4 Days in Balabac: Onok Island, Sea Turtles & Palawan's Most Remote Corner
The most beautiful Island we’ve ever been to: Onok Island, Balabac, Palawan.
We almost cancelled this tour because of the reviews. It ended up next to Siquijor as our highlight of the entire Philippines.
Balabac was the part of our route we were least sure about. The beach resort we'd booked has only existed in its current form since November 2025, and some of the comments we read beforehand made us seriously consider cancelling. A brand-new camp on a remote island at the far southern end of Palawan, a 2:45am pickup, four to five hours in a van and a local boat crossing on top. Plenty of reasons to be skeptical.
We went anyway. And after three days of near-empty islands, more sea turtles than we could count, a sandbar in the middle of the open sea and evenings with cold beer and people we're still in touch with, we can say it plainly: the exhausting journey was worth every peso. Balabac and Siquijor were the two highlights of our entire Philippines trip.
Here's exactly how the tour works, what the camp is really like, and what you should know before you book, including the honest parts.
The Route to Balabac Starts in Puerto Princesa
Balabac isn't a place you pass through. You commit to it. The gateway is Puerto Princesa, and you'll want one night there before the tour starts, because the pickup comes early. Very early.
We flew in from Bohol via Manila, both flights on time. One planning note we can pass on: we deliberately booked a later connection to Puerto Princesa as a buffer, and in hindsight the earlier flight would have worked fine. Don't over-engineer this leg.
For the night before the tour we stayed at the Panya Resort, and it does exactly what a transit stop should. The food was good, breakfast covers the basics, and the staff were friendly and accommodating. The practical win: you can leave your main luggage at the resort during the Balabac tour and travel with a small bag only. On a tour where you're moving between van, boat and camp, that makes a real difference.
Get to bed early. The alarm goes off in the middle of the night.
Getting There: The Honest Version
Here's the full journey, step by step, so you know exactly what you're signing up for:
- 2:45am: Pickup at the resort in Puerto Princesa
- 4–5 hours by van heading south, with one stop for breakfast, toilets and a smoking break
- Around 8:30–9:00am: Arrival at the port, where you wait in a small café for your guide
- The guide arrives on the morning ferry from the camp's island, first sorts the departing guests onto the right bus back, then greets the new arrivals
- Coastguard registration: every guest signs in before boarding, this is standard procedure here
- 1–1.5 hours by boat to the camp, depending on the swell. It's a local outrigger boat, not a resort speedboat
Now real talk about the arrival by van: the ride is rough, and in the back rows you feel every single pothole. Sleeping back there is close to impossible. The drivers know the road well and brake before the bigger bumps, but if you get a choice of seats, take one closer to the front. Your spine will thank you around hour three.
It sounds like a lot. It is a lot. And then the boat rounds the last stretch of coast, the water turns a shade of turquoise you haven't seen yet on this trip, and the math changes completely.
The Camp: What to Expect (and What Not To)
This is the section we'd want to read before booking, so here it is without any polish.
First, the reviews that almost made us cancel: when we booked, the Balabac Beach Resort had a Google rating below 2 stars. Today it sits above 4, and after three nights there we understand the recovery far better than the old reviews. We left 5 stars ourselves, because for us, nearly everything was spot on.
The resort in its current form has only existed since November 2025. It's being expanded continuously, new huts and hangout spots are being added all the time, and you can literally watch the camp grow on their Instagram (@balabac_beachresort). We had one of the elevated bungalows directly on the water, which meant waking up to the sunrise over the sea every morning, easily one of the best views of the whole trip.
What you need to understand going in: almost everyone working here is a local islander. Most of the staff had barely seen tourists before this camp existed, and nobody has formal hospitality training. Quite a few things got clarified last-minute via phone or WhatsApp. If you arrive expecting the routines of an established resort, you'll find rough edges.
But here's the thing: everyone gave visible effort, every single day. Meals came out on time and generously, questions got answered, problems got solved, just sometimes on island time and through a WhatsApp message instead of a front desk. If you take the camp for what it is, a brand-new place run by people learning the job with real care, you'll have a wonderful stay. We did.
What the Tour Cost Us
The full package cost us around €650 in total for the two of us: roughly €350 as a deposit when booking, the rest paid in cash at the camp. That covered 4 days and 3 nights in the premium beachfront bungalow with air conditioning, all meals, all boat trips and the complete transfer from and back to Puerto Princesa. Measured against what's included, this was one of the best-value stretches of our entire Philippines trip. Bring the remaining balance in cash, there's no ATM anywhere near here.
One booking decision you'll face: private or shared tour. Take the shared group tour. The group you arrive with stays together for the entire stay, spread across several boats on every island trip. You see the same faces at breakfast, in the water and over evening beers, and by day two it stops feeling like a tour group. You can make real friends out here, we did, and we're still in touch with some of them. A private tour would cost more and remove the best part.
The camp is your base. The reason you're here starts the next morning, out on the water.
Day 1: Arrival & First Islands
After arriving around midday, we checked into the bungalow and had lunch at the camp. The tour wastes no time: the same afternoon, the boats head out to Patawan Island and Patongong Island just across from it.
Patawan set the tone for everything that followed: white sand, clear shallow water, and almost nobody else there. We liked it a lot, and it was only the warm-up.
One rule to know: all boats must be back at camp by 5pm. Dinner is served around 7 to 7:30pm, always plenty of food, always good, and vegetarian options were available at every single meal.
Day one was beautiful. Day two was the one we'd flown across the world for.
