Port Barton on Palawan Island, Philippines, is famous for one thing: island-hopping tours. There is a multitude of pristine, heavenly little islands popping out from Port Barton Bay’s clear, blue waters. There are literally hundreds of boats stationed at Port Barton Beach, operating a range of tours around the bay on a daily basis. Pretty much every local in Port Barton will act as an agent/tout of the boat-tour operators.
During the two weeks we spent in Port Barton, the number of tour offers we received was comparable to the number of steps we walked. We had to turn them all down because we had a much better idea. The ones of you who’ve been following this blog for some time must know that I’m not a big fan of organized tours and I revel in planning my own unique, independent adventures instead. Now, for an island-hopping trip from Port Barton, this was my idea: we’d rent kayaks and set off on our own, paddling around the bay for three days and camping on the islands!
If you’d rather be seated comfortably on a boat and let the locals guide you, you can check out some of the best island-hopping tours in Port Barton.
But if your arms feel strong and you’re up to a similar kayaking adventure, keep reading. Below I’ll give you lots of useful information for planning your trip, as well as the itinerary we followed.
Where to rent a kayak in Port Barton
First things first: if you want to do a kayaking tour, you need a kayak. There are quite a few places renting kayaks along the beach of Port Barton; you can find these easily as the vessels are always in patent exhibition on the beach. All of them give, of course, pretty much the same prices. They have an hourly rate, which is commonly 100 pesos, and a daily one, which is commonly 600 pesos, but is easily negotiable down to 500. The daily rental means strictly from morning to whatever time in the evening… But when we asked them for a multi-day rental, that’s when it got tricky.
They were baffled. They obviously were never asked for that before. They turned us down, all of them; I guess, partly because of worrying about their kayaks, and partly because they didn’t want to potentially harm their boat tour business: pretty much all of them, besides the kayaks, they also have tour boats; they wouldn’t want independent kayaking tours becoming common.
After all, we found that one dude who was willing to rent to us for three days. His kayaks were also in a much better condition than the average. And he also made us a discount: down to 400 pesos per day for each kayak. You will find the dude at the southern part of the beach, near the Reggae Bar, a few meters before the oblique coconut tree with the swing.
What and how we packed
As my good friend Kasper was joining us, we rented two two-seated kayaks. Sophie and I took the one with most of the stuff on, and Kasper took the other with some more stuff.
We packed minimalistically. The necessary items were:
- Tent
- Hats
- Sunscreen
- Insect Repellent
- Torches
- Water
- Food
As for clothes, I did only with swim shorts and a top to paddle on. Then we packed phones, GoPro’s, power banks, and books. All electronics and other permeables, we packed them in a good dry sack.
Water: We took a 6.6-liter bottle with us and later bought another two liters from Albaguen Village on the second day. That was sufficient for the three of us.
Food: As we could not find cooking gas anywhere in Port Barton, we had to rely exclusively on fire to cook. For both our dinners we got vegetables which we cooked in the fire, wrapped in aluminum foil. We also got plenty of tins, bread, jam, raisins, dry fish, and cookies. A roll of toilet paper proved very handy to start the fire. We packed the food in a cardboard box, cloaked in my backpack’s rain cover.
Camping on the islands in Port Barton Bay
As we found out, most of the islands and beaches around Port Barton Bay are private, and camping there is not permitted. We had a little trouble the second night, as you’ll read below. It’s better to keep yourself well hidden in remote locations when camping.
So, by around half seven that morning, we had our kayaks ready-packed on Port Barton Beach and set off. Following is a summation of how this adventure went by.
Day #1: Port Barton – Balsa Island – Albaguen Island
Our destination for the first day was Balsa Island Beach. That wasn’t a separate island, as far as geography goes, but it is named so on Google Maps anyway. It is located on the tip of the large peninsula defining the western side of Port Barton Bay. That was the longest continuous leg of the entire trip, paddling for 10 km straight-line through the middle of the bay.
It took us about 4 hours to reach the tip of the peninsula, together with a lunch break in the middle of the sea. The sky was all-clear and the sun harsh, but still tolerable, given the early hour. For the first half of the distance, we had no wind and our kayaks skimmed smoothly over the oil-like sea surface. Then a neutral wind began blowing from the east and progressively grew to some 10 knots. It was welcome as the light, slant waves didn’t considerably obstruct our advance and the breeze offered coveted relief.
