What closed and what changed in Puerto Princesa
Fifteen things about this city are wrong in most of what you will read elsewhere, and several of them will cost you a day. Honda Bay is down to three islands while blogs still promise four to seven. AirAsia cut Manila–Puerto Princesa in June 2026, leaving two carriers. The Underground River booking office moved from the City Coliseum to Mendoza Park and a decade of posts still send people to the old one. Two named restaurants are permanently closed, KaLui's old official domain now resolves to a gambling site, and the Sabang resort everyone calls Sheridan is branded Four Points. Where something could not be verified in a 2024–2026 source, this page says so instead of guessing.
This list is the reason the rest of the prices can be trusted
Every travel site claims its information is current. This one publishes the working, including the parts where the answer is that we could not confirm it.
The competitive picture in this city is unusual: the premium international travel blogs largely skipped Puerto Princesa and went straight to El Nido, so the search results are directory pages, product listicles and Filipino do-it-yourself budget blogs, several of which have been recycling the same itinerary since 2017. One widely-read budget guide still quotes a ₱7,000 three-day total that predates the current fee stack entirely.
That means the ordinary failure mode here is not bad advice, it is old advice — a fourth island that closed years ago, an airline that left in June 2026, a booking office that moved, a restaurant whose reviews stop in 2019. Each item below is dated, and each one is labelled either verified or unverified. Nothing on this page is inferred.
Puerto Princesa's restaurant scene turns over fast and most guides do not keep up. Gypsy's Lair and La Terrasse are closed, and KaLui's old official domain now resolves to a gambling site — competing guides still link it. Where a place could not be confirmed open from a 2024–2026 source, this site says so instead of guessing.
Transport: what changed
Two of these will change what you book. The third is the one every guide gets wrong because of the airport's name.
| What changed | What most guides still say | The 2026 position | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| AirAsia cut Manila–Puerto Princesa June 2026 | Three carriers on the Manila route, with AirAsia as the cheap one. | Two: Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, about 179 flights a month between them. Fewer carriers means more fare risk on peak dates. | SKIP |
| Still zero international flights despite the airport's name | Puerto Princesa International Airport implies international service. | Five domestic routes only — Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, Clark. Jeju Air's Incheon route was announced in July 2025 for "by end of 2025" and has not launched; status unverified and apparently delayed. | DEPENDS |
| RORO Bus stopped operating in Palawan since Covid | RORO and Cherry Bus both run to El Nido; forum threads still ask about the 04:00 RORO departure. | Cherry Bus alone. ₱651 economy, ₱840 air-conditioned, ₱998 Lazyboy, about six hours, plus the 21:30 night departure. | SKIP |
| Grab still does not operate here checked again August 2026 | Grab a Grab from the airport. | Tricycles are the system: ₱12–25 a shared hop, ₱100–150 to charter one from the airport into town. No ride-hailing firm had filed for a franchise at the last check. | SKIP |
| The road north keeps getting faster 77.4 km of tourism roads completed in the region in 2024 | Seven to eight hours to El Nido. | 5 to 6 hours, 280 km, fully paved, averaging about 50 km/h by van. That is a genuine improvement over the decade-old figure. | WORTH IT |
If you are pricing flights, the practical consequence of the AirAsia cut is that Manila fares run ₱1,500–3,500 off-peak and ₱4,000–6,000 or more at peak, with less competitive pressure than in 2025.
What closed, moved, or never existed
The first row is the single most consequential error in the competing content, and the last three are things sold to travellers that we could not confirm exist at all.
