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Choices are aplenty if you’re looking for green hotels in Palawan.
Image: Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort
With green travel as the trending theme in the tourism industry, hotels and resorts all over the world are integrating sustainability into their operations. From plastic waste reduction, biodiversity conservation, harnessing renewable energy sources, serving locally-sourced food, to utilizing native materials for building construction, these accommodations do everything to be branded as “eco-friendly.” Presently, a number of eco-friendly resorts in Palawan can be applauded for executing these green practices.
As a matter of fact, it’s not hard to find sustainable accommodations for your guilt-free weekend escapade in the province. To make your search easier, we’ve featured below eco-friendly hotels in Palawan that are making a buzz for their noteworthy green practices. Read on!
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1. Huni Lio
Address: Lio Tourism Estate, Barangay Villa Libertad, El Nido, Palawan
Estimated travel time from El Nido airport: 5 to 10 minutes
Rates:
Deluxe Room - Starts at PhP7,000
Deluxe Pool View - Starts at PhP7,400
Family Room -Starts at PhP8,600
Huni Lio is a newly-opened hotel within the Lio Tourism Estate.
Image: Huni Resorts Group website
Blessed with a beautiful natural environment, it’s no wonder Huni Lio in the Lio Tourism Estate gives its guests a greater appreciation for nature. This tropical architecture bed and breakfast hotel features 50 rooms with modern interiors, plus an all-day dining restaurant, bar, swimming pool, and function room. What makes the internationally-acclaimed Lio Tourism Estate sustainable is that it “successfully integrated the site’s natural features, such as mangroves, lagoons, and forests,” into its overall design.
All facilities located in the estate, including Huni Lio, are built to have less impact on the environment. When it comes to landscaping, it also uses native plant species, and ensures structures are only as high as a coconut tree to preserve the area’s natural beauty.
How to get to Huni Lio: From Lio airport, you’ll be picked up by the hotel’s e-vehicle. Travel time to Huni Lio lasts up to around 10 minutes.
2. Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort
Address: Sito Sabang, Barangay Cabayugan, Puerto Princesa City
Estimated travel time from El Nido airport: Less than 2 hours
Rates:
Beach Front Superior - PhP7,800
Beach Front Deluxe A - PhP9,100
Beach Front Deluxe B - PhP10,400
Beach Front Junior Suite - Ph 13,000
Beach Front Daluyon Grand Suite -PhP 20,475
Garden Casita - PhP6,825
The posh Daluyon resort features luxurious beachfront cabanas.
Image: Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort
Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort is a prime beachfront resort located near the Puerto Princesa Underground River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. This four-star resort offers “world-class facilities, sumptuous local-international cuisine, and outstanding customer service.” Among its eco-friendly initiatives are “energy-efficient lighting and air conditioning, environment-friendly insulation materials, low-flow showers, and a fully-implemented policy against littering.”
For every guest booked per night, Daluyon donates USD5 to the World Wide Fund Philippines to help raise awareness on climate change effects and promote responsible tourism. These green practices had thrice earned the company the bi-annual ASEAN Green Resort Award.
How to get to Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort: Daluyon’s luxury private vans will pick you up at the Puerto Princesa airport. Alternatively, you can get to the resort by riding a public van from San Jose terminal at the city proper.
3. Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary
Address: Turtle Bay, Barangay Port Barton, San Vicente, Palawan
Estimated travel time from El Nido airport: 30 to 40 minutes
Rates:
Superior Room - PhP9,900
Orchid Cottage - PhP12,400
Jasmine Cottage - PhP12,400
Junior Suite Room - PhP12,400
Song Bird Honeymoon Cottage - PhP14,900
Love Bird Honeymoon Cottage - PhP17,400
Premier Villa - PhP19,900
Executive Villa - PhP29,900
End the day watching the stunning sunset at Secret Paradise Resort.
Image: Secret Paradise Resort
Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary is an award-winning premier resort set in two private coves with a 4.1-kilometer coastline. Guests may choose from the resort’s top-of-the-line beachfront accommodations situated in four beach locations within its property. As an eco-friendly resort, Secret Paradise is geared towards protecting the endangered turtles calling the 28-hectare Turtle Bay home, as well as the monkey, birds, butterflies, and other species that dwell in its 119-hectare nature reserve.
Activities to try when staying here are snorkeling and kayaking in the bay that teems with tropical fish and beautiful corals. With deep corals and the possibility of sighting manta rays, sea cows, and dolphins, the far end of the bay opens up another world for divers!
