Boracay to Puerto Princesa

Separated by a distance of approximately 1000 kilometres via Puerto Princesa North Road or Western Nautical Hwy, Puerto Princesa can be accessed directly from Boracay neither by ferries nor buses. Your best bet for travelling between these two world-famous tourist destinations is by air. You can fly out of either Caticlan Airport or Kalibo Airport. Airfare can be from as low as PHP3,200 to as high as PHP14,000 one way, per pax. Total flight time is around 2 hours and 30 minutes but you have to factor in the layover of several hours in Manila or Cebu.

Flights from Boracay to Palawan

Alas, there are still no direct flights between Boracay and Palawan – be ready to make a stopover in either in Manila or Cebu. The good news is that you normally have a wide range of daily departures allowing you to be quite flexible with your connecting flights.

From Boracay to Palawan from Caticlan airport

Caticlan airport is located a few minutes away from the jetty port thus it is the most convenient starting point for your trip to Palawan from Boracay. If you are flying out of there, try to get on the earliest flight possible because of the sunset limitation. It actually means that the flights after sunset are limited or completely prohibited.

Flying from Caticlan to Manila takes 1hour 15 minutes followed by 1 hour 25 minutes from Manila to Puerto Princesa. Add in a couple of hours in Manila and chances are that you will spend at least 5 hours getting to Palawan.

Travelling via Cebu to Palawan takes slightly less in terms of flying time – around 2 hours.

You can fly from Caticlan via Manila or Cebu with Cebu Pacific, Air Asia or Philippine Airlines.

Cebu Pacific can get you to Puerto Princesa for about PHP4,000-PHP7,000 while the other local budget airline, Air Asia, can take you there for roughly PHP3,700-PHP4500. Philippine Airlines are sensibly more expensive with the cheapest tickets starting from PHP4400. All of these flights entail a few hours of layover in Manila or Cebu.

From Boracay to Palawan from Kalibo airport

If you are flying out of Kalibo Airport, do not forget to add about 2 hours to get from Boracay to the airport. If you don't have any prior transfer arrangements with your hotel or airline, there are plenty of public vans at the jetty that will deliver you to the Kalibo airport for around PHP200. If you have an early flight to catch, better start early because these vans won't leave until full and the waiting time can be long – an hour or so. Keep in mind that they pick up passengers along the way.

Cebu Pacific can fly you from Kalibo to Puerto Princesa for from PHP3,200 to PHP5,400 while Air Asia tickets cost PHP3,600-PHP4,400. You can book tickets with Philippine Airlines for as low as PHP4,300 but on peak dates prices jump to as much as PHP14,000 one way. Again, there's going be a layover in either Manila or Cebu.

General notes

Our general recommendation is that if you can afford it, make a longer stopover in Manila or Cebu – take your time, enjoy the place for a day or two (or more) and fly to Puerto Princesa out of there instead. This way you get a proper rest without having to worry about delayed flights (not uncommon!) and missed connections.