How and how to get to Puerto Princesa

Overview of how to get to Puerto Princesa

Welcome to Puerto Princesa Airport

Puerto Princesa, like the whole island of Palawan, is not very well connected from the point of view of logistics with popular tourist routes on the islands of the Philippines and with major international airports. There are few direct flights here, and when planning a route, it is not possible to include a visit to Palawan in the route for reasonable money so as not to return to the departure point or not to make a transfer. We have developed several interesting route options so that you can visit Puerto Princesa and Palawan together with other tourist places in the Philippines, you can get acquainted with them in this article - How and how to get to Palawan.

So, it's best to get to Puerto Princesa by plane. Here is the main airport of the island, through which travelers arrive not only in Puerto Princesa, but also in other resorts of Palawan. The fact is that there is also an airport in El Nido and in San Vicente, but there are very few flights there, and the prices are very high. Therefore, more often travelers arrive here, spend one or two days in Puerto Princesa, and sometimes immediately after arrival they take a taxi to El Nido, and it turns out even cheaper. But from this we told in detail in our other guidebook about how to get to El Nido, read here.

Another way to get to Puerto Princesa from other islands in the Philippines is by ferry. But ferry service is rare here, all the islands are far away, so we do not recommend seriously considering this option for travel. Nevertheless, if you are interested in this method, read on, we will tell you everything in more detail.

And finally, if you are already traveling in Palawan, then you can get to Puerto Princesa by bus, rented transport or taxi. The city is also the main transport hub of the island, so all bus routes converge here, and here you will make a transfer when moving from south to north or back.

And now more about each of the ways to get to Puerto Princesa with a schedule and cost:

By plane to Puerto Princesa

The plane at the airport of Puerto Princesa

Puerto Princesa is home to Palawan's main airport. It has direct flights from Manila and Cebu, and at the end of 2025 they plan to launch a flight from Davao and Iloilo. With Boracay (Caticlan airport) and Bohol (Panglao Airport) there are no direct flights, you will have to get through Cebu or with a transfer in Manila. But the situation may change over time, so keep an eye on the flight schedule.

Which is good, flights here are significantly cheaper than to El Nido airport. Here is a selection of the lowest prices for flights from Aviasales or buy tickets for Trip.com:

How to get from the airport to Puerto Princesa

Before we talk about how to get from the airport, a little bit about his device, as this is important.

Puerto Princesa Airport is located almost in the center of the city, dividing it into two parts (airport on the map). The airport building is small, consists of one terminal. There are separate entrances to the departure area (to the check-in counters) and exit from the arrival area, you can cross the street between them. The entrance and exit are located on the north side of the terminal building, not on Rizal Avenue. There is no WiFi at the airport, so if you are going to order a taxi on arrival or book a hotel or transfer online, you need mobile internet. We tell you about how to buy a local SIM card and activate it here.

To the departure terminals of Puerto Princesa Airport

So, if you need to get from the airport to the hotel in Puerto Princesa, then there are several options:

• On foot

  If you are with light luggage or a backpack, and on a low budget, then exit the terminal to the street, turn left and after 300 meters you will exit through the gate of the airport zone almost to the very center of the city on the busy North Road street. Then you can walk to the main tourist street Rizal Avenue, where there are cheap hotels, motorcycle rental, travel agencies, etc., walk one and a half kilometers.

• By jeepney

  The cheapest way to get around Puerto Princesa and the surrounding area is the legendary Philippine jeepneys. The fare on them costs from 15 pesos (approximately 0.27 rub).

  But it is also the most confusing form of transport. There is no information about their routes anywhere, and in general it seems that they go as they want and when they want. So everything will have to be found out on the spot and improvised. To do this, ask the locals about the directions of jeepneys, and if there is no one to ask, then look at the signatures on the side or on the windshield. It is only important that you do not accidentally hire a jeep as a taxi, otherwise no savings will work.

  Jeepneys near the airport

  Important! Jeepneys do not come to the airport terminal unless it is a taxi. Therefore, if you need to get to the hotel on a budget from the airport by jeep, get out of the terminal, and go left along the footpath to exit the airport through the gate on North Road. There, go to the other side of the road and get into any passing jeepney. All of them go to the ring at the intersection of Rizal Avenue and North Road, and there they either end up moving, or go further along Rizal Avenue to the right (this is towards the embankment and the market, or up north on the map).

