 PM 
Arrival at Snake Island
3:00 PM 
Arrival at Starfish Island
4:00 PM         
Leave Starfish Island  and head back to the wharf
5:30 PM      
Stop over at Vietville restaurant to take out Vietnamese food
6:00 PM 
Arrival at Casa Linda Inn

7:00 PM 
Dinner at Casa Linda Inn

Day 3

Underground River Tour

Click  here  to view of our Underground River Tour with kids courtesy of Wildrock Tours.

See article on what kids will like about the Underground River Tour 

See going on your own, if you do not want to go on tour.

6 AM         
Wakeup

7AM-10AM 
Travel from Puerto Princesa to Sabang Beach

10AM-12:00 PM 
Swimming at Sabang Beach while waiting for our turn to ride the outrigger to the Underground River Park

12:00 PM-1:00 PM 
Buffet Lunch at Tamaraw Resort
1:00 PM -1:30 PM 
Boat ride going to the Underground River Park
1:30 PM -3:00 PM 
Line up and take the Boat Tour inside the Underground River

• The Underground River Boat Tour only takes 30 minutes. The length of time you stay at the Underground River Park also depends on the length of time it takes to line up for the Underground River Boat Tour

3:00 PM-3:30 PM 
Boat ride from the Underground River Park going back to Sabang Beach
4:00 PM 
Depart Sabang Beach

6:00 PM 
Arrival at Casa Linda Inn

Day 4

Puerto Princesa City Tour, Departure from Puerto Princesa, Arrival in Manila

8:00 AM 
Wakeup

9:00 AM- 12:00 PM
Puerto Princesa City Tour
12:00 PM
Lunch at Ong's maki house near Casa Linda Inn

3:00 PM 
Departure from Casa Linda Inn

5:10 PM
Departure from Puerto Princesa via Zest Air 6K 406
6:50 PM
Arrival in Manila

Pasalubong and souvenirs

I

Total cost of trip: 

• see summary of cost
• if you wish to compute for yourself, you can do it using my interactive excel file
  

The Experience of Flying Seair

The Experience of Flying Seair

I decided to make this post on Seair (Southeast Asian Airlines) because it is not commonly used by a greater number of people. Seair flies only to Batanes, Caticlan (Boracay), Tablas, Cebu (only to and from Boracay), Clark (only to and from Boracay), and on certain months, to El Nido. In addition, Seair fares are very expensive so only those with a large budget for airfare will opt to use it.

You use the Manila Domestic Airport. This is the lounge facing the airport gate.

The 32-seater Dornier turbo prop plane. The flight going to Basco took 1 1/2 hours. But the return flight to Manila, where they used a Dornier jet, took only 1 hour.

You walk on the runway to board the plane. You do not use the airport tube. Manila Domestic Airport is the oldest airport terminal in Manila so it doesn't have a tube built around it to access the planes

The 32-seater plane has a 2-1 seat configuration. We were seated on the 1st row which only has 2 seats because the emergency exits are located on the 1st row. If you happen to be seated at the last row, then you're unfortunately seated beside the small toilet also located at the back.

Inflight meal is composed of bottled water and a fudgee bar. In the background is the Inflight magazine, which is a good magazine to read on board the aircraft.

The view of the Batanes group of islands from the plane. Since Seair is a small plane it tends to fly low so the ground underneath is more visible from the plane.

Lunch at Pension Ivatan

Lunch at Pension Ivatan

Pension Ivatan Restaurant also known as Therese Coffee Shop

Why dine at Pension Ivatan

• It serves authentic Ivatan cuisine.
• It's open all throughout the day from 7am to 8pm.
• It's easy to find. It's just outside the gate of Basco Airport. From the gate of the airport, turn right at Reyes Street and you see the big sign of Pension Ivantan outside the building as shown above.

My tip: The food they serve is not fast food. You wait at least 1 1/2 hours for them to finish cooking. My advice:

1. Call in advance to order food before going to the restaurant. Menu is shown below. They can be contacted at (63)09292074643, (63)09053035855. Additional information at Pension Ivatan website.

2. Go there personally to order food first then do some sightseeing by walking around town while they cook what you ordered.

Menu and Price List

 The Famous Ivatan Platter

The Ivatan Platter is good for 5-6 persons and includes:

1. Supas or Turmeric Yellow Rice

2. Tatus or Coconut Crabs

3. Mixed Ivatan Salad 

4. Lunis or lunies (their version of pork adobo), made of liempo and fried

5. Payi or Lobster

6. Uvud Balls, made of pork, flying fish and banana trunk

7. Venes or Dried Gabi

8. Assorted grilled foods like chicken and squid

 For a more comprehensive list of the Best of Batanes food, see  Ivan Henares' blog

On 3-Day Long Weekends

On 3-Day Long Weekends

In the Philippines, when we say "long weekends" it refers to regular nonworking holidays transferred by Presidential Proclamation, to a Monday or a Friday of the week where the holiday falls to make up 3-day long weekends. It was a practice started by President Arroyo's Administration and was formalized into law in 2007. It is now officially known as Republic Act 9492, or informally known as the Holiday Economics Law.

