Onok Island: Checked! In a perfect world, after a nap you could just go down a ladder and swim in the ridiculously clear sea.

A little over three months ago, I crossed off an item in my travel bucket list-- Onok Island. Being there was so surreal. Half the time, I couldn't believe we actually made it. (Related: Road To Onok: The Nitty Gritty) And the other half, I spent napping on a hammock in a stilt cottage perched on the beach. Easily the best nap I have ever had in this lifetime!

Onok Island is a privately owned small piece of land situated within the Balabac island municipality in Palawan. The island came out in public light when a shot of Onok by George Tapan won National Geographic's Best Photo of 2011. Since then, a lot became interested to go too, including me. This post is an attempt to give you a guide on how to get there using the same itinerary my best friend, G, and I did.

Sample Itinerary



Important: Before hauling your backpacks to Balabac, make sure to ask for permission from the owner, Mayor Astami and his family. I won't put the contact number of the tourism officer here because we had a bad experience dealing with the officer. I wouldn't want to put you in that position, if I can help it.

Edit: Contact Ate Beth instead at +639494241605. She's a newly appointed tourism officer and she's very nice. Ask her for the Mayor's permission to go to Onok.

Scenario: I'll arrive in Puerto Princesa City before noon and I wanna catch the last overnight bus that leaves for El Nido at 9PM. How can I maximize those 10 hours without tiring myself? 



As a born and bred Palaweña currently residing in Metro Manila, I get this question a lot. Not the same 10 hours, the what-to-do questions whenever friends will be in Puerto Princesa for only a short period of time before they go off to wherever. Of course, if you're not staying overnight, the options will be lessened as well. Through the years, I have made myself some sure-fire itineraries that kept my Manila friends more than happy.

In this blog post, which I'm planning to do as a series, I'll let you know about insider information on how to DIY Puerto Princesa like a Palaweña would for her Manileñan friends.


Puerto Princesa's public beaches are stunning. Emphasis on stunning because you can't really see anything like that near Metro Manila. And by near, I meant this specific white sand beach is only 30 minutes away from the airport, 10 minutes away from our home. The entrance fee costs Php 10 per person and if my memory serves me right, the stilt cottages at the beach can be rented for Php 100 for one whole day.

For this trip, I took my friends to BM Beach, located in Brgy. San Pedro and nearby Robinsons Palawan. You can reach this place via tricycle or you can do what we did; rent a private van that can take you anywhere. The going rate for a half-day van rental is around Php 1000.

Intro to Seafood Coma. What better way to introduce friends to Palawan than eating seafood by the beach with bare hands?

The first meal my friends will eat is usually my family's treat to them. Mama will go to the wet market for crabs and prawns and cook them buttered-garlic style. I call this the Introductory Palawan Experience for my friends, because this usually sets the mood and the seafood benchmark for the whole trip.