Things To Do In Port Barton: Is It Worth It? | Philippines

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My visit to Port Barton in the Philippines was a completely unexpected last minute plan. Originally I was meant to go on a 3 night trip to Balabac, but when it was cancelled 4 hours before my pick up, I had to come up with a Plan B and Port Barton seemed to be the easiest place to get to spontaneously! Turns out it was a great choice just to relax and slow down!

What To See & Do

Port Barton is a small, quiet town located between Puerto Princesa and El Nido on the island of Palawan. There’s definitely a slowed down, more ‘island life’ type vibe. Here are some of the things that I go up to!

Island Hopping Tours

The main thing I did in Port Barton is the island hopping tour, and in all honestly I thought it was way better than the El Nido tour. I booked my 5 stop boat trip through my accommodation for 1500 pesos.

Unlike El Nido, the tours don’t really appear on the online booking sites, it’s very much operated via word of mouth and WhatsApp! The majority of the companies offer fairly similar routes. You’ll find boards all along the beach, and in the evenings, after the tours are done for the day, often there’ll be people there ready to arrange trips.

I would also recommend taking a dry bag, rash vest and water shoes/socks. Snorkels were provided for free on my trip, but I took my own.

Starfish Island

The first stop was the Starfish Island. We had around 35 minutes here to walk out onto the sand bank and see starfish. The water was so clear you could take photos without even needing an underwater case! It’s very important to NOT touch or pick them up (our guide said this multiple times too).

Exotic Island (Cayoya Island)

I really like Exotic Island! This was our longest stop, where we could relax for around 2 hours. The colour of the water was amazing! The beach was big enough to not feel crowded, there were shaded areas and you could also snorkel and I saw a turtle!

This was also our lunch stop. The guides cooked all the food fresh on a barbecue on the back of the boat! It was unreal what they were able to create, including fruit sculptures! There was plenty of choice for meat, fish, as well as vegetarian options. I really like the fried noodles and vegetable spring rolls. Water and cola were the drink choices. (Again, I thought the food was on a completely different level from the El Nido tour).

Paradise Island

From Exotic Island, we went to Paradise Island. Here we had another hour to relax. There were a couple of hammock chairs in the shade, a small kiosk selling bottles of beer for 100 pesos and a reef that you could snorkel out to.

We even saw another turtle! It was better at this stop though, because we were the only boat and only a handful of us chose to snorkel, meaning the turtle wasn’t being over crowded.

Twin Reef & Fantastic Reef

The last 2 stops were to Twin Reef and Fantastic Reef. At each of these we had around 30 minutes. These were snorkel stops from the boat, rather than a beach. We saw lots of different fish and coral. It was quite deep at these locations and they had really good visibility. It did get a bit cold and windy at these stops though!

Port Barton Beach

The only downside to the main Port Barton Beach and something worth noting, is that there are signs all along the beach warning of jellyfish. Apparently box jellyfish are sometimes seen here, but from my research, it seems that it is more common in the hotter months between April – June.

On the boat trip I didn’t see any jellyfish, but I did see loads while on the El Nido island hopping tour (to the point where I gave up on that snorkel stop).

I did enjoy going for walks along the beach though in the morning and evenings!

Watch the Sunset on the Beach

Due to the location of Port Barton, it’s the perfect location for watching sunset on the beach! The bars and restaurants do get busy in the evening, so if you do want a good spot, you may need to get there early. Otherwise there are plenty of areas along the beach where you could just sit and enjoy the view.

Beachfront Bars & Restaurants

Something I really love is when beachfront bars and restaurants are actually ON the beach. There are plenty of places to choose from with bean bags and deckchairs (along with actual tables and chairs too). A couple of places I went to were: Barton Bistro, Oastic Beach Sunset & Resto and Marguerita Sunset Bar & Restaurant.

But like any beachfront places, you do pay a ‘premium’ for food. For a drink and 1 dish (not including starters, desserts etc), you’re looking around 500-600 pesos (£7). You can eat for cheaper if you go to places away from the beach.

I’m usually quite budget conscious, but while in Port Barton, being able to sit and watch the beach was part of what I enjoyed most. Some also have live music in the evenings too.

Painting at Oastic

If you buy a drink (or food!) at Oastic, they have free water colour paint supplies! It was very relaxing to paint and was something I’ve not really done while travelling before! I decided to copy a photo I took the night before of the sunset, so it’s a nice souvenir!

I will say though that the paint sets were a little on the empty side, so don’t expect a huge range of colours. As you can imagine, most of the blue, greens and yellows were nearly all gone! There wasn’t always paper either.

Beach Massages

My weakness when travelling South East Asia are beach massages, I love them! There are a couple of places along the beachfront. I went to Summer Homes and had a 1 hour dry massage for 800 pesos (around £9.20). They have a whole range of massages available but I liked the dry one because it was like the Thai massage, but without being twisted into a pretzel!

It was very relaxing to listen to the sound of the water, and because I had mine in the evening, while the restaurant next door had acoustic live music, so I was completely zoned out!

Visit Nearby Beaches

Coconut Beach

The main two nearby beaches are White Beach and Coconut Beach. I decided to walk to Coconut Beach, it’s around a 40 minute walk along a rough track. Alternatively you can get a tuk tuk (150 pesos).

I loved Coconut Beach! It’s technically considered a private beach, so there is a 50 peso entry fee. There’s a kiosk selling drinks and snacks, toilets, hammocks and swings, lots of palm trees for shade, and PIGS!