When the Aquino Administration came into power, a lot of people were concerned that this practice will not be continued. I will attempt to answer the questions people ask me regarding this issue.

Can President Aquino change this practice?

Since it is a law, it is not discretionary on President's Aquino's part to follow it or not. As the head of the Executive Department,  his  obligation is to follow and enforce the law of the land. He may review it and recommend to Congress to amend it. But until Congress amends it, the law continues to be in effect and President Aquino is compelled to follow it. The 3-day long weekends continue until Congress passes a law to amend it, or, as recent developments show, until the President makes a contrary proclamation.

Based on recent developments  (see President Aquino junks holiday economics policy on Aug 21 holiday) apparently the President can change by proclamation the day when the holiday will be observed as a non-working holiday. In the absence of a proclamation, or if the President remains silent on the matter, the rules stated on the holiday economics law will be followed. So what the President needs to do is to make a proclamation on each and every holiday if he wants the holiday to be observed on a date different from the date stated in the Holiday Economics law. The law, however, requires him to make a proclamation 6 months before the date of the holiday.


It now becomes more confusing for us citizens, especially moms who need to to organize multiple schedules. When before, you know when the holiday falls, which is on the day itself. Now you don't really know when. Since the Aquino administration disregarded the 6 months notice rule on making the proclamations, we now don't know what to expect in the remaining holidays of 2010.


To summarize, the law on the matter is as follows:

Pre-Arroyo time: if the holiday is on June 12, the non-working day is on June 12.

Arroyo time: if the holiday is on June 12, the non-working holiday is on the Monday nearest June 12, unless she moves it to a different date by proclamation six months before the holiday

Aquino time: if the holiday is on June 12, the non-working holiday is on the Monday nearest June 12, unless he moves it to a different date by proclamation six months before the holiday.

Even if President Aquino can make a proclamation contrary to the Holiday Economics Law, the law still requires him to make the proclamation six months before the holiday. Therefore, nonworking holidays for 2010 should have been respected. President Aquino should have been estopped from making any proclamation to the contrary.

See the actual text of the Holiday Economics Law

Why do I want the 3-day long weekends to continue? 

It promotes the well-being of the FAMILY

We, parents, all know how hectic life becomes when you have kids. Sometimes the the regular weekend is not enough to rest or simply hang-out with them. School work or kids' extracurricular activites even extend to Saturdays. Sundays are usually reserved for the occasional family gatherings. The three-day weekend is a welcome practice for families because it gives us a bonus day to rest and recharge for the coming weeks. Contrary to what other people say, this practice helped us become more productive and efficient and able to meet the constant demands of family and work life.

It promotes the well-being of the ECONOMY 

Families usually travel a lot only during summer. The weather is great and  schedules of the parents and children are easier to coordinate. Domestic tourism  benefits with the practice of having 3-day weekends because family travel becomes an option even during school season. Parents consider it worthwhile to travel because you get the most value out of the vacation when it is at least three days. You have a full day to enjoy your destination, other than the day of your arrival and the day of your departure.

If you'd like to comment on this issue, a facebook page has been launched and it's called Pabor Ka Ba Sa Holiday Economics? It was created to help President Aquino decide whether to retain the law or not. If you'd like to have your opinions heard go to Pabor Ka Ba Sa Holiday Economics?

The Remaining long weekends of 2010
August 21-23
August 28-30
End of Ramadan holiday has not been declared yet. It is predicted to occur on September 11.
October 30-November 1
November 27-29
December 24-27
December 31-January 2, 2011

Recent developments:  Malacanang announced that it will respect the Holiday Economics Law

Other ways of going to Batanes

Other ways of going to Batanes

The route I still recommend that you take to go Batanes is the Manila-Batanes-Manila flight by SEAIR because:

1. It's the shortest route so you save time and the trip is less tiring. 
2. Although the SEAIR flight is expensive, the nearest alternative, which is to take a Manila-Laoag flight then Laoag-Batanes flight and vice versa, is not cheap either.

See my article How to go to Batanes

However, I do recognize that other people have different ways of viewing a trip, so I'll enumerate all the possible ways you can reach Batanes.

1. take the Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR) Manila-Batanes-Manila flight
2. take the Manila-Laoag flight via Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Zest Airways, Air Philippines THEN take the SkyPasada or Batanes Airlines flight from Laoag to Batanes and vice versa
3. do a 12-hour land trip from Manila to Laoag, then take the Skypasada or Batanes Airlines flight from Laoag to Batanes and vice versa.

