Pandan Island - Occidental Mindoro

Imagine yourself in a hammock sorrounded by palm trees and  pandan trees. While engorged in a blissful sleep you can hear the waves crashing onto rocks and the humming of the birds. In your slumber you dream of a beautiful paradise devoid of worldly pleasures.You can only think of the words to describe this place - Simple , au naturel , earthy, modest, quiet , unobtrusive. A feeling of nakedness creeps up your body as you gear your eyes towards the austere cottages without electricity. At night, when darkness falls in , no light bulbs or lamp posts that will guide you through the paths. No aircon nor electric fan to cool you down. But despite of it all you wanna stay here forever and never want to leave this place. This is what you call paradise disguised in the name of Pandan Island .

Pack your bags and get here. Pandan Island is quite easy to reach. There are 2 ways: by plane or by bus.

by plane
From Manila there is only 1(one) airline carrying passengers to San Jose and that is Cebu Pacific. Their flight to/from San Jose is every TTHS. For further details on their flights to San Jose please go to the airline's website. Upon arriving in San Jose , it's another 2.5 to 3 hours to Sablayan via public bus or jeepney. Or you may opt to pre-arrange your transfers with the resort .

by bus
From Manila to Sablayan direct via bus, only DIMPLESTAR plies this route. And a detailed bus schedule please visit their website. Or you may contact the bus company at +63 908 271 75 98

Upon reaching Sablayan town i highly suggest you visit the town's Tourism Office for proper guidance. Tourism Office Staff will be glad to assist you with whatever necessary preparations you need for your trip to Pandan Island and/or Apo Reef. In our case, they arranged a boat to/from Pandan Island. And since Pandan was fully booked at the time we visited (it was holy week) we opted to just stay in one of Sablayan town hotel and just spend a full day tour of Pandan. We stayed till the evening to eat at their dinner buffet. 

In Pandan, you will make new friends. The resort staff are super friendly and always wearing a smile on their face. The guests, which are mostly from different parts of the world , are always smiling and wanting to talk to you, wanting to share their stories. What's humbling is that they do not complain with the lack of high class amenities the resort can offer.

People who travel to Pandan are happy and contented. Their attitude towards life in general is contagious. There is no dull moments when you are here.

Our day in Pandan Island left us hanging for more. I wanted to stay for a longer time but really our main destination was Apo Reef. Will come back for sure to this island paradise called Pandan.

Next day will be another story. Apo Reef here we come!!



Pandan Island Resort
Tel: +63 (0)919 305 78 21
5104 Sablayan
Occidental Mindoro
Philippines
e-mail: info@pandan.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PandanIsland
Twitter: www.twitter.com/#!/pandanisland

For inquiries, you can reach the Sablayan Tourism Office at:
Contact No.: 09284659585
Email: amazingsablayan@yahoo.com
Website: www.sablayan.net

Honda Bay Palawan Island Hopping

Woke up at 530am to prepare for our Honda Bay tour. I'm a little excited about this because i'm an addict to snorkeling .

Honda Bay Island Hopping is one activity in Puerto Princesa which is not to be missed. You must include it in your itinerary.

For a hassle free tour , you may get a tour package from any travel agency or you have an option to DIY (do it yourself).My suggestion is best to leave everything to the experts.

Standard Rate for Honda Bay tour - P 1,100/person inclusive of lunch, boat hire, services of a tour guide, 2way transfers hotel-honda bay wharf v.v.

Should you be on a tight budget and opt to do-it-yourself  , here are some tips:

1. Tricycles are willing to transfer you to/from Honda Bay Wharf if the price is right. Normal rate is P 400-500 per tricycle. A tricycle can carry 3-4 passengers. But remember that the Honda Bay wharf is 20-30 minutes away from the city and believe me it's not a very comfortable ride.

2. Van hire - P 1,500/van 2way transfer pick-up/drop-off from hotel. Good for 10-12 pax.

3. Best to buy your fresh fish,seafoods, rice at the wet market before proceeding to the wharf. No need to bring utensils because the locals in Pandan Island or Snake Island can provide it for a fee. There are small retail stores in Pandan and Sanke island which sells softdrinks, bread (for fish feeding), etc.

4. Bring sunblock (lots of it), shades, sarong or anything to protect you from the smoldering heat of the sun. DO NOT forget to bring your camera. Waterproof camera cases are for rent at the HOBBAI booth for P 150 each.

5. Bring your own snorkel gear (for hygienic purposes) or you may rent one for P 100.

6. Best time to go is 7am-8am ahead of the tourist pack. Less crowd at the beach and more islands you can cover.

7. Register first at the HOBBAI (Honda Bay Boatowners Association Inc) Booth. Then pay your boat hire there too.

We were assigned to a boat named Angel of the Sea. . .

First stop was Pandan Island. . .

 Most of these islands have rightful owners. That is why they have set an entrance fee everytime you go to their island. Here are the lists of the islands and their corresponding entrances:

Our second stop was Snake Island. . .

We took our lunch here in Snake Island. Cottage hire is P 50/cottage. Locals cooked our lunch for P 100.
We paid also for the coals used in broiling our seafoods P 25. Buko juice costs P 25 each.

As you can see from the above picture, the locals are busy preparing lunch for the tourists.

And here's the finished product. . . Our glorious lunch!!!!

After our lunch we headed off again for non stop snorkeling. This time the fishes are bigger and brighter. Oh i really love our waters. I hope all tourists heeds the calling of our government to keep our environment clean so that  our children may enjoy and experience the beauty of our country.

Starfish Island was our next stop after lunch. This island according to the caretaker was bought by Dos Palmas already.

We saw a pack of Korean Tourists eating lunch at the LULI Island (Lulubog-Lilitaw). There's a P 50 entrance so we decided to skip but was able to take pictures of it. It was high tide that time.

We had a great time touring Honda Bay. We will surely come back to visit Dos Palamas and other islands we were not able to set foot to.

Puerto Princesa nightlife coming up.