Tour Package to Puerto Princesa, Palawan

My first visit to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, a few years ago was uneventful, with nights spent daring to eat tamiloc — a live woodworm marinated in vinegar — with beer at one of the local haunts. I had no idea there were plenty other, more worthwhile things to do until a group of us flew there recently to experience The Legend Palawan’s PaX package tour, an in-house tour service that comes with your own van, yacht travel itinerary and knowledgeable guide.

If you already know, Palawan is a wide spread of a province that boasts many pristine islands — several of them private — located in the Northern part. With PaX, however, you don’t need to be marooned in an island resort during your whole stay; you can hit the beach during the day, go snorkeling, have your dream beach wedding, and then come back to enjoy the city’s night life and sleep in the comfort of a first-class hotel.

PaX allows a whole range of experiences. The activities are more flexible for different travelers with varied interests. They have the choice to explore the different interests at their own pace. The tour itineraries can cover a culinary adventure, nature-tripping, wildlife observation, arts and culture tours. As the last nature frontier in the country, Puerto Princesa uniquely offers the variety. This is a modern city in the midst of nature reserves.

The Legend Palawan has standard, premium and deluxe rooms as well as larger suites. The Family Suites allow six individuals to comfortably stay in their own double-deck beds and include a mini-kitchen among its amenities. These special multi-occupant rooms are innovations of the hotel and are attracting a new market of families and corporate groups.

The recent completion of the convention center located within the hotel provides a seating capacity of over 1,000 people. If you’re looking into having your wedding in this place, you can put your wedding bands right in the convention center. But this convention center development aims to attract the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) market to the city as well. The Legend Palawan aims to to contribute to the overall Puerto Princesa business climate. They are selling a travel experience, not just hotel rooms.

A unique twist to PaX is its tie-up with local establishments — meaning even if the tour is packaged by The Legend, it does not limit its guest to the hotel’s outlets. Sure, you’d be tempted to just stay in and eat everything on the sumptuous buffet it at its Tanglaw Restaurant, which serves such seafood dishes as crabs and stingray cooked in coconut milk. But there are also other shops where you can get other stuff like shoes, clothes, wedding rings, gadgets, and more.

Some of the interesting restaurants we went to where the eight-year-old Cafe Arturo, located in a 60-hectare farm land and run by the hospitable Banzon family; Kamarikutan kape at Galeri, a venue for indigenous art and food owned by Dayang Macasaet, a figure in the local arts and culture scene; and, of course, the Vietnamese Village where you can still get authentic pho and banh mi thit, or French bread stuffed with luncheon meat.

If you’re looking forward to a nice, relaxing vacation, Puerto Princesa in Palawan is a very good choice.