After our Underground River tour, we have some more time ready to be spent here in Sitio Sabang. So, we started to look for the way going to Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour.

This post is a part of Puerto Princesa, Palawan: A Walk-through to the City of Living God article. Go back to the main article to see more of Puerto Princesa. You may also want to visit the first part of Sitio Sabang here: Beauty of Sitio Sabang, Palawan: The Gateway to Underground River.

The Story

Sitio Sabang is plain and boring, you’ll do underground river and what’s next, go back to the city? Oh no! You’re wrong for that. You can actually do more here in Sabang and one of those things is the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour.

We found ourselves walking along the shoreline passing through many resorts and accommodations in the area. It is like: Where is the registration area? Well, there are basically no signage going to Mangrove Paddle Boat. You will be easily lost when you are not observant. We passed by what I believe a private property and were charged 10 pesos per person to be allowed to enter the premises. We are just walking and others are riding utility van or motorcycle. I guess they are the ones who availed the mangrove tour together with a package.

Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour

After arrival in the vicinity, you need to register for the tour. You’ll be asked where you came from. Basically, it is because locals have special discounts. We paid a total of P400 for the tour (P200 per person).

Everyone should wear a life vest for safety purposes. Some areas of the Sabang River is deep. Well, you can’t notice it since the water is a bit murky and it reflects all the green leaves of the mangroves around the area.

During our visit, the boats are already modified. They already had tarpaulin covers to protect tourists from the sun rays.

The paddle boat has a maximum capacity of 8 passengers with 1 boatman and a tour guide. In our case, our boatman also served as the tour guide. I must say he knows many things about the area and the mangroves.

Importance of Mangroves

The entire mangrove forest found here in Sitio Sabang is one of the largest that can be found here in the Philippines. That is evident on how many tons of fishes being sold in Metro Manila comes from Palawan. The connection? Mangrove forests serve as a nursery not only for variety of fishes but crabs, shrimps and mollusks too.

The mangrove forest stretches along the entire river.

This shot might look creepy for some. But hey, this is vital to the survival of not only marine fisheries but for the habitat of the wildlife too. I found many monkeys roaming around the area that is feeding on what they can found in the forest where they also live. Can we forget the snakes hanging around the mangroves? Yes, there is.

Another group of tourist in the mangrove forest.

Mangroves also serve as a “filter” of the water and therefore, improve the coastal water quality on the area by removing pollutants and particulate matter from land-based sources. This is a very important maintenance role of the mangroves in addition of cycling of nutrients for the benefit of nearby coral reefs and sea grass habitats.

Exploring the Area

After having a Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour, you can also do bird watching and zipline. We did not try any of these here since we need to checkout on our accommodation, and catch our booked Lexxus Shuttle trip going back to city proper. Rather, we spend the extra time we had exploring Sitio Sabang shoreline. Here are some pictures:

Okay. I look so afraid here. (I’m the one wearing a blue shirt)

The water is indeed what hey call “crystal clear”

So now you know why I am afraid. Look at that! Beautiful waves but scary.

We are not able to further explore these rock formations since we are running late for the Lexxus trip. If you are wondering where is this place, this is on the far right side of the beach (you, facing the sea). It is near the unpaved road going to the Mangrove Paddle Boat tour.

Sitio Sabang is indeed a beauty of its own. If your time permits, pay a visit to its beach and other activities it offers. This post is the part 2 of our Sitio Sabang Exploration. First part can be read here.

Continuing Puerto Princesa City Tour, Day 3

After arrival in San Jose Common Terminal from Sitio Sabang, we are now ready to continue our city tour in it’s 3 rd day! 😀 First stop: Mitra Ranch and of course, pasalubong shopping at Baker’s Hill, Palawan.

Up Next: Mitra Ranch, Puerto Princesa: Overlooking the Islands of Honda Bay