Respec' from Port Barton Mon - The Philippean Caribbean - 20/02/26

Hail up

Well the last few days have seen us do not much at all, dear readers.

Jen-Jen has recovered, I’ve swum and had some good meals around the beach and we even had a night out in the Escape Bar where we RULED as kings of the pool table for an hour or so. Interesting side note: if you foul a ball, there is no two-shot rule. Instead, your opponent places the ball anywhere on the table for their next shot. Great rule, and one that we embraced whole-heartedly!

Anyway, we settled our bill with Hayahay Resort - great Thai food -  and organised for a tricycle tuk-tuk to take us to the pier as we had a whole day of travel to get to our next destination - the beachside town of Port Barton on the island of Palawan. 

Our driver, Ronald, was out the front ready to rock and roll at 7.15am and we got to the port just before our 8 am ferry. The ferry took 2 hours to get to Cebu Airport. Our flight to Palawan was at 1 pm, so we had food and chilled before the 90-minute flight. We then got a two-hour private car all over the jungle-covered island of Palawan. Our driver was a wild boy who cranked da reggae in his van. After two hours of erratic corners and loco driving, we saw a beach before us and he stated in perfect Jamaican patios:

“Welcome to Port Barton, Mon!”

Aaand… breathe out!! AAhhh.

We checked into our digs for the next four nights at Davingracia cottages, which were two A-frame cottages erected in our hosts' backyard. Mum, dad, son and grandparents all lived on site and helped run the business. It was a 20 metre walk to the beach and the hut - albeit basic - had A/C, a bed and a simple bathroom. 

After travelling all day, we needed a walk. We got to the long slice that is Port Barton Beach - which is on the West Coast of Palawan -  just before sunset, and all of the sunset bars and resto’s (that’s what they’re called here - resto’s) were filled with Europeans and Filipinos enjoying tasty beverages and the sun.

But man, that sun was hot.

We found the reggae bar and sat in the shade while we washed the road dust from our throats with a few San Mig Lights - and Jackie’s and Coke Zeros. 

Dis was irie mon!! Live reggae bands belting out the best of Mr Marley and crew, dreadlocks, red, green and yellow painted things, happy hour prices and barefooted travellers dancing on the sand. As the sun set and the air cooled (marginally), we had a moment of pure travelling bliss. See below ;)

We then walked home via one of the three streets in town and found a Thai resto that looked good. It was better than good, it was insane. Spring rolls, nasi goreng and satay chicken, were all top shelf and then we crashed early because we had a snorkelling trip planned around different islands planned for the next day.

We slept well in the A/C and were down the beach at 9am after a quick toast and fruit breaky ready to snorkel.

We jumped on the boat with about 20 other people from all over the globe. A regulation in the Philippines is that you must wear your life jacket at all times - including snorkelling - which was a bit of a kick in the sack, but we rolled with it mon!

First stop was a sandbar - no snorkelling - called Starfish Island. I’d had a good snorkel in Bohol and seen hundreds of the local pink-horned starfish, and they were on display here too - check the pics. This was a very chill first stop, but we wanted action.

We then went to a reef called Twin Reef and jumped in - with jackets - and saw some very healthy coral and plenty of tropical fish. The reefs all look great here - which I must say is very pleasant surprise. After a while we got the shits with the jackets and jumped back on the boat.

The guys then drove us to one of the most beautiful/stereotypical tropical islands that I’ve ever seen: Cagsalay Island. We docked on the sand of Long Beach with about 20 other boats and the guys said that we will stay here for two hours. We had a snorkel out the front, a walk along the white powdery shore and lied under shade trees while the guys made lunch. After an hour or so they bought the most amazing buffet to the table - and they bought the tables from the boat - and served us. Check out the pics: we had chicken, freshly caught tuna, eggplant salad, stir-fry veg, rice (of course) and a kick-ass carved fruit platter. Big ups to de boys mon. Much respec’

The reef out the front was called Fantastic Reef and after lunch had settled we went there and tried to see turtles but to no avail. 

The next stop was called Paradise Beach and was next to a brand next structure: “Blue Ocean Bar - the world’s largest floating bar.” This was epic - as seen in the pics below - but for the life of me I don’t know why we didn’t stop there. It looked epic!! We whiled away a nice hour at the beach and made new friends from France, Canada and The States. 

We then got home, showered and hit the reggae bar for Happy Hour. We had decided that because we had nothing on tomorrow that we would maybe doa pub crawl?? Anyway we grabbed the two for one cocktails at the reggae bar - Mojitos for The Dude, and Margaritas for Jen-Jen, plus beer chasers, while we again heard some incredible musos playing some great music. I put money in all of their tip jars, as I know how fucking hard it is to play to people who are eating and don’t give a shit!! 

Anyway, we revisited  the Thai resto for last nights beverage again plus mango-sticky rice. Coincidentally, they sat us next to three oldies that we’d been on the boat with -  Karen from Canada and married couple Cesar and Jacqui from Arizona - though originally from Nicaragua and Cuba respectively!

We had  more drinks and they told us that they were staying in the Oasis resort just around the corner that had a pool table. Well, we were off and the rest of the night was spent drinking Jackies and Coke Zero and kicking ass on the table, with our new friends and a few youngsters that had just rolled into town on an organised tour! We rolled into bed at some time - probably still before midnight, to crash out.

The next day was a horrorshow.

My body did not like two-for-one Mojitos, San Miguel Light or Jack’s and Coke. Jen was ok and went back to Oasis for breakfast and asked if she could sit near their pool all day, swim, read and order off the menu? Of course Ma’am! Would Sir be joining her?

Sir came up later and spent all day on a sun lounge under a wet towel under an umbrella, occasionally sipping Sprite or going in the pool up to his neck, but not getting his head wet, because in addition to his almighty hangover he also had a wracking cough and water in his ear!! Anyway we got through the day, and the night and they next day.

We also grabbed a taxi boat and checked out the two famous beaches just south of Port Barton, White Beach and Coconut Beach. They were, again, postcard perfect - like Cagsaly Island - and there were about 200 Euro wannabe supermodels in their tiny, dental-floss, g-bangers that showed 95% of their bums… Oh well, I mustn't complain! The water was great and the only downside was that I lost one of my Archies thongs… what a pain in the foot!!

Port Barton was beautiful, and a tiny little slice of the world that I’d never heard of before this trip. I’m so glad that we made the effort to get here.

See you in El Nido,

One Love ‘ irie mon!