Visiting the small but beautiful village of Port Barton is one of the big reasons to consider a trip to the Philippines. In addition to very handy island hopping and its relaxed vibe, one of the reasons why it wins over so many travelers is its variety of nearby beaches, which you can visit without needing to take a tour. For this reason, today we want to tell you about the best beaches in Port Barton. We’ll tell you which are the most beautiful, how to get to them, and how to make the most of them.
Keep reading and discover with us the best beaches in Port Barton.
1. White Beach
The Port Barton beach that gets all the fame is White Beach, and with good reason. As its name indicates, it’s a white‑sand beach, accompanied by slender palm trees and calm, crystal‑clear waters.
The resort that used to be here remains abandoned, but the beach is cared for by a caretaker, so you need to pay an entrance fee of 50 pesos per person.
White is also a very comfortable beach for swimming. Whether it’s low or high tide, unlike many beaches in El Nido, you can take a dip without having to walk a long way for it to get deep.
If you get hungry, you can eat something at the neighboring restaurant, but you can also walk a little to reach the impressive Jungle Bar Resto. Here, besides having incredible views, they serve quite tasty food. Another option is the restaurant right on the beach, which isn’t particularly cheap but is good.
Hotels on White Beach: Jungle Bar Resto & Cottages and Green Hill Restaurant & Cottages
How to get to White Beach
You have several options to get to White Beach from Port Barton:
- By bangka: the traditional Filipino boats have set a fare to take you from Port Barton to White Beach. You’ll have to pay 150 pesos per person, per way. If you go to the town beach, you won’t wait long before one of these bangkeros approaches you—and likewise once you’re at White Beach, from where they depart roughly every 30–60 minutes. You don’t have to arrange anything; you can return whenever you want until around 18:00, or you can even walk back. The trip to this Port Barton beach takes just 15 minutes.
- By kayak: if you’re active and fancy a nice paddling outing, you can rent a kayak in several spots along Port Barton’s main beach. Prices are around 500 pesos per day. It will take you about 20–30 minutes to reach White Beach. Try to go first thing in the morning, when the water is calmer, and stay close to the coast. You can also combine a visit to White Beach with Coconut Beach, which we’ll talk about later.
- By motorbike: if you know how to ride and have a license for it (you can find more information in Driving and renting a motorbike in the Philippines), another alternative is to rent one to get to White Beach. However, it’s not something we particularly recommend, as the road is still a bit of a mess. It’s full of potholes and you have to be extremely careful, especially if it has rained recently, because it gets muddy and almost impassable. Rental prices in Port Barton are usually 500 pesos per day. It will take about 30 minutes.
- By tricycle: you can try to negotiate. A fair price could be 150 pesos for 2 people, but it’s hard to get them below 100 per person.
- Walking: this is our favorite option, at least for one way. If you set off first thing in the morning, when it’s not so hot, it’s a pleasant path as it runs near the coast and you can enjoy the scenery. You simply have to follow the road that passes by the Russell Place hotel, where the asphalt quickly ends. The walk to White Beach will take just under 1 hour, but keep in mind that you’ll reach Coconut Beach first, which takes about 40 minutes. From these beaches you can walk along the coast, as long as it’s low tide. That makes it a bit easier.
How to get to white beach Port Barton
2. Coconut Beach
One of our favorite Port Barton beaches is Coconut Beach which, as you might guess, is named after an incredible coconut grove. Located halfway between Port Barton and White Beach, this beautiful strip of white sand is usually lapped by calm waters. Perhaps not as clear as its neighbor’s, but just as tempting for a dip after the effort of getting here.
The only thing you’ll find at Coconut Beach is a family home and their adorable family of piglets, which you’ll often see wandering along the sand—a surreally pretty sight. As they’re the ones who look after it, you have to pay an access fee of 50 pesos. This payment also lets you enjoy the hammocks strung between the coconut trees.
Note: (we’ve seen the odd silly thing on social media) neither Coconut Beach nor any of these beaches is a declared natural park. A family lives here with their livestock, which is still just that, “merchandise.” The pigs, when they’re not loose, are tied up and, of course, they won’t always be roaming free and happily bathing in the sea.
It’s better to visit Coconut Beach at high tide, otherwise there’s a fairly rocky section and the beach looks less pretty. You can easily check tide tables by asking Mr. Google: “tide Port Barton”.
Coconut Beach
How to get to Coconut Beach
As with White Beach, if you want to reach this beach near Port Barton, you have several alternatives:
- Rent a kayak: around 500 pesos per day in Port Barton. It’ll take about 20 minutes from the main beach. We recommend setting off early and hugging the coast. After visiting this one, you can paddle to White Beach without any problem.
