Honda Bay, Palawan (Dos Palmas Resort)

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Traveled with my wife and kids and other family members to Dos Palmas resort in Palawan in August 2006. The resort is in its own island in the Honda Bay area. This resort was made famous in 2001 due to an islamic militant group kidnapping a few people and killing an American. Those years have passed and Dos Palmas now is back in business and expanding. I will be traveling with a 1 year old daughter and a 4 year old son, and I had doubts booking the resort due to the history of the kidnappings. However, reading other blogs and researching on the internet gave me some peace of mind about the improved security of the resort. Also what are the chances of the same crisis happening at the same resort again? Anyway, I will go into detail later on the security of the resort. I realized that Dos Palmas would be an ideal place to stay and that it would be "kid friendly".

My family reside in Orange County, CA. I believe booking the resort from the States would be more expensive than buying the tickets locally from the Philippines. This is what we did and a 7 day stay at the resort cost us around $600 per person (that includes airfare and transfers from Manila). We stayed in Manila for a week then flew from the airport to Puerto Princessa, Palawan. The airline was Cebu Pacific (a competitor of Phil. Airline). I give credit to Cebu Pacific for great service, clean and roomy plane and good prices. All their planes are brand new and with a great and friendly staff. The plane trip took about 1 hr before landing in Puerto Princessa. From there, an airconditioned tour bus picked us up to head to the resort. We had a tour guide on the bus that pointed out certain attractions and facts about Palawan that made the 45 minute ride entertaining. This tour guide was also our hotel guide/concierge for the rest of our stay.

We finally arrived at port where a boat was waiting for us to be transferred to the resort. At the port they have restrooms there as well as some souvenir shops where you can buy gifts and some snacks. The boat provided by the resort was a large one and everyone was provided a life vest. The boat trip was not too bad and there were lots of things to see during the 1 hr. trip.

The boat finally arrived at Dos Palmas resort. We were greeted with "live" native music and were provided flowers on our necks as well as cold tropical drinks. It was a nice and simple gesture after the long trip. The resort exceeded my expectations from the few pictures I have seen of it on various websites and travel blogs. The place was clean, very tropical and has a "laid back" atmosphere to the place. We headed straight to our rooms as the staff tranported our luggages behind us. We did not get the rooms that were on top of the water (not safe for the kids), instead we opted for an ocean front room. The room was nice and clean; it had 2 beds downstairs and another bed at the second level loft. The room was clean as well as the bathrooms. Hot water in the shower was fine and the toilets did what they were supposed to. So, so far so good. The staff was friendly and responded immediately to our needs when we asked for a crib and milk for our baby.

After getting settled in our rooms, we then headed for lunch at the only restaurant in the resort. The setup is mainly buffet style and the food was clean and good with nice presentation. Everyday was a different menu and native Filipino food was always part of the menu, which is good. Again, the food was good but I would not consider it "great" food. The food and drinks are part of the paid package, the alcohol and mixed drinks are not. They had a bar next to the dining area that serves good drinks and not watered down. The drink prices are expensive if you are local but for American dollars, they are quite reasonable. A pina colada for example will cost $3. All drinks can be charged to your room and be paid by credit card when you leave.

Security:
After the 2001 incident, security for the resort has been improved. I know that the male staff on the resorts are trained to use M16 rifles and have them available if needed. There are also various staff members who turn into armed security in the evening. I am guessing that some of these staff memebers were ex-military or maybe special forces. I also heard that the Philippine Navy has a patrol boat monitoring the surroundings but I have never seen the boat during our stay there. I did see the Philippine Army helicopter pass by one day. When we take a walk at night, you can see several security personnel stationed on various parts of the resort. They may even follow and escort you during the walk. So overall, security seems to be good and it at least gives you some sense of saftey during our stay.

Activities:
They have a nice Karaoke room, a couple of pool tables, ping pong, basketball court, an activity center, and a nice pool and jacuzzi. Bicycles are scattered throughout the resort and are free to use. They have a playground for the kids near the diving center. Part of our package was either a free spa treatment or introductory diving class. We chose the diving class instead. Snorkeling is available anytime you want and the staff will transport you by speedboat to a floating platform located a half mile from the shore. From this platorm you can go snorkeling as long as you want. Flippers, goggles, and floaters are available to use for free. The snorkeling in this resort is top rate. Lots and lots of colorful fishes and tons of corals to see. I rate the snorkeling here better than what I saw in Hawaii. You can also get a canoe at anytime of the day for paddling around the island. A fishing expedition is also free, though our particular expedition ended up not catching any fish at all. There is also a day where the staff will do a "picnic" on an isolated island. This one of the most memorable activity of our stay as we were all taken by boat (about 45 mins. trip) to a small isolated island. Once we arrived there, the staff had our tables ready and were cooking fresh caught seafood and other foods were served. After our meal some of us took a nice nap under a coconut tree.
During our stay, the spa was closed and was being renovated. Instead professional masseus come over to your room to perform a 1 hour full bodied massage. Again, the price of the massage was very expensive for a local. But for American dollars its still a bargain for around $15. A similar massage in the States will cost you 4 times as much or more..So needless to say, we took advantage of this opportunity on several nights. Finally, we had the chance to do some island hopping where a boat will take you to surrounding islands where you can bring food, snorkel, or just relax.

Final comments and other Tips and Advices:
All the resort staff were very nice and professional. They work hard and I suggest giving them tips for their services.
Unlike the States where safety and certain codes are enforced, there are some parts of the resort that are not safe for little children. For example, the railings on the pier area are spaced to wide where a small child can easily fall off. Also the stairs and railings in the rooms are too steep and narrow, the bed on the second floor is located at the edge of the railing where a small child can easily fall to the first story if not supervised. There are other things you need to watch out for. The key here is to keep an eye on your kids all the time. There are times when swimming right at the shore is not adviceable due to jellyfish. Ask the staff if it is safe to swim and play on shore, they know exactly when jellyfish are swimming around. There are NO televisions in the rooms. The only TV is at the bar (satelite TV). I guess they do this so people dont lock themselves in the rooms. It is also a smart move to generate more profit for the resort. Take time to rent a canoe and paddle around the island (takes about 1 hr). It is worth it if you are capable. There is a gift shop near the dining area where they sell things like snacks, toilettries, souvenirs, etc. Finally, the resort has a couple of PC's connected to the internet. Unfortunately, the internet was down during our stay and was not able to use them.
I highly recommend this resort. Palawan is still very pristine and less commercialized than other resorts like Boracay. The beaches are white and the water is warm. The whole place is not polluted and is fairly clean. The people there are always friendly and speak English well.

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Photos

Departing to Palawan
From Manila Airport. Cebu Pacific Airlines.

Bus Ride
Departing Puerto Princessa by bus to the port.

Boat Transport
Departing the port and headed for Dos Palmas resort.

Dos Palmas Arrival
Dos Palmas at a distance.

Upstairs Bedroom
There is a loft upstairs and room for 1 bed.

Cabana
Where you can order drinks and sleep all day if you want.

Karaoke
They actually call it "videoke"

Departing the Resort
A going away farewell provided when we left the island.

Comments

[moondreamz]

report card
Thanks for your report on this resort and the pictures as well. I will be visiting Palawan in Feb but hope to stay at El Nido. You booked your vacation while in Manila? What was the price difference between US and PI? thanks

[teklord]

Palawan
I have relatives that booked our packages in Manila. They went through 2-3 different local travel agencies until the best price was found. I am not exactly sure the price difference between US and PI. However, I can estimate that 1 day at our resort would have cost $180 if booked in US. We paid somewhere around $600 for the 7 days we were there (local price).