Between Beaches and Tropical Forest: Island Life in Palawan

When you land, we’ll welcome you at the airport and whisk you away to your hotel by private transfer. For the next two nights, you’ll stay in the city’s old residential area in a tranquil hotel with spacious rooms and a swimming pool.

On your first full day in the Philippines, we’ll arrange for you to take a private tour of Manila’s colonial district, Intramuros. In the heart of one of the world’s most populated cities, this ancient Spanish city is an oasis of calm. Of the seven churches that once stood here, only two remain following their destruction by American bombings during the Pacific War. You’ll visit both San Agustin, with its 16th century corrugated iron-roofed cloister, and the cathedral. You’ll also pay a visit to the central market of Quiapo, where colourful crowds weave their way between stalls selling fruit, vegetables and fabrics.

It’s time to leave the city behind in favour of beautiful beaches surrounded by coconut trees. We’ll transfer you to the airport this morning for your one-and-a-half-hour flight to Puerto Princesa, on the island of Palawan. When you land, you’ll be privately transferred to Sabang, which takes about two hours. For the next three nights, you’ll stay in a bungalow on the beach that looks out across the sparkling sea.

While you’re in this wild and wonderful region, we’ll arrange for you to explore the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. With its spectacular karst landscape and primary forest, it’s home to one of the most impressive cave complexes in the world. You’ll travel along the underground river by traditional banca canoe, sailing for five miles under limestone vaults teeming with stalactites until you reach the sea. Here in the darkness, the silence is broken only by the occasional cries of bats, and the atmosphere is otherworldly.

The rest of your time in Sabang can be spent at your leisure: relax on the white sand between mangroves and clear waters, or explore the island’s interior with its forest, cashew plantations, corrugated iron churches and rice fields ploughed by carabao, the native buffalo. If you need any recommendations, just ask our local Concierge.

Today you’ll move on to Flower Island, which you’ll reach by private transfer (six hours’ drive and a one-hour boat crossing). The long journey is worth it: you’ll spend the next two nights on this private islet in a bamboo bungalow between tropical forest and white sand. With its long stretches of beach and warm waters filled with fish, Flower Island is a quintessential desert island; you can explore the perimeter via a trail that takes just 20 minutes to complete. There’s no television or internet here, just lush green forest and an endless turquoise sea.

While you’re here, we’ll arrange for you to visit a local pearl farm. The region’s exceptional biodiversity, rich plankton and clean waters mean that the Philippines is one of the world’s leading natural pearl producers. Jewellers compete for pearls produced here in the heart of a miraculously preserved ecosystem.

We’ll transfer you to El Nido today (two hours’ drive on a dirt track and a one-hour boat), where you’ll spend the next four nights. Your accommodation here is an overwater bungalow on stilts. Facing the sea in a private cove, this is the ultimate idyllic environment.

North of Palawan, between limestone cliffs and the Bacuit Archipelago, El Nido has its own kind of magic. Clear lagoons and stretches of fine sand meet intense green palm trees and blue skies. This is a marine sanctuary for whales, dolphins, manta rays and sea turtles, and while you’re here, days snorkelling, kayaking and windsurfing can be broken up with lazy hours in the hammock or deckchair.

There’s also plenty to get stuck into during your last few days in the Philippines, so we recommend heading out by banca to make the most of beach bars, deckchairs and white sands on the neighbouring islands of Dilumacad, Entalula and Pangulasian. If you fancy something a little wilder, stop at Vigan Island (better known as Snake Island) and enjoy its long stretch of sand winding between two islets, and don’t miss Nacpan, renowned as the area’s most beautiful beach. For a little culture, you can also attend a mass in Tagalog (the local language) in the St. Francis of Assisi church.