Korean Job Discussion Forums

[panchotino]

okay, holiday time again. i say holiday, not travelling. we only have 10 days so looking into a nice spot to relax with minimal moving around ( as has ended up being a bad habit on other vacations ).
after boat loads of research, the missus and i settled on Palawan. There are some superb things to see ( cacnipa, el nido ) but we just want to find a quiet spot and chill with a short bumpy ride to get there. We were intrested in Sabang ( beaches for her, jungle trails for me ). However, after searching the forums here, it sounds like a cesspit!
Granted, the posts are old ( 2006 ) so does anyone have any up to date advice or opinions.
P.S i know elnido is the place to go but its just too far. We will do a couple of nights in Puerto princessa but wanted 3 or 4 in Sabang. I'd rather save dangerous and seedy encounters for when we are doing a 6 month travel.
Thanks in advance!

[pugwall]

Sabang is nice but I would go a little further up to Port Barton. Much more to do and a cooler place really.

[PaulPizzazz]

don't go to Sabang.

Go to the White beach, just a 30-minute jeepney ride away. Now that's a beautiful beach with a great relaxed atmosphere.

[prideofidaho]

I think there are two sabangs in the phils. The one in Palawan is very guiet and humble, so maybe the posts you read referred to the other sabang. A friend thought I'd been to the other one, but when she began talking about girlie bars and suspect elderly men, I knew it wasn't the Sabang I knew.

I was there two weeks ago. Made the trip from Puerto to Sabang by jeepney, then traveled by boat to Port Barton then further to El Nido. Sabang is nice, but I got bored of it after a few days...Port Barton was also nice, but it rained the day I was there and I was itching to move on to El Nido.

Why don't you spend as much time as you want in each place and move on when you're ready. I heard the snorkeling and diving is nice in Port Barton (again, didn't do anything there), and there are loads of gorgeous beaches in El Nido. If you do make it that way, go to Las Cabanas beach. It's just past Corong Corong and you can walk along the bay to get to it. Just breathtaking.

Enjoy...I had a great time in Palawan, but it does take a long time to get anywhere, so plan for that. Also, I heard there is more 'jungle' in the southern end of the island.

EDIT

I know you said El Nido is too far, but you can get vans to El Nido that take about 6 hours from the Puerto terminal (about 600 P). You'realmost there, why not just go for it? Alternately, you can fly to Busuanga on Coron and take a ferry to El Nido (slightly moer expensive) that takes about 7 hours.

[Tiger Beer]

[prideofidaho]

TRUE about guidebooks. We noticed that as well! Lonely Planet is coming out with their new Philippines book in a few months, so that just kind of tells you how outdated the info is.

Here's what we did, just because I'm still riding off the high of that trip. It was so beautiful and the car-rides/jeepneys/banca boat trips just made it even more breathtaking.

Puerto to Sabang by jeepney: 3.5-4 hours. 200P. Cheap!

Sabang to Port Barton by boat: 3.5 hours. (depends on sea conditions, of course) 1,200 P (8 people on board).

Port Barton to El Nido: 5.5 hours by boat (sea was super rough, and we had a tiny little slow banca). 1,500 P (four people = 6,000 P, if it's just the two of you, you still have to pay 6,000P)

El Nido to Puerto: 6 hours by van.

It took us Monday through Thursday at noon to complete that trip, with about a day and a half in Sabang, and just a day in Port Barton. I wish I was back there now