We paddled along the scenic coconut beach that described the south shore of the promontory. It was all-desolate, save a little hut. This could have also been a nice spot to settle for the day, but we instead continued around the rocky coast of the promontory, headed for Balsa Beach.
In my imagination, I had pictured this beach as a secluded paradise, but this was not the case in reality, unfortunately. I had predicted an odd tourist boat potentially showing up, but I didn’t expect the beach to have a bloody resort. The staff were quick to dart towards our place as soon as we touched land. They asked us to pay 50 pesos each for entering private property. We ignored them politely and settled in a shade to get some rest. However, there was no question of camping there. We needed a new plan.
After less than an hour, we pushed the kayaks back onto the water and paddled off. Our new destination was the beach on the northern end of Albaguen Island that we could see straight across from our position. The wind kept blowing from the east but had grown in intensity to some 20 knots. Despite facing the wind directly, we managed to paddle quite fast and reached our destination in just over an hour.
We got to see a turtle shortly before reaching the shore. She was chilling, enjoying the sun and the breeze, on the surface, but she quickly vanished into the depths of the sea as soon as we approached her
The beach was craggy and there was only one narrow spot where we could get ashore safely. It wasn’t much of a dream beach with regard to its beauty. It was, however, free and empty, which mattered the most. We set our camp and spent the rest of the day leisurely, reading, snorkeling, and daydreaming.
Day #2: Albaguen Village – Inaladelan Island
It was a brilliant and quiet morning. We got up lazily, as we were facing west and we’d have shade for plenty of time to come. We packed everything slowly and got back to the sea.
We paddled some 4 km around the southwest peninsula of the island and reached Albguen village: the only non-tourism-dependent settlement on the islands of Port Barton. We spent there an easy morning; got some stuff for lunch from one of the shops and bought some extra water; strolled around the village; and headed out again by early afternoon.
The sea was calm and we skittered fast across the 5-km stretch of water that separated us from Inaladelan Island. That’s where we intended to spend the night. The best spot on the island is located on its southeastern tip, but, of course, it was occupied by a resort-bar. We found another, idyllic spot by the west verge of the northern beach. It was sandy and well-concealed amid the thick foliage of a cluster of seafront trees. It was a perfect spot.
We pulled the kayaks out and set up our little hidden camp. We got to spend a few easy afternoon hours, reading and snorkeling, and then we made a nice fire and got to work on our dinner, after the sun plunged out of view. We had just pulled the food out of the fire, hungry bellies purring, when we got visitors.
Of course, they were staff from the resort on the opposite side of the island. They came to let us know that we were on private ground and were not allowed to remain. We would have ignored them, politely, if it wasn’t for the shotgun that hung from the shoulder of one of the blokes, which called for close attention.
We argued that we didn’t know, had no money and it would be stupid from their side to drive us out to the sea in the dark. After all, they invited us to camp in front of the resort for no cost. I would have preferred to stay where we were, but… it’s always tricky to argue against someone who carries a shotgun.
They waited for us while we had our dinner. Then we packed everything and paddled through the night to their beach. I don’t regret it. It was a marvelously beautiful spot. The blokes just let us alone on the beach and went to sleep. We stayed up until late, working our way through emptying the rum bottle we’d bought earlier from the village on Albaguen and swimming in the moonlight.
Day #3: Back to Port Barton
We had to wake up and put the camp down before dawn. That’s what we were instructed to do by the staff who were anxious for us not being seen by their valuable, paying guests. Shortly after six, we were out paddling back towards Port Barton.
I was initially a little worried because the forecast gave thunderstorms in the morning. After all, however, not a drop fell and the sea was as placid as a Swiss lake in the summer. Further aided by the thick cloud mass blocking the heat out, we covered the remaining 6 km rapidly and, still early morning, hit the land at Port Barton Beach.
Accommodation and Activities in The Philippines
Stay22 is a handy tool that lets you search for and compare stays and experiences across multiple platforms on the same neat, interactive map. Hover over the listings to see the details. Click on the top-right settings icon to adjust your preferences; switch between hotels, experiences, or restaurants; and activate clever map overlays displaying information like transit lines or concentrations of sights. Click on the Show List button for the listings to appear in a list format. Booking via this map, I will be earning a small cut of the platform's profit without you being charged any extra penny. You will be thus greatly helping me to maintain and keep enriching this website. Thanks!