| The item | What most guides still say | The 2026 position | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honda Bay is three islands Starfish, Luli, Cowrie | Four, five or seven islands, usually including Snake Island and Pandan. | Snake Island has been closed to tours for years — the exact closure year is unverified — and Pandan is out of the standard rotation. Pambato Reef swaps in as the snorkelling stop on some routes. | WORTH IT |
| The river booking office moved City Coliseum to Mendoza Park | Book at the City Coliseum office, per 2015–2021 blog posts. | The office is beside Mendoza Park, Brgy. Model, downtown. Take photo ID and know your exact date. Most people let a tour hold the permit instead. | WORTH IT |
| Nickelodeon Coral World Park announced January 2017 | An undersea Nickelodeon theme park is coming to Palawan. | It was never built. After instant national backlash the project went dormant and there has been no activity for years — shelved after public outcry. No formal cancellation statement exists, so we do not claim one. | SKIP |
| Dolphin watching historically offered from Puerto Bay | A ₱2,000 morning dolphin trip, April to October. | Effectively vanished from the booking platforms — zero listings on the major channels. Operational status unverified; treat it as not reliably bookable rather than as an option you can plan around. | DEPENDS |
| Irawan Eco Park most content about it dates from 2013 | A zipline and eco park worth half a day. | Recent first-hand reports are thin to non-existent. Operating status unverified and likely dormant. This site will not build a recommendation on it. | DEPENDS |
| ATV rides and "Eco Safari" products | Listed on aggregator pages as things to do here. | We could not verify that either product exists in 2024–2026. No credible current listing surfaced on any platform. If someone sells you one, ask what you are actually boarding. | SKIP |
| Modessa Island Resort widely misfiled | Filed under Puerto Princesa or San Rafael as a nearby island resort. | It is off Roxas — about 2.5 hours by road plus an hour by boat. Not a day trip from this city and not in this city, whatever the listing says. | SKIP |
Honda Bay is a three-island product now: Starfish, Luli and Cowrie, with Pambato Reef swapped in as the snorkelling stop on some routes. Snake Island and Pandan are out of the standard rotation. Guides still promising four, five or seven islands are quoting a decade-old itinerary — and Starfish Island without starfish is now a recurring review title, because heavy traffic has pushed the sea stars away from the landing area.
Restaurants and hotels: closures and rebrands
This city's restaurant scene turns over fast. Two closures below are definite; the rest are flagged as unverified precisely because they could not be confirmed either way.
| The place | What most guides still say | The 2026 position | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gypsy's Lair | A long-standing bar and restaurant on the nightlife lists. | Permanently closed. Reviews stop in December 2019. It still appears in guides published years after that — see what is actually open at night. | SKIP |
| La Terrasse | A city-centre restaurant recommendation. | Closed. A café successor at the site has been mentioned but we could not verify it — treat any current listing as unconfirmed. | SKIP |
| KaLui's official domain the restaurant itself is open and excellent | Competing guides still link kaluirestaurant.com. | That domain now resolves to a gambling site. Never follow it. KaLui itself is very much open at 369 Rizal Avenue — ₱795 set for two, 4.4/5 from 2,545 reviews, closed Sundays. | WORTH IT |
| Sheridan Beach Resort in Sabang | Book the Sheridan for the Underground River. | The property is now branded Four Points by Sheraton Palawan, $156–162 at 8.8 from 854 reviews. The old site still self-markets and the branding is in flux — same property, two names, so check which one your booking says. | DEPENDS |
| Cafe Rey, Tiya Nita's, Chibar, Kokomos, the NCCC Mall branch | All still listed on legacy guides and aggregator pages. | No recent trace for any of them. We could not confirm a single 2024–2026 source. Verify locally before making a plan around one, or leave them out — which is what this site does. | DEPENDS |
| Viet Ville restaurant | Open daily 08:00–20:00 at Km 13, Sta. Lourdes. | Listed as operating in 2025 aggregators, but hours are unverified and the refugee-village site around it is semi-abandoned. Pho ₱230, chaolong ₱170. Call ahead rather than driving out on spec. | DEPENDS |
Two smaller fee changes worth knowing: the Palawan Heritage Center is ₱50 where an older ₱150 figure still circulates, and it closes Friday to Sunday, opening Mon–Thu 09:30–16:00 only.
The Underground River's 2026 modernisation programme
This is the most consequential thing happening in the city right now, and the reason to check dates on anything you read about the river experience.
In October 2025 a traveller's complaint letter about outdated facilities and poor guest handling went viral, and — unusually — park management publicly conceded the problems on 31 October 2025 and committed to fixing them. What was announced is a genuine modernisation programme: a Sabang integrated wharf upgrade with new waiting areas, ticketing offices and toilets; fibreglass and electric boats replacing the wooden outriggers; upgraded in-cave audio; a wheelchair-accessible boat; and a dry run of new guest-handling procedures at Sabang wharf beginning 7 February 2026.
