Puerto Princessa to Port Barton, El Nido, and Tapik Beach Palawan by Motorbike

When we started researching Palawan, the most common itinerary we saw involved flying into Puerto Princessa and then taking an van straight from the airport to El Nido. This takes about 6 hours and has been described as an all-around uncomfortable experience.  T and I were not into that idea. So we started looking at alternatives. At the time there was surprisingly little info out there but we came across a post or two saying you could do the trip by motor bike, which is much more our style, and it was great!

To rent the bikes, we found a spot near the airport that rented us two 200cc Honda XRM’s for about 500 PHP per day.  It took me a few laps around the parking lot, with a pretty entertained (and helpful!) crowd watching,  to get the hang of my bike.  Tillman and I had rented automatic scooters in Thailand (you can read more about that here) but this was my first time being on a motorbike where I had to shift gears – can you believe that?!

There was some regular city traffic getting out of town, which was a little stressful for me with all the stop and go, but once we got out of Puerto Princessa there was very little traffic. Plus, by the time we were through all the traffic I’d really gotten the hang of shifting haha. If you’ve been on a motor bike before, you’ll be just fine! Here are a few things we found handy/learned along the way:

Tip one: No matter how experienced you are, make sure you WEAR A HELMET. It’s not uncommon to see a person, or whole family, on a motorbike not wearing helmets throughout parts of Asia, but this a risk you do not want to take.  Motorbikes are dangerous and it’s simple precaution. I shouldn’t even have to say this. But I am. Because it’s important. One more time for those in the back. WEAR. A. HELMET.  Okay? Okay! Moving on…

Tip two: Plan ahead. Knowing we’d be taking motorbikes, we packed very light. I’ve had my backpack for a million years, so I’ll have to double check, but I think it’s capacity is about 30 liters. This allowed me to strap it down for the ride but also wear it on my back if needed.

Before we took off we also bought the following to for the drive:

• A phone holder that could be mounted to a bike
• Bungee nets to strap our bags to the back of our bikes
• Headsets that could be mounted in a helmet for communication

So, I’m not going to lie, I thought T was being a little ridiculous when he mentioned the headsets. I was like we are going to take these half way across the world when we can just pull over and talk for a few minutes?? But they were a game changer.

Getting to Port Barton and Tapik beach involved taking a few unfinished roads. Tillman had mounted his phone on his bike so he could have a map visible while was driving and he could feed directions to me through the headset so I knew what was up. It also made it so we could check in w/ each other when we saw something cool or wanted to stop. Plus we were able to chat a little or listen to music while we were on the open road.

It was extra useful when we got to the last miles of the road to Port Barton. The road is unfinished and, at the time, not in the best shape. Tillman, being more experienced on a bike, was in front of me and was able to give me a heads up through my speaker on upcoming obstacles, potholes, logs on the ground, cows in the road, etc.

A few other tips:

• It’s worth refilling to full tank even when you have half tank, you never know how accurate your fuel meter is or when you’ll see another place to stop for gas
• Bring bungees, we strapped our packs on the seat behind us for the majority of the trip, much more comfortable than wearing it on our backs. On some of the really rough roads we wore our backpacks because they were sliding around even with some serious bungee business, pack light!
• Make sure your pack is really tied down well and that the things you need when you stop are accessible (wallet, chapstick, phone, etc)
• Cover up! It’s hot (especially mid-day) and you will get very sunburned. We both wore those SPF travel shirts that you can get at REI and it was a life saver. The backs of my hands got burnt, even with sunscreen on, to give you an idea of how harsh the sun can be.
• Check the weather forecast and try not to get caught in the rain. If it does start raining, pull over. The roads can get muddy or slick and other cars/vans/trucks that can’t see you as well.

Overall it was a GREAT idea to rent motorbikes! I never felt unsafe on the road and travel never got boring.  It allowed us get off the beaten path and see places we definitely wouldn’t have otherwise. Plus, we were able to go at our own pace, stop whenever something seemed interesting, change our plans last minute, etc. I enjoyed it so much!

If you are on the fence, and going by motorbike sounds like your kind of thing, I would say it’s a must in Palawan!