Island Hopping Tour in Port Barton, Palawan.

I think I’ve mentioned previously, Port Barton is a good alternative to El Nido. Yes it is, for some good reasons. For one, it’s nearer to Puerto Princesa City, about 3 to 4 hours bus ride, EN is about 5 to 7 hours ride. Port Barton is cheaper in so many ways than El Nido – you can get an accommodation as low as 450 pesos beachfront. Cheap restaurants and local eateries, and most of all, a lot cheaper island hopping tour that is almost half of El Nido’s.

To top it all, in comparison to the touristy El Nido, Port Barton is still not very much frequented by tourists, it still has that island village feel to it. Unlike EN that provides real comfort in terms of transports, PB has only one non-aircondition bus plying the route a day plus the road can get rough on some spot especially the ones nearing the town.

We booked our full day island hopping tour with Ariel of Ausan Beachfront Cottages where we were staying and it costs only 550 pesos per person, that is their promotional rate for the low season. It includes 2 snorkeling and 2 swimming at the clear waters of German Island and Exotic Island.We started with snorkeling for half an hour, what’s good about island hopping in Port Barton is that you needn’t travel far as the island destinations are near the shore of the town and almost beside each other.

The weather went bad with dark clouds accumulating and we decided to head to the island instead of heading to another snorkeling spot. When we reached the German Island, the rain started to pour, it was so cold that we found refuge in the warm and very clear waters of the beach where our boat moored. I don’t know about you but I enjoy the beach more when it’s raining than enduring the scorching heat of the sun.

We were totally engrossed and enjoying the warmth of the waters while our boat staff were preparing our picnic lunch enduring the cold winds at the German Island shaded with several coconut trees. The island was christened after the German nationals who previously tenanted the island. It’s truly a beautiful place with fine white sand, extremely clear waters, hammocks dangling among the coconut trees, wooden benches, thatch-roofed huts, it’s simply a holiday-perfect island.

We had our picnic lunch at this island before heading to Exotic Island. Although, Exotic is also pretty where we also had an enjoyable swim and snorkeling, I still prefer the previous island. After an hour or so, we headed onto another snorkeling spot, a bit deep but you can see the beautiful corals down below the waters, so vibrant, so intriguing.

It wasn’t really a sunny day during the month of June and every Pinoys knows that. But luckily it didn’t rain the whole day in Port Barton, so all in all, it was a pleasant island hopping fun.

If you book your island hopping with Ariel (Ausan Beachfront Cottages), you’ll get to enjoy it with comfort in their big colorful brand new boat with canopy to protect you from the sun during hot summer day. Picnic lunch of fresh grilled fish, barbecued chicken, aubergine, tomatoes and cucumber salad, nice right? Drinking water is provided and the two boat staff are kind and friendly.

The snorkeling and swimming tour lasted for about 7 hours which started at 9:00am.

TIPS:

If you’re planning a Port Barton trip, better wake up early, head to the bus terminal around 8:00am to get a better seat on the bus or endure a bumpy ride at the back, or even miss a vacant seat.
Bring sunblock and flipflops.
Bring mosquito off-lotion.