- Rent a motorbike: it also costs around 500 pesos, but please be extremely careful when riding because the road is terrible.
- Walk: from Port Barton it’ll take around 40 minutes. Try to start very early so the heat doesn’t catch you, and bring water. You can also walk from White Beach—just follow the shoreline. There’s a short rocky stretch, which is easier if you’ve brought water shoes, but it’s not really difficult.
- Boat: they charge the same as to White Beach, 150 pesos per person and per way.
- Tricycle: same as the previous case—you can go by tricycle for about 100 pesos per person. It’s easier to negotiate because it’s closer than White Beach. If you want a contact who charges this, you can leave us a comment and we’ll share ours.
If you’re going to combine White Beach with Coconut Beach and don’t want to walk both ways, one idea is to walk to Coconut Beach and then return by boat from White Beach.
3. Pamuayan Beach
The previous two are paradisiacal, but Pamuayan isn’t bad at all either. It’s the least known of them all, so it’s rare to find many other travelers.
It’s a very long beach of golden sand, with transparent water and beautiful palm trees like the one you’ll see in the photo—a true postcard scene. Pamuayan Beach is a little more intimate than the others, as the tide means there isn’t much sand and you have to “take shelter” on the different mini-beaches. On the other hand, unlike those, it’s a little shallower here, so you will have to walk a bit if you want the water up to your neck. Honestly, a small price to pay when you’re somewhere so gorgeous. Still, we recommend visiting at high tide.
Unfortunately, after a typhoon passed through, the so‑called “leaning palm trees” (marked like that on Google Maps) didn’t survive and ended up in the water. They still make a picturesque corner, but, obviously, not as pretty as before.
The most beautiful area of Pamuayan lies to the south—that is, walk left once you leave the path. In our opinion, the best part is the section past the huts of Evio restaurant, where you can eat or have a drink. From 14:00, a family usually sets up to fry banana cue, skewers of banana coated in sugar, and they’re wonderful.
⭐ If you arrive at low tide, be sure to look at the sand. It’s common to find lots of starfish and, for that reason, it’s also known as Starfish Beach.
It’s located in a village of the same name, which is also home to the Pamuayan waterfalls that we mention in Things to do in Port Barton. So don’t miss the chance to visit both attractions—you won’t regret it!
By the way, some Port Barton island hopping tours finish their day at this beach. So if you like solitude as much as we do, we recommend visiting before 1pm, when the first boats usually appear.
If possible, bring coconut oil to prevent bites from sandflies, because on our last visit we saw quite a few.
How to get to Pamuayan Beach
You have several options to reach this Port Barton beach:
- Rent a motorbike: the road is in good condition until you reach the fork. To the right you have the waterfalls and to the left Pamuayan Beach and the village. Once there, it’s a dirt track and it’s usually fine unless it has rained a lot. Note that motorbike rental prices are usually 500 pesos per day. It’ll take about 20 minutes or less.
- Go by tricycle: you can negotiate for the tricycle to take you there—or take you and wait. Prices are around 150 pesos per person.
- Walk: we took just under 30 minutes and it’s foolproof. Just keep in mind that on the way back (if you do it at noon or mid‑afternoon) there may be no shade and you’ll melt along the way. Bring water and, if you want to shorten it, there’s a shortcut here.
- Kayak: you can also arrive by kayak from the town and combine Pamuayan with Starfish Island (the sandbar also visited on the Port Barton island hopping). If you’re skilled with the paddle, you can even reach Long Beach, on Cagsalay Island.
4. Itaytay Beach (Port Barton “town” beach)
How could we make a list of the best beaches in Port Barton without including the very beach in Port Barton town? Although it isn’t the prettiest or the nicest for swimming, it’s undoubtedly a great option for spending a few hours and, above all, for enjoying a spectacular sunset. We don’t know what it is about Port Barton, but it’s rare to have an afternoon when the sky doesn’t turn imposing colors and gift you beautiful sunsets.
Itaytay Beach, the official name of this beach, is a long strip of blonde sand. Dotted with hotels and bars, many sections have shade where you can shelter from the sun, but the part we like most is the one in front of the former Deep Moon Resort.
If there’s one “but” to Itaytay Beach, it’s that the water isn’t very clear. That doesn’t mean it’s dirty, but it’s certainly more stirred up and, therefore, less inviting. In addition, due to the increase in tourism in Port Barton, there are plenty of boats moored early in the morning and in the afternoon, when they’re not out at the islands doing island hopping.
In our article Where to eat in Port Barton, we suggest a few bars on Port Barton beach to enjoy an epic sunset.
In addition, a very special phenomenon often occurs on this beach: bioluminescent plankton. So be sure to head to the shore at night in an area without much light to see if it’s happening.
