Day 2: Honda Bay Island Hopping in Puerto Princesa

Day 2 started out early.  After a quick breakfast at the inn, we bought a few snacks and bottled water to bring with us for the trip and we were picked up for our Honda Bay island hopping with Ms. Jackie of Inland Tours.  

Tips: 
Wear your swim suit underneath your clothes because there's no decent changing area when you get there.
Slather on the sunblock several times in the day and don't forget your sunglasses.
Bring bread if you want to feed the fishes at Pambato Reef.
You can rent snorkeling gear and underwater camera cases at the port for P150-200.  Not sure if they have DSLR cases though.  We paid P150 each for the snorkeling mask rental.

The trip to Sta. Lourdes port took about 1 hour because we had to stop over and pick up our food for lunch.  Boat rental ranges from 1300 to 1500 for 6 people and then P220-250 for each additional person.  Life vests are given once you get into the boat. Registration is done at the port and then we rode the boat to Pambato Reef which was our first stop.  From the boat, you walk across bamboo rafts to get to the jump off point.  Don't forget to bring your bread and underwater camera.  You'll get to see schools of colorful fish and big clams.

There's no decent changing area here.  See that white structure at the lower right hand corner? That's the "changing room" which is about 3x3 feet (just a guess).

Beautiful views in between the islands.

We also passed by Luli Island (taken from the first syllables of lulubog-lilitaw) named as such because it disappears during the high tide.

Then we headed out to Snake Island for our lunch.  There are no snakes here, it just got its name because of its shape and features a long sandbar with mangroves on the side.  You can also snorkel here.

We also ordered halohalo (P40) from one of the locals.  On a hot and humid day in October, it's the next best thing to cooling off without getting into the water.

After lunch, we headed out to Pandan Island where you can still go snorkeling, ride a banana boat (P500? for 5 people/15 minutes) or a jetski (P1500/15 minutes), or walk on water inside a huge transparent ball.  They let you sign a waiver for the activity.  Good thing they allowed us to split the jetski ride between the 4 of us so it became cheaper.  :D  I wouldn't have spent P1500 just for that! 

If you're not in the mood for water sports, they also have artists around who offer henna tattoos.  You can choose from any of their sketches or they can draw one for you.  Price depends on the size, the image, and the colors involved.  

Since it was merienda time, we also ordered turon and halo-halo (P50) from the locals. There are restrooms and shower areas here.

We weren't able to spend much time at Pandan Island because our other tour companions had an early evening flight to catch.  Travel time back to the city took almost 2 hours because of the traffic.

We opted not to go to Starfish island and Luli island.

Trip Notes:

Travel Time: about 1 hour from the city to Sta. Lourdes port

Honda Bay island hopping package standard rate P1,100 per person (inclusive of boat rental, lunch, entrances to the islands)

Best to spend a whole day here and not to schedule it on your flight out of Puerto Princesa.

Snorkeling mask, underwater camera cases are available for rent at an additional cost.

Banana boat rides, jetski, etc. will cost extra.  Best to split between friends & family.  :D

We were booked through Tiara Sanchez and Ms. Jackie of Inland Tours (+639178497696 / +639088913347)