Our Trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan

I saw a promo flight from Cebu to Puerto Princesa which falls on my birthday and persuaded my sister for our annual family trip. She agreed and off we went for my birthday. I want to share with you all how I arranged our trip and fell in love with Puerto Princesa. 

Flights:

AirAsia has 1 direct flight to Puerto Princesa from Cebu daily. This was the flight I chose for our trip and was scheduled to depart 1845 and arrive PPS (Puerto Princesa) at 2000H. Our departure was delayed for about 30 minutes but we didn't mind it too much because we were excited. The promo I got was 990 pesos for 1 person.

Since my sister didn't want to fly back to Cebu late at night, we opted to buy our return ticket with Cebu Pacific. Our flight was supposed to depart PPS at 1230H but was delayed to 1330H and finally left PPS at 1600H. It was an excruciating wait at the airport but we had no choice but to do so. The promo fare I scored was 999 pesos for 1 person.

So for 1 person, the total flight cost was about 2,000 pesos. 

Accommodation

There are tons of accommodation options in PPS. Me and my sister researched for nice hotels near or in the city. I capped our budget and found Inn Greenspace which is at the heart of the city and just a few minutes walk to the center of action. For 3 persons in a room and for 3 nights and with breakfast included, we paid a total of 4,700 pesos. What a great bargain! I also love that they have free wifi and gave us free pick up and drop off to the airport.

Underground River Tour

our tour mates for the Underground River.

This is one of the must see sites  in Puerto Princesa. There are heaps of agencies and hotels that offer the tour which ranges from 1700 pesos to 2200 pesos. One has just to read reviews of these agencies and research a lot. For the three of us, I paid Tripidito Travel a total of 4,800 pesos for the whole day tour which includes pick up, buffet lunch, and environmental fee. 

I will write a separate blog about our Underground River Tour :)

City Tour

I opted not to take advantage of the city tours offered by popular agencies because they cost a lot. While doing my research, I found out that there are tourism accredited tricycle drivers that do the tours. I was lucky that I came across Kuya Ricky's number from another blogger and messaged him if he can do a tour for us. This was just a few days from our trip and he obliged. For our city tour, I paid a total of 600 pesos. You can contact Kuya Ricky at 09157816964(globe) or 09194074955(smart). He is very kind and knowledgeable about Puerto Princesa and we had a great city tour with him. 

I will write a separate blog about our PPS City Tour :)

Some fun things I learned while visiting PPS:

1. Their dialect is Kuyunin or Cuyonon. It is a mix of Visaya and Spanish therefore we can understand some words but they generally speak to Filipino tourists in Tagalog.

2. There are a lot of Opp Shops or Wag-wagan (ukay-ukay) in the city. For me who loves to get nice fashion in cheap prices, this is truly paradise.

3. It is the greenest city in the Philippines and has strict laws about tree cutting.

Our itinerary:

Dec 4: 1915H - departed Cebu City

            2030H - arrived Puerto Princesa. We immediately found our driver waiting for us :)

            2045H - Check in, freshen up, dinner and sleep

Dec 5: 0700H - breakfast at hotel

            0730H - pick up for Underground River Tour

            1630H - back to the city

            1730H - explore some Op Shops (ukay-ukay), dinner, watch news

Dec 6: 0800H - breakfast at hotel

            0930H - start City Tour

            1130H - Lunch at Ka Inato

            1330H - Mitra's Ranch

            1400H - Baker's Hill

            1700H - dinner

Dec 7: 0800H - breakfast at hotel

            1130H - left for airport

            1600H - depart PPS

            1700H - arrive Cebu

This is just a simple itinerary because we now like vacations that are not so busy and with enough time to relax and sleep.

I want to come back to PPS in the future and also try their Iwahig Firefly Tour. Please stay tune for my blogs about PPS Underground River Tour and City Tour. Thank you for reading and 'til next blog! :)