Recommended hotels in Port Barton: Ausan Beach Front Cottages (right on the beach), Sol’s Inn and Valerie Lodge
5. Long Beach
If you have plenty of time to enjoy the beaches of Port Barton, another possibility is to go to the neighboring town, San Vicente, and spend the day at Long Beach. As its name will have led you to expect, it’s a very long beach—no less than 14 kilometers of uninterrupted white sand—which has earned it the nickname “the Boracay of Palawan.”
Take a look at Things to do in San Vicente, where you’ll find information in case you decide to stay at least a couple of days in the area—there’s no shortage of beautiful beaches!
Recommended hotels in San Vicente: Club Agutaya and Sunset Beach Resort
How to get to Long Beach from Port Barton
It’s possible to reach Long Beach by bangka, although it isn’t very cheap. All the agencies have set a price of 5.500 pesos (round trip) for a boat for up to 6 people. If there are more than 6, you have to pay 600 pesos for each extra person.
There are also some hostels that run day trips to this beach including Bigaho Falls, which are on the way.
If you’re skilled with a motorbike, you can also rent one and ride here. The road isn’t 100% paved, but it’s doable. Expect it to take between an hour and a quarter and an hour and a half. The good thing is that along the route you’ll see cool scenery.
On the other hand, there are also companies that will take you for 500 pesos per person one way or 800 round trip. Depending on the state of the sea, they’ll take you by land or by sea. If you need a contact, you can write to us and we’ll tell you.
6. Starfish Island / Luli Island
This small sandbar located more or less near the town is another option to explore if you’re looking for beaches in Port Barton. It’s usually visited during island hopping, but it often happens that there are other boats like yours and, therefore, it’s less enjoyable. So, if you want to have it to yourself, you just need to rent a kayak and get paddling. It’ll take about 20–30 minutes and you can feel like a real castaway.
Bear in mind that there’s absolutely nothing on Starfish Island, not even shade. So bring everything you need to stay protected.
⛔ As its name indicates, Starfish Island (its real name is Luli Island) is surrounded by starfish, specifically the so‑called chocolate chip sea stars (because of their brown dots that look like chocolate chips). Please don’t take them out of the water or touch them. These animals die from drowning or stress.
After Starfish, if you want, you can head to Pamuayan Beach and, if you feel like paddling, all the way to Long Beach on Cagsalay. If kayaking isn’t your thing, don’t worry—you can add this beach to your island hopping.
Starfish Island, Port Barton
Other beaches around Port Barton
There are lots more beaches between Port Barton and the San Vicente area that you can visit if you’re up for it on a motorbike. However, we only recommend it if you’re experienced, and it’s better to use a motocross‑type bike, as the tracks aren’t paved.
For example, you could get to Nao Nao Beach (the one after Pamuayan; it’ll take about 45 minutes from Port Barton), Erawan Beach (home to the impressive Bato ni NingNing viewpoint), pass by Bokbok Beach, Secret Beach, Canipo Beach or Binga Beach (Boding Beach), among many others.
In addition, some of them have accommodation where you can get away from the hustle and bustle and enjoy a different experience. Most offer boat pick‑up from Port Barton. Take a look at:
Tips for enjoying the beaches of Port Barton
- The best months to find Port Barton’s beaches at their finest are from December to May. This is the dry season in Palawan. Even so, if you’re thinking of traveling from June to November, there’s no need to worry—it doesn’t mean it will definitely rain. There’s a higher chance of showers, but it’s not usual for it to rain all day. Plus, the risk of typhoons in Palawan is almost nil.
- As in any place in the world, the beaches of Port Barton can look more or less beautiful depending on the weather when you visit and the previous months. The water may be rougher, there may be more seaweed or even more trash that the tide brings in. We have to understand that nature varies.
- It’s sometimes possible to find sandflies on the beaches of Port Barton. These tiny beach midges, locally known as nik nik, bite without you hardly noticing and you start to feel them at night. If you see them, you can avoid them by applying coconut oil or repellent. If they’ve already bitten you, you can ask at the sari‑sari (the small village shops) to see if they have “calamine,” a cream that really soothes the itch.
- At certain times of the year (usually between December and March) you can see jellyfish on Port Barton’s beaches. Although they aren’t dangerous, they can sting a little. Just be careful.
- On almost no beach (except the town beach itself) are there restaurants or bars, so don’t forget to bring water and a snack.
Map of Port Barton beaches and recommended accommodation
Here you can clearly see which Port Barton beaches we’ve talked about in the article and the nearest recommended places to stay:
You’ve probably made it this far because you’re planning a visit to this Palawan town. Then don’t miss our Port Barton Guide, where you’ll find all the information about this great place.
If you have any questions or suggestions, we’ll read you in the comments!
