Puerto Princesa, Palawan: Honda Bay - Island Hopping Tour

Palawan is an island province teeming with pristine white sand beaches that are to be proud of. One of the selling points to foreigners for them to visit our country is that we have one of the nicest beaches not only in Asia but around the world!

Starfish Island, Honda Bay

Palawan surely made this selling point a reality as numerous foreign tourists had already personally experienced what it was like swimming in the clean oceans of our country. Puerto Princesa City, as well as El Nido and Coron, definitely has contributed greatly to further spark-gap this kind of tourism.

What comes in mind to most tourists visiting Puerto Princesa are beaches and island adventures in the famous Honda Bay. Several islands and islets found in Honda Bay mostly are included on typical island hopping itineraries. A day or two will be enough to tour around Honda Bay, depending on weather and water conditions. Months of February to May are the best months to have an island hopping tour since these are the sunny months in the Philippines.

2013 Island Hopping Tour Rates

Registration Booth at Honda Bay Port

TRAVEL TIP: Don't forget bringing the basic things when going on an island hopping tour. The most important one, sunblock - extreme heat in the Philippines may severely damage your skin. Other things may include towel, sunglasses, camera (underwater one preferred), snorkeling gears, swimming wear, drinking water, and food. Did I forget anything?

Some of the islands one can visit during the Honda Bay Tour are the Luli Island, Pandan Island, Starfish Island, and Cowrie Island. Just some brief descriptions of these islands, Luli based on my understanding is a combination of two Tagalog words"Lulubog" and "Lilitaw" (Lulubog meaning sinking and Lilitaw meaning arising). Pandan Island on the other hand was named after the Pandan plant abundant on the island, Starfish Island as the name speaks for itself, a lot of brown starfishes are found, and Cowrie Island that I do not know of where the name came from.

Luli Island (snorkeling and frisbee place)

A living proof at Starfish Island

Here's a simple itinerary as suggested by our bangkeros, or boatmen, for a day tour around Honda Bay. The sequence of the islands we visited was based on the distance, farthest from the Honda Bay Port first, and the nearest being the last one to visit.

Honda Bay Tour Itinerary:

7:00 AM	Breakfast at Ysabelle's Mansion
7:45 AM	Travel to Honda Bay Port through the Tourism Accredited Tricycle
8:15 AM	Stop Over to Rent Snorkeling Gears
8:30 AM	ETA at Honda Bay Port; Register for Boat and Lunch Buffet at Cowrie Island
9:00 AM	Luli Island
10:15 AM	Starfish Island
12:00 NN	Pandan Island
1:30 PM	Lunch and Relax at Cowrie Island
4:30 PM	End of Island Hopping Tour; Travel Back to Hotel

Pandan Island Rates

Pandan Island Beach Front

How to go from the city proper to Honda Bay? Easy, just hire a tricycle that will bring you straight to Honda Bay Port and the tricycle ride costs PHP 500 for back-and-forth service. The tricycle can accommodate a maximum of 5 passengers and the travel time is around 40 minutes so quite a good deal already.

Cowrie Island

Lunch Buffet at Cowrie Island

 Here's the summary of our expenses for our whole-day Honda Bay Tour:

The island hopping tour we had was fun because the weather was just right, though at times heavy rains fall. Our bangkeros were also very kind and very flexible with the schedule we proposed, and we even played beach volleyball with them at Cowrie Island. Just amazing how good they were at the net!

Together with our Hondy Bay Tour Bangkeros

Browse more information about Palawan from here:

• Puerto Princesa City - A Traveler's Guide
• Hotel Review: Ysabelle Mansion
• Things to Know about the Underground River
• Iwahig Firefly Watching
• City Tour Around Puerto Princesa