After staying couple days in Santa Ana, we headed to the Palaui island. The place where Survivor reality show was filmed. It’s an easy drive by Philippine banka. Or at least it’s what they say at the ticket office. š However, the sea happened to be not that calm.
Donāt worry Māam, the boat is big, said captain before entering the rough Philippines sea.
It didn’t helped, my wife was literally screaming every time the boat hit the wave š Anyway, the crew didn’t hear it because of strong wind.
Despite that the view we found in Palaui island was worth the scary journey. The island is a raw beauty with population of 75 and no hotels or roads.
Our main goal was to visitĀ Cape EngaƱo LighthouseĀ in the Northern part of the island. This abandoned lighthouse has still remained it’s glory from theĀ Spanish Colonial period.
You can enjoy amazing views all by yourself since it still lacks tourism in the North of Philippines.Ā I believe the pictures say it all.
Tips
If you are considering visiting Palaui island here are some tips:
The trip from Santa Ana town to the port costs 50 PHP.
At the port there is a ticket office with fixed boat rental prices (see picture below).
There are two ways how to reachĀ Cape EngaƱo Lighthouse:
- Go with banka straightly to the lighthouse (45 minutes) and then have a short and easy hike (15 minutes). It costs 1800 PHP.
- Go with banka to the South of the island (25 minutes) and then have a 3 hours hike (one direction). It will cost 1500 PHP.
We took the first option because of the weather conditions that morning (it was rainy season).
In Palaui island there is additional fee for the guide (300 PHP). However, there is no way you could get lost without a guide since the walk is short and easy. We didn’t know that, so we took the guide.
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