How much of that is finished is unverified. The completion dates come from a single modernisation report rather than from the park, and no confirmation of delivery could be found. Treat it as work in progress: if the queue matters to you, still take the first boat, and if accessibility is the reason you are asking, confirm with the park office rather than trusting any page — including this one — that says the accessible boat is in service.
The other live change is booking. The park's digital platform has been rolling out through 2026 to replace manual ticketing, and whether pure permit-only self-booking works yet is unverified. The permits page has the mechanics as they actually stand.
The stable facts, so you can stop re-checking them
A freshness page that only lists changes gives a false impression of churn. Most of this city is exactly where it was.
The river still runs 08:00–16:00 only, still takes 45 minutes inside, is still permit-rationed, and still holds 4.4/5 across 5,813 reviews. The fireflies still run near the new moon at ₱1,200–1,700. KaLui is still closed on Sundays. Chaolong is still ₱60–120 a bowl. The van to El Nido is still ₱650 and still leaves the New Market seven times a day. Tricycles are still the transport system.
And the duration answer has not moved in a decade: two days, three with the river unhurried, and no reachable forum post has argued for more than three. That page shows the working.
Everything on this site carries a checked date of August 2026. The items worth re-verifying quarterly are the ones on this page: airline routes, the river booking process, the Honda Bay island roster, restaurant status, and whether ride-hailing has finally launched.
Where the live prices actually are
The advantage of a platform listing over a blog is not the price, it is that a product which stopped operating stops being listed. Local walk-up references: river ₱2,000–2,500, Honda Bay ₱1,500–2,000, city tour ₱600–900.
What changed, answered
How many islands are there in Honda Bay now?
Three: Starfish, Luli and Cowrie, with Pambato Reef swapped in as the snorkelling stop on some routes. Snake Island has been closed to tours for years and Pandan is out of the standard rotation, but plenty of guides still promise 4 to 7 islands for the same ₱1,500–2,000.
Does AirAsia still fly to Puerto Princesa?
No. AirAsia cut Manila–Puerto Princesa in June 2026, leaving Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines with about 179 monthly Manila frequencies between them. Fares run ₱1,500–3,500 off-peak and ₱4,000–6,000 or more at peak.
Are there international flights to Puerto Princesa?
None, despite the airport's name. Five domestic routes only: Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Clark. Jeju Air announced an Incheon route in July 2025 for launch by the end of that year and it has not launched — status unverified and apparently delayed.
Where is the Underground River booking office now?
Beside Mendoza Park in Brgy. Model, downtown. It moved from the City Coliseum, and blog posts from 2015 to 2021 still send people to the old address. Most visitors never go to either, because tour operators hold the permit for about 95% of visitors.
Did the Nickelodeon underwater park in Palawan ever get built?
No. It was announced in January 2017, met instant national backlash and was never built — dead in practice. There is no formal cancellation statement on record, so the accurate phrasing is that it was shelved after public outcry.
Is Gypsy's Lair still open?
No, it is permanently closed — its reviews stop in December 2019. La Terrasse is also closed, with a possible café successor that we could not verify. Both still appear in guides published long after they shut.
Is the Sheridan Beach Resort in Sabang still open?
Yes, under a different name: it is now Four Points by Sheraton Palawan at $156–162 a night with 8.8 from 854 reviews. The old branding still self-markets online, so the same property appears twice — search by location rather than by name.
Can you still do dolphin watching in Puerto Princesa?
Not reliably. It has effectively vanished from the booking platforms, with zero listings on the major channels, and its operational status is unverified. Historically it ran 06:30–10:30 from April to October at around ₱2,000 per person; do not plan a day around it.
was checked in
August 2026.
This page is the audit, published. Where a fee could not be verified it is labelled unverified rather than guessed at, and where a product could not be confirmed to exist it is not sold to you. That is the standard the rest of the site is held to as well — the room prices, the tour prices, the tricycle fares and the van timetables all carry the same date.
Compare hotels at current rates