Things to Do in Port Barton, Palawan: A Local's Guide

Last updated: August 2026

Port Barton is a fishing village of around 7,000 people on the west coast of Palawan. The whole town amounts to one sandy main street, a line of bangkas pulled up on the beach and a bay full of islands out front, so if you arrive expecting a menu of twenty attractions, you’ll run out by lunchtime on day two.

The good news is that you don’t need twenty. A handful of things here are genuinely worth your time, one of them is up there with the best days out in Palawan, and the rest of the visit is the village itself. We run boats out of this bay, so what follows is the same answer we give when guests walk into our office and ask what they should do with their two or three days here.

The Short List

What	Who it’s for	How long
Island hopping in the bay	Everyone, it’s why you came	Full day
Snorkeling with sea turtles	Anyone who can float	Part of the island hopping day
San Vicente land tour	Day two or three, a break from the boat	Full day
Pamuayan Falls	Walkers and early risers	Half day
Beaches near town (White Beach, Coconut Beach)	Lazy days, kayak paddlers	Half day
3-day boat expedition to El Nido	The big adventure, if you have the days	3 days
Doing very little	Everyone, by the second evening	Every sunset

Island Hopping in the Bay: The Main Event

This is the reason Port Barton is on the map. The bay in front of the village is dotted with islands, reefs and sandbars, all close enough together that a day on a bangka never feels like a commute: you snorkel for an hour, dry off on the sand at Peña Plata while the crew cooks lunch behind you, then hop to the next stop ten minutes away.

Two things are worth knowing before you book. First, the snorkeling is better than most first-timers expect, because the reefs sit in shallow water and are full of life even a few meters out. Second, the favorite stops get busy around midday, since every boat in the village works from roughly the same map, so a boat that leaves on time stays a stop ahead of the crowd for most of the day.

There are two ways to do it:

• The Essential Island Hopping is the shared joiner day, from ₱1,700 per person. You split the boat, the fuel bill and the good mood with other travelers.
• Private Island Hopping gets you your own boat and your own schedule, from ₱8,500. It’s worth the difference if you’re traveling as a group, or if you’d rather stay an extra half hour where the fish are than follow the fleet’s timetable.

Routes, stops and how to choose between the two are covered in our full Port Barton island hopping guide. If you only have time for one activity here, make it this one.

Snorkeling With Sea Turtles

Port Barton is known for its turtle grounds, and the island-hopping boats stop there most days. We won’t guarantee you a sighting, because wild animals don’t take bookings, but turtles show up on these routes so regularly that going home without seeing one is the exception.

When you do find one, keep your distance and let it eat. A turtle that isn’t being chased usually carries on grazing right below you, and ten quiet minutes of that beats the blurry photo of a tail you get by swimming after it. Wear reef-safe sunscreen too, because the regular kind washes off into the same coral the turtles live around.

The San Vicente Land Tour

After a day or two on the water, this is the change of pace: a full day inland by tricycle or motorbike, through the countryside toward San Vicente, with a swim at Bigaho Falls to cool off along the way. It runs at ₱1,700 per person, and you can book it here.

The tour shows you the green side of Palawan that you can’t see from a boat, and your sunburn gets a day off in the process. We’d rank it behind the island hopping, to be fair, but for anyone staying three days or more it earns its place.

The Waterfalls: Pamuayan and Bigaho

Pamuayan Falls is the local one. You can walk there from town, it costs nothing, and it’s at its best early in the morning, because by afternoon you may well be sharing the pool with everyone who had the same idea. Bigaho Falls sits further up the coast and is usually reached by boat, or as the swim stop on the land tour above.

Go with the right expectations and you’ll enjoy both. These are cool swimming holes at the end of a hot walk, not giant cascades off a postcard, and on an island where the sea feels like bath water by noon, cold fresh water turns out to be a real luxury.

Beaches, Kayaks and the Sunset

The village beach is where every Port Barton day ends. The bay faces west, the sun goes down behind the islands, and around that hour most of the town drifts toward the sand to watch it happen, beer in hand, while a guitar starts up in one of the beach bars.

For quieter sand during the day, White Beach and Coconut Beach are both close by, reachable by kayak or a short boat ride, and you can rent a kayak right on the village beach. One tip from us: if you paddle out, allow more time than you think for the return trip. Wind and tired arms both tend to show up in the afternoon.

