Sabang Palawan Philippines

The main attraction here is the world heritage listed St. Paul's Underground River, renamed the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. – it truly is a wonder. 99% of visitors to Sabang take a day trip from Puerto Princesa for this, thereby missing out on the many other attractions of Sabang. We also don't recommend such an arduous day. At the very least, stay two nights in Sabang. Return to Puerto Princesa on the early jeep.

Underground River entrance

Start of mangrove tour

mangrove tour

Sabang Pier

Sabang beach (when overcast).

Sunset from Dab Dab

Another beautiful Sabang sunset

Dab Dab

Dab Dab again

A hard night in Dab Dab

Walk the Monkey trail to the underground river, part of the World Heritage Park. Pay your entry fee into the park – P100 – at the bangka moorings. Walk along the beach to Mary's and beyond and onto the Monkey Trail. A two hour walk will take you to the underground river, where boats and guides are available to follow the river under the mountain. Well worth doing.

There are lots of monkeys (who WILL steal your food or bags if you leave them unattended or put them down), monitor lizards, small furry creatures in the trees, birds and wonderful wet, rainy forest. Take sunscreen and an umbrella for shade and a large plastic cover for your backpack when it rains, which it will! (You can buy large clear plastic bags at Ausan's store – a good size for waterproofing most luggage – especially for bangka trips) . There is another trail you can follow too, called the Jungle trail – which provides an alternative for a round trip walk. Alternatively, just take a bangka to the underground river and back – I think its about P500 for a the boat which take 4.

(I was recently informed that the Monkey Trail is closed due the board walks having succumb to the jungle. The Jungle trail will still be open and it is more interesting anyway. It is about an hour longer if I recall correctly and you may get a little muddy during the wet season.)

Take a guided tour of the mangrove forest. Early morning is best – 8.30 latest. You pass the guides and boats on the way to the monkey trail. A guide (volunteer) and boatman (volunteer) will take you through the forest and feed you information while you look at this wonderful place. In the morning you are more likely to see wildlife than later in the day, when it’s too hot anyway. Take your umbrella for sure and insect repellant. It is appropriate to leave a contribution so that these wonderful volunteers can earn something and the work can continue. We gave P100 each (3 of us) and this seems much more than is usually given…..? They do a good job and the on-the-spot information is relevant and enriching. The guides speak about this place with passion.

Enjoy a halo-halo from a vendor in the town. This is an ice confection composed of various jellies, beans, coconut meat, jackfruit, crunchy bits buried under shaved ice, topped with sweet syrup or condensed milk. Stir and mix it all up as best you can. Delicious on a hot day. This treat costs P15. I often eat halo-halo here. Generally it is safe when you can see the ingredients as well stored and the vendor clean, which they all are. Surprisingly, this treat is not overly sweet, which is what makes it so nice.

Jungle trekking is now also available and guides can be organized through Dab Dab and Bambua.

(Note that Manja is no longer living in the Philippines so the information below about her and Dab Dab is now out of date. Dab Dab is still open but now run by Dante.)

When you arrive in Sabang, you would be wise to find your accommodation first, especially if there are other tourists looking as well. We always stay at Dab Dab with Manja and Dante Ausan. Manja is an interesting character from East Germany who arrived here 8 years ago and never left. She married a local man and has two young children. She has created an oasis of good food and good company. She puts art into everything she does. Tell her Janet and John sent you. Even if there is no vacancy with her two cottages, go there for dinner. Tell her you are coming. The restaurant can be quite a scene at night, especially if lots of visitors are in town. She plays good music, not too loud and cooks a good fish. In the morning she serves her excellent home-made bread and brewed coffee. Also a must. You will need to order your evening meals in the morning, or as early as possible, as this is when the fresh fish come in, and they will only buy for the number of guests expected. This is the case with every place in Sabang.

Dab Dab is about 20 metres from the sea front and only about 200 metres north of the pier. The two cottages are surrounded by beautiful gardens. Nothing in Sabang comes close to the beauty of Dab Dab. (Note that it was originally called "Dap Dap". and some old travel guides still have it as such.)

Accommodation is P450 a night per cottage. Each cottage accommodates two, but a third can borrow a mattress. 4 would not fit. Mosquito nets are not available for extra guests, but are essential, so bring your own. Another cottage for backpackers is under construction and will be finished later in 2004. You can book your room in advance by calling Dante on +63 910 924 1673.

Sabang is a visually beautiful place. The beach is good for swimming (on the other side of the bangka moorings, in front of Roberts, and only 200 metres from Dab Dab) and the sunsets are spectacular. The moon rises in front of you at Dab Dab. It is easy to spend a few days here..

If we were not able to stay at Dab Dab, then we would choose to stay at Bambua. Bambua is 800 meters from the beach and is in a jungle setting. They have their own website which you will have no trouble finding. Basic accommodation starts at P150 person and the top-end cottage is P820 for 2 persons with breakfast.

