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| 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.
Expenses
Before I go into the specifics of the itinerary, I have listed the expenses starting and ending at the Puerto Princesa San Jose Terminal. Every Peso that went out of my wallet is listed here. Duo traveler means traveling with another person, making some of the expenses divisible by two. Solo traveler, on the other hand, is how much it would cost if you have no one to split the cost with. Lastly, the optional snacks wasn't divided into two since it was my personal stash AKA I can't function without snacking!