The 3-Day Boat Expedition to El Nido

If you have the days, this is the big one. Instead of leaving Port Barton in a van, you leave by sea and spend three days working up the wild west coast to El Nido, snorkeling along the way, with two nights on quiet beaches and every meal cooked by the crew.

It’s also the newest adventure in our family of expeditions, and the one we’re most excited about right now. We’ve been running multi-day boat trips between Coron and El Nido since 2015, and this route brings the same formula to a stretch of coast most travelers only ever see from the window of a van: the 14-kilometer sweep of Long Beach in San Vicente, the sheltered water of Malampaya Sound, where a small population of Irrawaddy dolphins still lives, and reefs where yours is often the only boat. Nobody else runs this coast as a scheduled expedition yet, so unless you charter a private yacht, the only way to sail it is with us. Dates and booking are on the expedition page.

Evenings in Port Barton

Whatever else you plan, leave some empty space in it. Port Barton has no real nightlife and no shopping street, and once dinner is over the options come down to a beer at a small bar, some live music if a band feels like playing, the sound of the bay, and an earlier bedtime than you’d admit to your friends back home.

Some visitors get restless on that first evening, and nearly all of them are converted by the second. The place has a rhythm that takes about a day to catch, and once you’ve caught it, doing very little stops feeling like a compromise. Travelers who need something happening every hour are usually happier in El Nido, and there’s no shame in that, but if three quiet evenings in a row sound good to you, this bay is one of the best places in Palawan to have them.

How Many Days Do You Need?

One full day covers the essentials: island hopping in the bay, then sunset and dinner in the village. If you’re squeezing Port Barton in between Puerto Princesa and El Nido, that single day already justifies the detour.

Two or three days is the answer we give most often. Spend the first day out in the bay, the second on the land tour or walking to Pamuayan, and keep the third free of plans entirely. Most guests who stay three days tell us they wish they’d stayed four, and nobody has ever told us the opposite.

Add the expedition and Port Barton stops being a stopover. You spend a couple of days in the village, then leave for El Nido by boat instead of by road, and in our opinion that combination is the best week you can spend on this side of Palawan.

The Practical Bits

A few practical things before you come. Bring cash: Port Barton finally has a couple of ATMs, but we still wouldn’t build a travel budget around them, so sort out your pesos in Puerto Princesa or El Nido before you get on the van. The electricity, which used to switch off on a schedule, now runs around the clock, so that old warning you’ll still find in forums no longer applies.

Start your boat day early, because the favorite snorkel stops and Pamuayan Falls are at their best before the midday arrivals. Pack reef-safe sunscreen, since the bay’s reefs and turtles are the whole show here. And if the expedition is on your list, book that one first: day tours can be arranged on short notice, but the boat to El Nido runs on fixed dates with limited spots, so lock it in and plan the rest of your stay around it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days should I spend in Port Barton?

Two or three days works for most travelers. That gives you a full day out in the bay, a day inland or at the waterfalls, and an evening or two with nothing planned at all. If you only have a single day, spend it island hopping, and if you can spare the better part of a week, add the boat expedition to El Nido and skip the van entirely.

Can you swim with sea turtles in Port Barton?

Yes, and it’s one of the things Port Barton is best known for. The turtle grounds sit right on the regular island-hopping routes, so sightings are common, though never guaranteed. Keep your distance and let the turtle carry on eating, and it will usually stay around far longer than you’d expect.

Is Port Barton worth visiting if I’ve already seen El Nido?

It’s a different trip, not a smaller El Nido. You won’t find the towering limestone cliffs here, but you won’t find the queues either, and what you get instead is a quiet bay with healthy reefs, resident turtles and evenings with nothing scheduled. Travelers whose favorite El Nido memory is that one empty beach usually love it here, while the ones who loved the buzz can find it sleepy after a couple of days.

Do I need to book tours in advance?

For the day tours, a little notice helps but booking in the same week is usually fine. The expedition is the exception, because it runs on fixed departure dates with a limited number of spots, so book it as early as your plans allow.

Start With the Bay

However long you decide to stay, start with the bay: pick a shared or a private boat for your first full day, and let the village set the pace for the rest.

I hope this guide helped you plan your time in Port Barton! If you have any questions about the tours, or about fitting the expedition into your route, shoot us a message on WhatsApp at +63 949 132 8952 or through our contact page. One of us reads everything, usually within a few hours. And whatever you choose to do with your days here, we wish you an amazing stay in Palawan.