Day 2: Onok Island & the Sea Turtles
Breakfast at 7:30am, departure planned for around 9 (ours left a little later). The ride to Onok Island normally takes 1.5 to 2 hours. Ours took three, because we stopped to tow another boat that had broken down. That's how things work out here: boats help each other, schedules bend, nobody complains. And honestly, being part of a mid-sea rescue tow felt like its own small adventure. It fit this place perfectly.
Onok was worth every minute of it. This is the island you've seen if you've ever looked up Balabac: a tiny dot of sand and palms in impossibly clear water, with quiet corners to settle into and hardly anyone around.
And then there are the turtles. We saw more sea turtles here than anywhere else on the entire trip, and I spent most of the day filming them, from above with the drone and underwater with them. Watching a turtle glide beneath you in water this clear is the kind of moment that makes a 2:45am pickup feel like a fair trade.
One small honest warning: there were small jellyfish in the water that sting a little. Nothing serious, nobody had a real problem, but worth knowing before you jump in.
Lunch was served right on the jetty. Back at camp by 5pm, dinner at 7, and then the camp evening routine we came to love: ice cream, a cold beer, billiards and volleyball if you want them, and long conversations with people from all over the world. We met some of the coolest people of our whole trip at this camp.
We went to sleep thinking the trip had peaked. Day three had other plans, in both directions.
Day 3: Sandbars, Coconuts & One Drowned Drone
Day three was the most mixed day of the tour, and we'll give it to you straight.
The first island of the day was honestly underwhelming: not much to see, and not particularly clean. Every island-hopping tour has one of these stops, and this was ours.
The second island flipped the day completely: fresh coconuts straight from the tree, mangroves to explore, and shade to stretch out in. Simple and very good.
Then came the sandbar at Manta Island, and with it the story we teased in our Bohol article. The sandbar sat about 30 centimetres under water when we arrived, a strip of pale sand in the middle of open sea, and it was beautiful in a way that's hard to put into words. I sent the drone up for what should have been some of the best shots of the trip.
The drone went into the water. Gone. Salt water, open sea, no recovery. Every aerial shot from this trip onward, El Nido, Coron, all of it, exists only in our memory. If you fly a drone over water: this is your reminder that it only takes one moment.
We'd planned to end the day at a starfish spot, but our guide was upfront with us: the famous "Starfish Island" doesn't reliably exist as a fixed place right now, because the starfish move. We appreciated the honesty more than a staged stop.
Back at 5pm, dinner at 7, ice cream, good conversations. Minus one drone, but with countless memories.
Day 4: The Journey Back
The return day runs on an early, tight schedule:
- 6am: Breakfast
- 7am: Boarding the boat
- Around 7:30am: Departure (the coastguard clearance sets the timing)
- About 1 hour by boat to the port, then the van back north
- 2:30pm: Arrival in Puerto Princesa
You pick up your stored luggage at the Panya Resort, and if your route continues like ours did, El Nido is next.
Balabac Travel Tips
- Book the shared group tour, not a private one: you're with your group at meals and around camp anyway, and that's where the best evenings happen
- Book a night in Puerto Princesa before the tour and leave your main luggage at the hotel, small bag only for Balabac
- Grab a front-row seat in the van if you can, the back rows feel every pothole for 4–5 hours
- Don't over-plan flight buffers into Puerto Princesa, the connections work
- Bring cash for the whole tour, there's nothing resembling an ATM out here
- Pack for jellyfish: they're small and harmless but they do sting a little
- Keep your drone away from open water unless you fully trust the conditions, we learned this the expensive way
- Expect WhatsApp-style organisation and island timing, and let it be part of the experience
- Boats return by 5pm sharp, plan your snorkelling accordingly
Frequently Asked Questions: Balabac
Is Balabac worth visiting? For us, absolutely. Balabac was one of the two highlights of our entire Philippines trip, next to Siquijor. Near-empty islands, remarkable turtle encounters and sandbars in open sea. The trade-off is a long, uncomfortable journey and simple, still-developing accommodation.
How do you get to Balabac? Via Puerto Princesa. Tours pick you up in the very early morning (ours at 2:45am), drive 4–5 hours south by van, and cross by local boat in 1–1.5 hours. There is no quick way, and that's exactly why the islands are still this empty.
Can you see sea turtles in Balabac? Yes, in numbers. Around Onok Island we saw more turtles than anywhere else in the Philippines, close enough to film underwater.
How much does a Balabac tour cost? We paid around €650 in total for two people: 4 days and 3 nights in a premium beachfront bungalow with air conditioning, all meals, all boat trips and the transfers from and to Puerto Princesa. Roughly €350 was due as a deposit, the rest in cash at the camp.
Do you need an organised tour for Balabac? Realistically, yes. Transport, boats, accommodation and the coastguard registration all run through organised tours, and the logistics would be very hard to arrange independently.
Is Balabac crowded? No. This is the least crowded place we visited in the Philippines. On most islands we were either alone or shared the beach with a handful of people from our own camp.
When is the best time to visit Balabac? The dry season (roughly November to May). Boat tours here depend entirely on sea conditions and don't run reliably in the wet season. We visited in March and had calm crossings on all but one day.
We were the couple who almost cancelled this tour. Three days later we were the couple sitting on a jetty at sunset, watching turtles surface in water so clear it barely seemed real, trying to remember what exactly we'd been worried about. Balabac asks more of you than any other stop on this route. It gives back more, too.
Next stop: El Nido, the famous one. Lagoons, island hopping and the question whether it lives up to the hype after Balabac. 👉 Read our El Nido guide →
All recommendations are based on our own experience. We link directly to the hotels, tours and services we used ourselves.