Port Barton (Philippines): the next “Goa” is about to emerge?

First thing first: where is Port Barton and why is this reference to Goa? Port Barton is a village on the northwestern coast of Palawan island.

Palawan island is located in the southwestern Philippines – the country comprised of about 7,000 islands.

As to comparison with “Goa,” it is one of the states in India. Goa is famous for beaches, but also for various places of worship and possibility to explore diverse spiritual practices. As such, Goa attracts a colorful mix of visitors. Nature lovers, people who like to party on a budget, spiritual seekers of all kinds, and “new age” folks are equally drawn to Goa. But truth to be told, today, Goa has become overrun by too many tourists and it feels increasingly commercialized.

And so, when I discovered Port Barton, I instantly thought about “original Goa” – the way it was 20-30 years ago. That is, the place with special vibe and many reasons to visit, but still “under the radar,” uncrowded and coming out of age. If you like this type of places, keep reading.

The easiest way to get to Port Barton is by flying to Puerto Princesa, the main city of Palawan. There are plenty of cheap flights the from the Philippine’s capital. Manila).

From Puerto Princesa, a mini-van will take you on a four hours journey to Port Barton (3-4 times per day, $10).

I decided to first explore Puerto Princesa and booked one night in a place called “Villa Skanderbeg” ($13 for airconditioned room with private bath). This was a great choice. Located half-way between airport and the town center, Villa Scanderbeg is in a quiet neighborhood and has a nice courtyard with garden.

When I arrived to Villa Scanderbeg, this little fellow was waiting by the entrance to my room, and we became instant friends.

As it turned out, Villa Scanderbeg is run by a young couple: Jyza and Mike. I loved their place: comfortable, quiet, conveniently located and with cheerful hosts offering excellent service. If you decide to stay in Puerto Princesa, find Villa Scanderbeg on Booking.com or send Whatsap to Jyza and Mike: +63-929-596-5896

As to Puerto Princesa, it turned out to be an “Okay” place, but nothing special to write home about. Except, three fun experiences. First, walking around the town, I saw a nearly dilapidated building. The handwritten sign in its window promised “home made ice-cream.” I knocked on the door, and the smiling lady came out and offered a choice of four different ice creams. All were made in her private kitchen and all flavors were delicious. At 20 US cents per portion, it was a steal!

How to find this hidden gem? Well, look on Google maps for “Gangnam Korean Restaurant:” the “secret” ice cream place is right across the street.

After few more hours of walking and exploring, I was fairly tired and looked for some option to relax. Miraculously, a massage saloon called “Nuat Thai” came into the view. An excellent 90 minutes aromatherapy massage for just $15 was the second highlight of the day. Here is the list of prices and services at Nuat Thai (50 pesos are equal to 1 $ USD).

When I returned to Villa Scanderbeg, it was dinner time. I walked to a nearby night market and this was the third highlight of the day: bunch of vendors there offered a variety of eat-here or take-away meals. From one fellow, I bought a couple of vegetarian dishes (each at $1).

Truth to be told, most Filipinos are big meat eaters and barbeques like this are the most typical food options at the night markets.

But I love seafood and found an easy solution. From one stall, I bought freshly caught fish, squid, and shrimps.

Then I walked to a lady with charcoal grill. She removed all meats and prepared gladly my “catch of the day.”

Next morning, Jyza and Mike, the owners of Villa Scandenderbeg, arranged for a mini van to pick me up right from the guesthouse. By noon, I was in Port Barton.

My place to stay there was a guesthouse called Bundal Riverside. I was attracted by the enthusiastic reviews on Google maps and Booking.com and also by the price. Indeed, $9 for a room with bathroom and outdoor veranda felt like a pretty good deal. Fast forward, during five days in Port Barton, Bundal Riverside became for me a real “home away from home.”

I settled in my room and had a quick lunch on outside veranda. I called it a “happy sunny meal,” because all ingredients were in bright yellow colors: mangoes, tomatoes, watermelon (yellow are the best type in Philippines), and freshly backed cookies.