• By tricycle or taxi

  Car taxi is not developed here, Grab and Uber applications do not work. Instead, you will have to use local tricycles. These are motorcycles with sidecars converted for passenger transportation, they can accommodate two passengers with luggage, and 3-4 people can take without luggage. Tricycles are not allowed to the terminals, so you will have to leave the territory through the gate to North Road as written above, and catch tricycles there. Well, you don't really have to catch them, their drivers will meet you there themselves. The price of the trip starts from 100 pesos for the shortest distance around the city, you need to bargain. If the price does not suit, move away from these tricycles by 50 meters and catch people passing by on the road, they will take you cheaper.

  Tricycle on Palawan

• Minivans

  Instead of a car taxi for a long-distance trip, minivans are offered here. They are sent at least to El Nido and Port Barton. Their departure is tied to the arrival of flights, so upon arrival, get your luggage as quickly as possible and immediately look for a minivan to get on them while there are seats, otherwise you will have to wait for the next one. You can get to El Nido for 600 pesos/person, to Port Barton for 700 pesos/person. But so that it doesn't turn out that all the seats will be occupied, you can buy tickets in advance on the website 12go.asia or bookaway.com . Unfortunately, they do not accept Russian Mir and Union Pay cards, but they accept payments from GCash and Maya wallets.

• By rented transport

  International rental search and booking sites don't work here, but renting a car or motorcycle is not a problem. There are a lot of rental offices here, you can find them in advance on the Google map on request car rental or motorcycle for rent, write off in advance and arrange a lease. You can also search on the Facebook Marketplace (Meta is recognized as an extremist organization in the Russian Federation). It is better to book cars in advance, and everything is simpler with motorbikes: they are available on site and can even be booked online at 🏍 BikesBooking.com:

  If you do not book in advance, you can exit the terminal along the footpath to North Road, and there you will immediately see a large rental car and motorbikes near the gate on the right. From my experience, the price seemed a little high to us there, and as a result we rented cheaper elsewhere on Riza Avenue at the Palawan Peter Motorcycle and Rental rental, he has a website https://www.pppalawanmotorcycletours.com /. This is not an advertisement, but just a rental that we checked out, where we liked everything.

  Rent from Pete's in Palawan

By bus to Puerto Princesa

Palawan Bus

As we have already mentioned, Puerto Princesa is the main transport hub of the country. The main bus station is located here, and buses arrive and depart from it to all corners of the island. Regular buses and minivans are available, at least in El Nido, Taytay, Port Barton and south to Rio Tuba, Rizal, Bataraza.

The Irawan Bus Terminal bus station in Puerto Princesa is located in the suburbs of San Jose, it is quite far from the center (Iravan terminal on the map). Previously, the old terminal was much closer, but now it is completely closed, only private minivan drivers working as taxis remain there. You can get from/to Irawan Bus Terminal to the hotel in the center or to the airport by tricycles (from 250 pesos) or a jeepney for 30 pesos. Jeepneys to Irawan Bus Terminal go along North Road at least from the ring at the intersection of North Road and Rizal Avenue, and from Robinsons Palawan shopping center. You can find out these jeepneys by the inscription Irawan or San Jose.

As for the schedule, unfortunately, there is no reliable online source in all directions. For trips to El Nido and Port Barton, you can check the schedule and buy tickets on the websites 12go.asia , https://cherry.cherrypalawan.com /. There are also regular RoRoBus buses, but they don't have a website or a schedule on the Internet, or at least we don't know about it. If you know, share in the comments. Therefore, the schedule for RoRo and the rest of the buses will have to be found out on the spot.

In addition to regular large buses on Palawan, minivans also run between resorts. The fare on them costs 100-200 pesos more than on regular buses. But they go in such directions where big buses do not go. For example, you can go to Sabang and San Vicente. You can buy tickets for them online at 12go.asia , in travel agencies on the street, in hotels. In this case, you will be picked up from the hotel and taken to the hotel door too, or wherever you say.

To Puerto Princesa by ferry

Philippines Ro-Ro Ferry

There are only two routes by ferry to Puerto Princesa: from Manila and from Coron Island. But these are very long routes, for example, to sail from Manila for more than a day. And for the price it will be comparable to the flight. However, if you decide to sail like this, you can check the schedule and book tickets on the carrier's website 2Go Travel is a local reliable sea carrier. Just keep in mind that ferries do not run every day, but 3 times a week.