When I first arrived the pigs were pretty chill, just resting in the shade, however, after a while they would walk up and down the beach, sniff around in bags and one nosed my foot and made me jump! (White Beach has goats!).

I would recommend water shoes/socks though as the beach was a bit stoney, especially in the shallow part!

I walked back too, but tuk tuks park near the entrance gate, if you wanted a ride back instead.

Jewellery Making

Something else relaxing to do in Port Barton is to make jewellery! There are a couple of different places that offer workshops to make bracelets, necklaces or anklets with beads. I made an anklet at Obra for 500 pesos.

Originally I found them on Instagram and messaged them asking if I had to book a time. You can just turn up but they asked if I had a rough idea of when I was planning to stop by, just so they could make sure the table was set up.

It took me around an hour altogether. They showed me a few design examples and had lots of different beads to choose from, including more natural ones made out of shells and coconuts, to more colourful ones. As someone that wears a lot of corded jewellery, I was very impressed with the quality of the materials. They started and finished it for me, so it’s fully adjustable, rather than a tie on one!

Suggested Itinerary

3 Nights in Port Barton

As my stay was an unexpected Plan B, I only had 3 nights, which gave me 2 full days. If I had another day, I would have gone to White Beach too. There’s also a waterfall (Pamuayan Falls) and hiking trail if you wanted something more adventurous!

Day 1

• Arrive!
• Relax on Port Barton Beach & have dinner at one of the beachfront restaurants
• Evening beach massage after the long bus ride!

Day 2

• Full day island hopping boat trip (if the weather isn’t good, you have the second day to full back on).
• Watch sunset on Port Barton Beach

Day 3

• Breakfast on Port Barton Beach
• Go to Coconut Beach
• Jewellery making in the afternoon
• Dinner and sunset!

Day 4

• Leave after breakfast

Where To Stay

Tribal Xperience Guesthouse

As I booked very last minute, I was restricted for choice. A lot of smaller accommodations had sold out and the cheaper rooms were fully booked! I found a private room with private bathroom at the Tribal Xperience Guesthouse* for under £30 a night (in peak season), based on solo occupancy.

It is located around a 5 minute walk from the beach, on the more ‘quiet side’ of Port Barton. My room was large and clean, but quite basic. They provide towels, packets of shampoo and a bar of soap.

The shower was only cold water, but I found this to be quite a common occurrence in the Philippines (there were signs saying when the pump is switched off too…mostly during the night, but I never found it to be a problem).

The selling point for me was the small plunge pool with a couple of sun loungers. And as mentioned above, the staff on the front deck arrange the boat tour for me too.

How to Get to Port Barton

Port Barton is located almost exactly half way between Puerto Princesa and El Nido. You can get minibuses from both places, although there are more departures between Puerto Princesa and Port Barton.

I booked mine through 12Go Asia with the company Recaro Transport*.

• Travel time from El Nido: Approximately 4 hours
• Travel time from Puerto Princesa: Approximately 3.5 hours

Most people seem to use Port Barton as a stopover on the way to El Nido or from El Nido heading back to Puerto Princesa. Due to my itinerary change, I just did the round trip from Puerto Princesa. It took around 3.5 hours and had 1 toilet stop (you could also buy drinks and snacks).

The bus from Puerto Princesa picked me up at my hotel, but it then drops off at the bus station in Port Barton. I was expecting a little mini bus, but this first bus was actually larger, had reclining seats and plenty of leg room and under bus storage.

I then had about a 10 minute walk to my accommodation, but there were plenty of tuk tuks that meet the arriving buses if you didn’t want to walk.

For the journey from Port Barton to Puerto Princesa, the bus leaves from the bus station in Port Barton and then it dropped off at Puerto Princesa Airport. This bus was much smaller than the first bus and everyone was crammed in.

The journey isn’t too bad, but the last stretch of the road into Port Barton was a bit hairy! There were quite a few areas that looked like there had been landslides and the road was clingy onto the cliff for dear life!

Things to Know Before Visiting

• It’s best to bring cash rather than rely on ATMs. There are a few but apparently they only have a maximum withdrawal of 10,000 pesos with a 300 peso ATM fee. I paid for the boat trip with cash and smaller shops wanted cash. A few of the larger beachfront restaurants accepted card payments but there was a fee to pay with card. But on the other hand, they didn’t always have change for larger notes, so it’s best to have smaller denominations.
• There aren’t really any convenience stores, I only really found one which sold basics, and then a few places that had drinks and snacks.
• I found the phone signal in town to be fine and the WiFi in my accommodation was ok.
• The roads can be quite rough, most of the ones in town are dirt tracks.
• Jellyfish may be present in the waters around Port Barton
• I didn’t experience any power cuts during my trip, however my accommodation now has a notice on booking.com saying that from 26th April 2026, Port Barton is subject to schedule power outages between 4am until midday until further notice (correct at the time of writing in May 2026). The private rooms do have solar power, but not the rooms with AC. The WiFi is still functioning during the power outage. Some businesses use generators too.

Is Port Barton Worth Visiting?

I personally enjoyed my visit to Port Barton, whether it was better than my Plan A (Balabac), I will never know! But in comparison to El Nido, I think I preferred it more. The beaches were nicer and I liked the island hopping boat trip more. If you enjoy relaxing, laid back places, I don’t think you can really go wrong!