Bundal Riverside is at the southern end of Port Barton’s main street. After lunch, I decided to walk and check out the village. The first interesting encounter was local pharmacy. It had a huge sign advertising “good medicine for good health,” but the main product sold there were various types of alcohol drinks.

Then I came to the local school – right in time, when the children were released and went home.

Eventually, I turned left from the main street and ended up on Port Barton’s long beach. A pleasant surprise awaited here. Predictably, beachfront was lined up with bars, caffes and places to eat. But not only. Several massage saloons put there huge tents so that the clients can enjoy various treatments while facing the ocean, listening to the waves, and absorbing scenery.

I had massage the day before, in Puerto Princesa, but temptation was too great: especially, because it was time of sunset, and massage tables were perfectly positioned to see a slowly disappearing sun.

After sunset, the beach has been instantly transformed in a brightly lit party scene. Tourists, mostly young people from Europe, were enjoying balmy evening, drinks, food and good company.

My next day was devoted to islands’ hoping which is an absolutely “must to do” thing in Port Barton. This part of Palawan is surrounded by many small islands (some inhabited, some not) with white sand beaches, picturesque lagoons with crystal clear waters, coral reefs, and great spots for snorkeling. For $20-30, local tour companies offer full day boat trips with visits to 4-5 snorkeling, swimming, and sunbathing destinations. Each trip includes also an abundant picnic style lunch on one of the islands.

The choice of destinations and their particular combination is different for each company. Therefore, one can easily go on these tours three days in a row, and, yet, discover each time some new places. All tour boats look like this.

The only recommendation is to find a boat where its “side wings” are transformed into the comfortable hammocks. Then, you can sail really in style: enjoying salty breeze and occasional splashes of warm waters, while listening to the waves right beneath you.

Popular destinations include Twin Reef, Turtle Sanctuary, Inoladoan Island, Exotic/Cayoya Island, Fantastic Reef, and Starfish Island (aka Sandbar). But regardless of particular tour, you will always have a fun and relaxed day. Crystal clear and warm waters (30C/85F), constantly changing scenery, powdery white beaches, swimming with colorful fishes and turtles, and good chat with your fellow passengers are guaranteed.

One of the fun stops included in all tours is Sandbar (also known as Starfish island). It is a narrow and long strip of sand barely above ocean’s surface.

Walk and look around: you will definitely find a starfish.

Everyone’s favorite spot for snorkeling is in front of Albguan island: this is the place to swim with turtles.

After 2-3 hours of swimming and snorkeling, your boat will most likely come for lunch to Cayoya island(also known as Exotic island) which has good picnic facilities.

While boat crew prepares lunch, walk around the island: it has gorgeous scenery.

And then there will be time for a long and abundant buffet style meal in gazebo and right on the beach.

By the way, this relaxed meal is also great opportunity to socialize with your fellow tourists. On a typical boat, there will be 10-15 passengers and they are likely to be from various countries and different “walks of life.” Here is my company from the first tour: among 9 people, 7 nations were present!

Predictably, after all physical activities and hearty meal, many people are inclined to have a siesta time and, perhaps, take a nap. The boat crews know about this, and the next stop on a tour will likely be some quiet beach. Make your choice: simply sunbath, or walk around and collect shells, or take another swim.

After this reinvigorating break, our boat took us to the last snorkeling spot of the day: the Twin Reef. This is probably the best place around Port Barton to see the corals.

After Twin Reef, we headed back home. Approaching Port Barton by sunset time was an additional bonus of this journey.

While in Port Barton, I went on two full day boat trips and could have easily done more. But the time was limited and there were other things to see and experience. One day was “a hiking day.” In the morning, I walked to Coconut beach which is west of Port Barton: it takes about one hour to get there. This is a private beach and you need to pay 50 pesos (1 USD $) to enter, but it is absolutely worth of this nominal fee.