Many people head straight for Mary's cottages as it got top billing in the Lonely Planet guide some years ago. This is lucky for you because there is better value at Dab Dab and Bambua. Although the location may seem idyllic, droves of day trip tourists often descend on Mary's for their "lunch on the beach". The other problem with a sandy-beach location is that there are sometimes sand flies. These are no ordinary sandflies. Their bites can lead to tropical ulcers or worse, unless you treat them correctly. We are talking from personal experience. Read our section on Sandflies.

The road for the first 40Km to Salvacion, is very good, then the next 40 to Sabang is rough, but safe. The ride is dusty in a jeep, so be prepared with plenty of water and a towel, something to cover yourself if the sun is shining directly onto your arm and be prepared to part with your luggage so that it can be put on the roof. Luggage inside the crowded bus or jeepney can make the trip difficult for you.

If you have plenty of time and want to lounge around Puerto Princesa for a while, it is feasible to take the bus / super jeep to Sabang, leaving the terminal a couple of times a day. It costs about P100. They don’t leave till they are full . “When is the bus leaving?” will give you a general idea only. I waited with my friend for 3 hours in the noonday sun and resorted to a hire car in the end. Just for interest, there were a couple of Europeans coming on the same bus. They arrived before us, threw their bags to the men on the roof, tossed another bag onto one of the seats to reserve it, and then disappeared to get breakfast (?) or something. We didn’t see them before we left in the hire car. Their bags were still where they had left them. I don’t recommend this, but Palawan is one of the few places left in the world where you may be able to get away with it.

The other way to get to Sabang is to engage a hire car, with driver, for around P2000. The driver will meet you at the airport and drive you straight to Sabang. The vans are universally uncomfortable in the back and most don’t have effective air con. It can be a beastly trip for me, though I can sleep sometimes, depending on whether the driver leaves the air con on or switches it off. Next time I will be the one traveling in the front, not the driver’s friend or daughter, whatever, going along for the ride. John and I can take turns. The advantage of the hire car is that we arrive at Sabang in the afternoon of day one. HIRE CAR - 'D 'Christ' Rent a Car. Best thing is to ask to speak to Wilma. Don't bother about asking if this is the place etc, you wont be understood unless it is Wilma you speak to. You may mention 'car', 'hire', 'Sabang', but no more than that. Keep trying till you get Wilma, then all will be arranged. Very reliable in our experience. PHONE: (048) 433.2082 for the office, or (048) 434.5218 at home.+

On the way, stop at the Vietnam Village ( ½ hour + from town), to enjoy some authentic Vietnamese food. This village is a settlement organized to accommodate some of the Vietnamese boat people. We always enjoy the beef stew soup. It is spicy and hot, so have something else if you don’t enjoy chili. The spring rolls are good too. Sometimes you can buy mangos. The jackfruit chips are worth a try. Vietnamese bread is always good. The CR is clean.

From Sabang you may like to travel by bangka up the coast, as we did, to Port Barton (Coconut Garden Island specifically), then on to El Nido. A bangka for this trip can be arranged from the office on the jetty – the second office – speak to the woman there. It is best to book the trip for earlyish the next morning. To Coconut Garden or Port Barton, it will cost P2,500 for a boat that holds 4 passengers and takes about 3 hours. This is somewhat over priced, but the cooperative will NOT negotiate on the price. Unfortunately, it is the same price to Coconut Garden, even though it is only 2/3rds the distance to Port Barton Pack all of your gear into the large plastic bags purchased in preparation, cover yourself with sunscreen and prepare to get very wet – it seems inevitable. No toilet breaks on this trip, so, be warned!

If you are staying in Coconut Garden, there is an option to arrange the boat through them. This will cost you about P1,500 which is a P1,000 saving. You can't do this if you are not staying at Coconut Garden. You can call them on satellite phone from Dab Dab to make the arrangements. Their number is +63 9854 08129

If you are returning to Puerto Princesa it is best to take the jeepney that leaves from the jetty at 7 each morning. This one is the fastest, by far. Later jeepneys make lots of stops and departure time from Sabang will depend on many variables – like waiting for a bangka to come in from a distant village with many, many, many kilos of copra to be loaded onto the roof, waiting for a bangka to come in with a comatose man on board needing to be taken to PP, along with his entire family and sleepover necessities. Our son chose to ride on the roof of one of these jeepney and had a great time with fellow roof passengers, a pig, some chickens, a boat, spare tires and assorted cargo. It was a cultural experience. Enjoy it if you can, but watch out for overhead wires.

From Sabang you can travel overland by jeepney to Port Barton and beyond. We have not done this trip so don’t know the time frame. Apparently you must take the jeepney from Sabang and get out at the appropriate junction. There you will wait for the jeepney to Port Barton – rubber time. Unpredictable journey unless you do it from Puerto Princesa.