How to get Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary: Ride a service van from San Vicente airport to the town pier. From there, the resort’s speedboat will bring you to its property in Turtle Bay.
As of March 2021, Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary has yet to announce its reopening.
4. El Nido Resorts
Address: El Nido and Taytay, Palawan
Estimated travel time from El Nido airport: 40 minutes to 2.5 hours
Rates:
Apulit Island:
Water Cottage - starts at PhP20,100
Miniloc Island:
Deluxe Seaview Room - starts at PhP30,200
Seaview Room - starts at PhP26,000
Water Cottage - starts at PhP27,000
Lagen Island:
Forest Room - starts at PhP20,600
Beachfront Cottage - starts at PhP23,100
Water Cottage - starts at PhP25,100
Forest Suite - starts at PhP28,100
Pangulasian Island:
Canopy Villa - starts at PhP40,800
Beach Villa - starts at PhP46,000
Pool Villa - starts at PhP49,000
Apulit Island’s water cottages offer an unobstructed view of Taytay Bay.
Image: El Nido Resorts
El Nido Resorts is a multi-awarded group of sustainable island resorts that offer “genuine, local hospitality, and unique and enriching experiences amidst the beautiful natural landscapes.” As the resorts are located in a biodiversity-rich protected area, they observe green practices in all aspects of their operations. All of their structures are made of renewable materials in compliance with green design and architecture principles.
Inside each room, the management provides its environmental policies called “10 El NiDos” to remind guests of appropriate behavior when staying in the place. When it comes to nature-based activities like island hopping, El Nido Resorts make sure these are low in carbon footprint, and high in natural and cultural interpretation to ensure eco-consciousness and that guests will have a guilt-free getaway.
How to get to El Nido Resorts: Going to any of El Nido Resorts’ islands involves van transfer to jetty and boat ride that all last up to 2.5 hours, with Pangulasian Island as the farthest.
5. Eco Hotel
Address: Pops District, Sitio Lugadia, Barangay Corong-Corong, El Nido, Palawan
Estimated travel time from El Nido airport: 25 minutes
Rates:
Deluxe Room - PhP2,868.44
Sunset View Room - PhP4,098.36
Premier Sunset View Room - PhP4,918.03
This well-appointed room at Eco Hotel El Nido is powered by solar energy.
Image: Eco Hotel
The budget-friendly Eco Hotel boasts spacious rooms with a magnificent view of Corong-Corong Bay. These eco-friendly rooms not only allow natural light to pass through, but also feature light fixtures creatively made of upcycled wine bottles with energy-saving bulbs inside. The rooms are also adorned with side tables made from felled tree trunks, headboards assembled using reclaimed wood, handicrafts indigenous to Palawan, home-made bricks, and natural stones sourced from local dwellers.
When staying at Eco Hotel, you’re encouraged to follow its green practices, such as turning off the lights, air conditioning unit, television, shower heater, and tap when not in use to conserve power and water. You can also take part in its waste reduction effort by refusing single-use items like hygiene kits.
How to get to Eco Hotel: Request a service van from El Nido airport to get to Eco Hotel. Alternatively, you can ride a public van for around five hours from Puerto Princesa City.
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6. Sangat Island Dive Resort
Address: Sangat Island, Barangay Bintuan, Coron, Palawan
Estimated travel time from El Nido airport: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Rates:
Beachside Chalet - PhP10,125
Hilltop Chalet - PhP9,450
Hillside Chalet - PhP9,450
Lambingan Villa - Ph 15,300
Unwind in complete comfort in this cottage at Sangat Island Dive Resort.
Image: Sangat Island Dive Resort
Eco-conscious travelers will surely feel right at home when you set foot at Sangat Island Dive Resort. In keeping with the natural beauty of the island, all of its 23 accommodations are constructed in the traditional, native-style architecture using the finest locally-available materials. The resort is also totally powered by solar energy, and relies on its desalinization plant for its fresh water supply.
This best-kept secret is also a haven for scuba diving enthusiasts. Off the island’s beachfront sit 11 historic World War II shipwrecks which you could explore, after trying out paddle boarding, sea kayaking, snorkeling, and nature trekking, among other nature-based activities.
How to get to Sangat Island Dive Resort: From the Busuanga airport, the resort van will take 30 minutes to bring you to a small jetty. There awaits a speedboat that will take you to the resort in 40 minutes.
As of March 2021, Sangat Island Dive Resort has yet to announce its reopening.
Palawan’s hotels definitely prove that a luxurious stay and nature conservation can go together! Have a sustainable travel!
This article was originally published in Yoorekka on August 08, 2019.