Continuing walking westwards along the edge of the water, you will come to the place which Google maps define as “Dharma Spot.” Not sure where the name comes from, but the rock formations look quite unusual here, and the whole vibe of this place invites to stop, sit in silence and meditate.

Keep walking further west along the water, and you will come to the White beach. Unless you go on a boat tour, this is, probably, the best place for both swimming and sunbathing near Port Barton.

In the afternoon, my second hiking destination were Pamuayan Waterfalls. They are northeast of Port Barton and it takes about 1.5 hours to walk there. Most of the hike is along the paved road: as an option, you can rent a scooter or try to hitchhike. The last portion, however, is a rocky forest trail slowly ascending to the waterfalls.

After about 20 minutes on this trail, the Pamuayan waterfalls will emerge. A huge natural pool at the base of waterfalls is a great spot for swimming in refreshing (but not cold) water after the hike.

I returned to Port Barton in time for another perfect sunset on the beach and was very hungry after day of hiking and swimming.

Speaking of the local food scene, there is plenty of choices to eat in the village. However, after five days here, I found my two absolute favorites. They are very different in style, but both have this feel of eating “like at home.” One is right in the middle of the main street and called Raquel’s Canteen. It is an open-air shack with variety of dishes cooked in and served from the huge pots.

Simply look inside of each pot, ask questions, make you selection (a single portion goes for about $1-2), and enjoy the meal while watching the night life on a main street. The selection of dishes is changing every day, and you can return here several times for always new food adventures.

An additional bonus of eating here is that you can talk with and listen to interesting local stories from the owner and chef, Raquel Azares.

The other place which I liked a lot was restaurant called Dam Dam Place at the south end of the village and very close to my guesthouse. It offers a more upscale dining experience: nicely lit setting, comfortable furniture, neatly presented dishes.

The menu at Dam Dam Place is extensive and fairly elaborate. I tried several dishes and my favorites were squid staffed with vegetables and squid “adobo” style. “Adobo” is traditional Filipino way of cooking when original ingredients (either meat or fish or seafood) are simmered in mixture of soy sauce and vinegar.

For my last day in Port Barton, I wanted something special, something that a typical tourist would not think about. Remember, I wrote earlier about “turtle sanctuary,” a snorkeling spot in front of Albguan island. The tour boats stop there, but they don’t go to the island itself.

There is, however, a small fishing village on Albguan island and I decided to visit it: to experience an authentic local life in a place which does not see any tourists. The only way to get there was to rent a private boat. For about $40, I found this small vessel with a “captain” who was, probably, not older than 14.

It has taken about one hour to get to Albguan, but finally the fishing village came into the view.

I walked around and was pleasantly surprised: the houses were colorful, there were plenty of flowers, and everything looked sort of nice.

There was even fairly sizeable and really neat elementary school.

But the greatest surprise came later: on the side of the hill, the villagers built a huge communal hall which had a roof covered with the brand new solar panels.

This was also a great place to have a last look over the village before heading back to Port Barton

Unfortunately, the ride back home was not as smooth as coming to Albguan. As it turned out, my “captain” did not check the level of fuel, and about a mile from Port Barton the engine stopped. The last portion of the trip was accomplished by paddling.

The last night in Port Barton, before packing, I looked at the colorful shells which I collected here. But not only shells. While snorkeling, I picked from the ocean floor a small Mickey Mouse figure. Who knows where he came from and for how long time was he swimming to Port Barton. But from now on, he will accompany me on the future trips.

A word of APPRECIATION (all capital letters) goes to my hosts, the owners of Bundal Riverside: Larry and his wife. After five days of staying with them, I felt almost like a family member. Larry took care of arranging transportation, getting best deals for boat cruises, finding a boat for expedition to Albguan island, and offered myriad other small services. But not only this. It was simply great experience to sit with Larry in a small gazebo in the early evening and chat about realities of everyday life in Port Barton.

And one thing I know for sure now: Port Barton is definitely my kind of place, and I will be back here soon.