 

Batanes Airlines booking office across Basco Airport terminal within the Airport Grounds

Contact numbers of Batanes Airlines in Basco, Tuguegarao and Laoag

Skypasada Booking Office across Basco Airport terminal within Airport Grounds

Skypasada Flight Schedule as of March 2010

See Skypasada contact numbers and booking office
See Batanes airlines information

My Batanes Itinerary

My Batanes Itinerary
(4 days and 3 nights at Fundacion Pacita)
(Free and Easy Tour)

My Tip:
If you are going to Batanes for the first time and would like to get full value for the trip, my suggestions are:

1. Stay at least 4 days.

•   This means that Day 1 is the day you arrive and day 4 is the day you depart. As of this writing (August 2010),  only SEAIR flies to Batanes. Their daily Manila-Batanes flight is scheduled in the morning and the Batanes-Manila return flight is also in the morning. Therefore on Day 4, you no longer have a day to go around Batanes because you need to take the morning flight to Manila.
• Regular flights to Batanes are very expensive. To  get the full value of your trip, you need to stay longer. The additional cost per night for the accomodation is relatively cheap compared to the cost of returning and flying again to Batanes to see what you missed the last time.
• In case you're unable to return to Batanes for another vacation, you will be able to see and do everything already if you stay 4 days. 

2. Stay at Fundacion Pacita

• If you are going to Batanes for the very first time, I urge you to stay at Fundacion Pacita. You have already spent a lot for your airfare so you might as well stay at Fundacion Pacita to make the trip one of your most memorable. Fundacion Pacita is located on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the rolling hills of Batanes. No other hotel, resort or inn in Batanes has that enviable view and tastefully designed rooms.
• If you cannot afford Fundacion Pacita, Batanes Resort is a far second in ranking.

Day 1

Departure from Manila, Arrival at Basco Airport, Half-day Batanes cultural heritage tour

     5 am: wakeup

     6 am: leave the house and go to the Manila Domestic 

                 Airport   

• see how to go to the Manila Domestic Airport

     720 am: arrival at the Manila Domestic Airport  

• see facilities of the Manila Domestic Airport

     820 am: departure from Manila via Seair DG605

•  see the experience of flying Seair

     1005 am: arrival at Basco Airport

• We booked Fundacion Pacita so we were picked up from the airport by the staff of Fundacion Pacita.

• If your resort does not include free airport pick up, here are your other airport transfer options

     11am: check-in at Fundacion Pacita

     12nn: lunch at Fundacion Pacita

     2pm-6pm: Batanes cultural heritage tour courtesy of Fundacion Pacita

• This is the free cultural heritage tour included in the room rate.

     7pm: dinner at Basco Lighthouse

Day 2

Half-day Batanes cultural heritage tour (not covered by the Fundacion Pacita sponsored heritage tour)

     7 am: wakeup

     8 am: free breakfast at Fundacion Pacita

     11am: pick-up by hired van to go to Basco town

     12nn-2pm: lunch at Pension Ivatan

     2pm-6pm: Batanes cultural heritage tour

• We booked this on our own to cover places not included by the Fundacion Pacita tour.

     7pm: dinner at Fundacion Pacita

Day 3

Beach, Motorcycle Tour around Batan Island

     7 am: wakeup

     8 am: free breakfast at Fundacion Pacita

     9-11am: explored the beach below Fundacion Pacita

     11am: hired a motorcycle to explore Batan Island

     12-2pm: Lunch at Pension Ivatan
     2-6pm: Motorcycle tour around Batan Island

     7pm: dinner at Fundacion Pacita

OR

SABTANG ISLAND TOUR

• If you have kids with you, you cannot do the motorcycle tour I mentioned above, you can instead take the Sabtang Island Tour where you can also visit and have lunch at Nakabuang Beach
• To make the most of the trip, others would prefer to take the Sabtang Island tour. My husband and I prefer the free and easy tour so we chose to motorbike around Batan Island instead.

Day 4

Departure from Basco, Arrival in Manila

     7 am: wakeup

     8 am: free breakfast at Fundacion Pacita

     9am: departure from Fundacion Pacita

     930am: arrival at Basco airport

     1020am: departure from Basco via Seair DG0606
     1130am: arrival in Manila

Pasalubong and souvenirs

I actually had a hard time finding pasalubong and souvenirs at Batanes. There was no one selling them at the sights we went to. There are two places I saw where you can find them:

1. At the Basco town market 

• garlic, flying fish fillet, marinated flying fish

2. At the airport grounds

•  ref magnets, tshirts, garlic chips, camote chips, etc.

Total cost of trip: under construction