Palawan is paradise, sanctuary to an amazing
variety of fauna and flora found nowhere else in the world. It is blessed with
incredibly awesome landscapes that astound even the most indifferent of
visitors.
Palawan is the country's biggest province and is composed of
1,768 islands and islets surrounded by a coral shelf with an exceptionally rich
marine life. Its steeply sloped mountains are canopied by broad virgin forests.
Unique to Palawan is its
megadiversity - it is the Philippine's Last Frontier..
For a long time, Palawan's bountiful resources, abundant
wildlife and extraordinary natural beauty are known only to the many ethnic
communities that thrive in these islands and a few other daring settlers who
wanted to live in unpolluted surroundings.
Ecology awareness
is at a high level throughout the province. Puerto Princesa prides itself as the
cleanest city in the Philippines. To protect its megadiversity, only
eco-friendly programs are adhered to by tourist establishments. And there are
strict ordinances against dynamite fishing, with only net and line fishing
allowed.
Palawan may have opened itself to tourism but it has also taken serious efforts to preserve this last frontier.
A Haven Far From The Madding Crowd
The most beautiful place in Palawan is the
isolated island of El Nido with its incredibly astonishing seascapes.
El
Nido is a secluded group of islands east of Puerto Princesa, Palawan's capital
city, and is virtually cut off from the mainland by three bodies of water -
Luzon Sea to the north, the China Sea to the east and the Sulu Sea to the
west.
Towering midnight cliffs that jut thousands of feet above mirror
flat emerald waters are El Nido's most distinguishing feature. This interplay of
somber darkness and ethereal light provide the dramatic backdrop for several
luxury resorts and dozens of moderately priced diver lodges on the
islands.
The black marble and limestone cliffs contain large caves with
whimsical names like Cathedral Cave and Disco Cave because of their formation.
Though they look like barren sheets of inhospitable rock, the cliffs actually
spawn the swift, or balinsasayaw, which produces the delectable bird's nest for
soups. And in some of the rock faces, yucca and talisay trees as well as wild
flowering begonias do thrive in the crevices.
The town of El Nido in
itself exudes a quaint charm with well-tended homes and clean streets. Many of
the islands have hidden lagoons sheltered by limestone crags. Schools of fish
swarm in the coral reefs, many of which are visible to the naked eye. When in
season, divers often encounter the rare sea cow, or dugong.
Only small
chartered planes from Manila fly tourists to the upscale resorts. Everybody else
takes the sea ferry to this picturesque fishing town.
St. Paul National Park is Palawan's most
popular attraction and covers 5,349 hectares of lush forest, dark mountains,
caves and white beaches. In the deep recesses of the marble and limestone peaks
of Mt. St. Paul flow the Underground River, said to be the longest in the world.
It is easily navigable for at least four kilometers. The caves are filled with
filigree-like sculptures formed by stalagmites and stalactites. Near its mouth
is a beautiful lagoon with crystal-clear water that teems with fish. Also within
the park is the Monkey Trail, a series of wooden paths that winds into the
forest where monkeys, squirrels, lizards and some 60 species of birds are found.
The Park is inscribed in the World Heritage List.
Tabon Caves are the
oldest known habitation site in Southeast Asia. It is a complex of 200 caves
scattered on a 138-hectare museum site reserve, of which 33 have thus far been
excavated. Seven of these caves are open to the public as a prehistoric museum
where excavations have been left as they are. The caves provide Paleolithic
evidence that this is where life in Palawan actually began and have yielded a
woman's skull, fossilized bones and earthenware dating to as far back as 890-710
B.C. The main entrance to the caves offers a panoramic view of a white-sand
fringed bay. The caves lie in the mountains of Pipuon Point in the town of
Quezon.
Tubbataha Reefs National Marine Park is the country's largest
marine habitat. It hosts giant manta rays, sea turtles and hundreds of reef fish
species. Located at the heart of the Sulu Sea, the marine park is 33,200
hectares of coral atoll, barely emergent islets and open water, and constitutes
a unique complete open ocean ecosystem. It is inscribed in the World Heritage
List as "rare and superlative phenomena as well as formations, features and
areas of exceptional beauty." It is located some 98 nautical miles from Puerto
Princesa and is a premier diving destination.
