Transport of Palawan and what to move on

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Palawan is a huge island, its length from north to south is almost 600 kilometers. Tourist places and resorts here are scattered at a great distance, and therefore it will not be possible to fully get acquainted with this amazing island without transport. Fortunately, by Filipino standards, public intercity transport is well developed here, you can rent a car or a motorbike, and travel within cities and resorts by taxi or tricycles. We tell you about all the methods in more detail:

Rent a motorcycle

Renting a motorcycle or a low–powered scooter is perhaps the most affordable and convenient way to travel on a budget for those travelers who like to explore the Philippine islands on their own. Palawan is no exception, and here you can easily rent a motorbike for short trips within the resort and its surroundings, or for long trips around the island. Just keep in mind that for long and long trips this is not the most convenient and easy transport. The average speed of a motorcycle will be no more than 30 kilometers per hour, and, for example, to get from Puerto Princesa to El Nido, it will take a whole light day. This is very difficult, including for your "fifth point", so we advise you to plan long trips with intermediate overnight stays, and do not expect to travel more than 200 kilometers a day.

Rent a motorcycle in Palawan

There are rentals, at least in Puerto Princesa (including near the airport), in El Nido and Port Barton. Perhaps you can rent a motorcycle in other, less popular towns and villages of Palawan, but we only met official rentals under the sign at the mentioned resorts.

The rental price depends on the location, time and your ability to bargain. Do not be surprised: even in official rental offices, working under the signboard with all the documents and concluding contracts, it is possible and necessary to bargain. Here are the real prices, which we met personally:

• In Puerto Princesa – they ask for 500 pesos per day (8.67 RUB), for a period of 10 days we haggled up to 333 pesos(5.77 rubles).
• In El Nido - they ask for 400 pesos per day (6.93 RUB), for a few days it is really possible to bargain up to 350 pesos (6.07 rubles).
• In Port Barton, they ask for 500 pesos per day, they bargain very reluctantly up to 400 pesos.

And now you can book a motorcycle and get it on arrival without difficult searches on the spot through the service 🏍 BikesBooking.com:

To rent, you will need to leave a deposit. Accept foreign and even national (Russian) passports.

A driver's license issued in the Russian Federation and other countries that have signed the Vienna Convention is legal in the Philippines, i.e. it is not required to obtain additional international rights in the form of a booklet. When renting the right, you will not be asked, but according to the rules it should be, and with category "A". In practice, the traffic police on Palawan is very rare, so many tourists ride without a license at all, but we must warn you about the consequences. If the police stop you and decide to check everything in detail, then immediately on the spot you can be removed from management, i.e. they will actually take away the motorcycle and write out a fine of 3000 pesos (52 rubles, see Philippine currency and its exchange rate). If you get into an accident, then without rights, in any case, you will be to blame. Well, if you get injured or damage the transport, your insurance will not be valid. We tell you more about the intricacies of renting transport in the Philippines here ...

There are many gas stations on Palawan, including Caltex, Shell and others. But on some roads they are located at a great distance. A full refueling in a low-power scooter/ motorcycle is enough for about 120 kilometers, so we advise you never to bring the situation to such a point when you have less than half a tank of fuel left. After all, it may well happen that there may simply be no gasoline at the gas station where you expect to refuel, this happens here.

And, by the way, about the cost of gasoline. On Palawan there is a huge difference in its price between different resorts. For example, in 2024, the price of 92 gasoline in most of the island was 55 pesos(0.95 RUB), while in El Nido it cost 75 per liter (1.3 rubles).

Rent a car

Car rental is not as common as motorbikes, but you can find rental in Puerto Princesa. Prices start from 1500 pesos per day (26 rub.), but in some cases there is a limit on the mileage of kilometers per day, usually it is 100-120 kilometers.

Unfortunately, online rental booking services on Palawan are poorly developed, so you will have to search for a car on the spot or search for contacts of rental offices via the Internet, write off with them and negotiate a reservation. The most convenient way to do this is through the Facebook Marketplace or look for rental contacts on the Google map. We have personally successfully used Palawan Peter Motorcycle and Rental (aka Pete's Motorcycle and Rental) in Puerto Princesa. There is also a large car rental service near the airport at the exit from the airport parking lot to the main street, but there we were offered slightly higher prices.

Rent a car from Pete's in Palawan

Intercity buses

For inexpensive transportation between major cities on Palawan, you can use regular intercity buses. There are several main carriers operating here:

• RoRo bus – frequent routes from Peurto Princesa to El Nido via Rojas and Taitai (400 pesos), as well as to the south of the island.
Cherry Bus – large air-conditioned buses between Peurto Princes and El Nido (500 pesos). Recaro Transportation – minivans from Peurto Princesa to the Port of Barton (about 600 pesos).

In addition to those listed, there are many other small companies transporting passengers around the island in minivans.

Now most companies have moved to the new Irawan Bus Terminal, which is located on the outskirts of the city of Puerto Princesa (Iravan terminal on the map). The old bus terminal in San Jose is no longer in use. In fact, the new terminal in Iravan can now be called the main bus station on Palawan, and all regular buses and minibuses depart from here to different parts of the island.

Palawan Intercity Bus

Tourist minivans

In addition to regular buses between the resorts of Palawan, you can travel by tourist minivans. Tickets for them are sold in hotels and travel agencies on the street. They are a little more expensive than regular buses, but they depart from tourist areas and even include a transfer from hotels, i.e. you do not have to go to the bus station on your own and spend money on it.

Jeepneys, taxis and tricycles

There is no modern urban public transport on Palawan, and therefore within the cities and resorts you can travel by Jeepney (there is only in Puerto Princesa, travel from 8 pesos), tricycles (there are everywhere, travel for tourists from 50 pesos) and taxis.

Applications Grab, Uber and JoyRide do not work here, and therefore the price of car taxis and tricycles must be negotiated before starting the trip. By and large, local drivers do not deceive tourists in all sorts of clever ways, such as twisted counters or recalculating the final price for each passenger, and not for the whole car. But drivers do not mind getting extra money from tourists and call the maximum possible price of the trip, so you need to bargain with them.

Tricycle on Palawan