Estrella Falls and the south Palawan day
Puerto Princesa is not a waterfall destination, and Estrella Falls is not going to change your mind about that. It is a pretty multi-tier swimming falls in a picnic park at Narra, about 90 km and 1 hour 35 south — call it 3 hours 10 round trip for somewhere you will spend an hour. Entrance is around ₱50 plus a cottage, though the exact 2026 fee is unverified. Private tours on Viator and Expedia run $60–90. It earns the day only bundled with Narra's beaches and Rasa Island, the Philippine cockatoo recovery flagship — and Rasa is open July to December only.
This is not a waterfall destination
Say it before anything else, because the alternative is a wasted day and a disappointed afternoon.
Palawan's headline landscapes are marine. The limestone, the lagoons, the reefs and the underground river are what the island does at world class. Its waterfalls are pleasant provincial swimming holes with cottages and a fee box, and if you have been to Kawasan, Tinuy-an or anywhere in Cebu or Bohol you will find them modest.
Estrella Falls is the best of them and it is a genuinely nice hour: multiple tiers, cold clear water, a picnic park, families on weekends. Entrance is around ₱50 with a cottage on top, and the exact 2026 fee is unverified — expect a small cash payment and possibly a separate cottage charge at the gate rather than a published rate.
The mathematics is the problem. 1 hour 35 each way for an hour in the water is a 3-hour round trip you spend in a vehicle, and Puerto Princesa has better uses for that: Nagtabon is 45–60 minutes for a real beach, Ugong Rock is 1h20 for caving and a zipline. Estrella only pays for itself when it is one stop of three.
What else is down that road
The case for driving south is cumulative. Individually every one of these is a shrug; together they are a decent second-visit day.
| Stop | Distance | Cost | What it is | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estrella Falls Narra | ~90 km · 1 h 35 | ~₱50 plus a cottage fee unverified | Multi-tier swimming falls in a picnic park. An hour, and a good one. | DEPENDS |
| Rasa Island off Narra | ~2 h 30 | Permit and boat process unverified | The Philippine cockatoo recovery flagship: 23–25 birds in 1998 to about 400 by 2019. July to December only. | WORTH IT |
| Narra's beaches | ~1 h 30–2 h | Free to nominal | Quiet provincial coast. The reason the loop works as a day rather than an errand. | DEPENDS |
| Olanguan Falls Napsan road, west | ~2 h | ~₱50 unverified | A wide photogenic cascade with natural pools. Rough access and minimal facilities — motorbike explorers only. | DEPENDS |
| Private south-Palawan tour | full day | $60–90 | Someone else drives, which on a 90 km each-way loop is most of the value. | DEPENDS |
| Estrella Falls alone, by van | 3 h 10 round trip | ~₱50 plus transport | Three hours of road for one hour of waterfall. Do something closer. | SKIP |
Entrance fees at both waterfalls and the Rasa Island permit process are unverified for 2026. Carry cash and expect the number at the gate to differ from anything written online, including here.
The best conservation story in Palawan, and it has a closed season
If anything justifies the drive south, it is this — and it is only available for half the year.
The Philippine cockatoo was down to 23–25 birds on Rasa Island in 1998. By 2019 the population was around 400. The recovery ran through the Katala Foundation's warden programme, and the detail that makes it worth telling is that the programme hired former poachers as wardens — the people who knew where the nests were became the people paid to protect them.
Visiting is possible July to December only. The island is closed January to June for breeding, which is not a soft guideline. Access is by certified boats and guides from Narra, and the current permit process is unverified — arrange it locally in Narra or through an operator rather than assuming you can turn up at a jetty.
This is a birdwatchers' and conservation-minded travellers' stop rather than a general one, and the logistics are heavy for a casual visitor. But it pairs naturally with Estrella Falls, it is the reason to do the south loop in the second half of the year, and it is a better answer to what Palawan is protecting than any enclosure you can pay to walk past.
This site flags the judgement calls instead of making them for you: the crocodile farm is a genuine government breeding and rescue facility with small enclosures and a baby-crocodile photo op you can decline; the Butterfly Garden's Palaw'an demonstrations are paid, consensual and income-generating but read as zoo-adjacent to some visitors; and at Iwahig, inmates perform for tips. Buy the handicrafts, ask before photographing anyone, and skip anything that sits wrong with you.
The practical bit
Who should drive south
How to actually reach it
There is no scheduled service that makes a same-day return work, so this is a driver-or-motorbike day. Local car hire with a driver runs about ₱2,500–4,500, and that range is unverified — arrange it through your hotel and agree the itinerary before the price.
Estrella Falls questions, answered
Is Estrella Falls worth visiting?
As one stop in a south-Palawan day, yes. On its own, no — it is 90 km and about 1 hour 35 each way for somewhere most people spend an hour, at an entrance fee of roughly ₱50. Nagtabon Beach is 45 minutes away and Ugong Rock is 1h20.
How much is the entrance fee at Estrella Falls?
Around ₱50 plus a cottage if you want one, and the exact 2026 figure is unverified — sources conflict and the gate is cash. Bring small notes and treat any published number, including this one, as a guide rather than a rate.
How far is Estrella Falls from Puerto Princesa?
About 90 km south to Narra, roughly 1 hour 35 by road, so 3 hours 10 return. There is no convenient scheduled service for a day trip — this is a hired car, a private tour at $60–90, or a motorbike at ₱500–700 a day.
Can you visit Rasa Island?
Between July and December, yes, with certified boats and guides from Narra. It is closed January to June for breeding. The current permit process is unverified, so arrange it locally rather than turning up — and go for the cockatoos, which went from 23–25 birds in 1998 to about 400 by 2019.
Are there other waterfalls near Puerto Princesa?
Olanguan Falls, about 2 hours west on the Napsan road — a wide cascade with natural pools, roughly ₱50, rough access and minimal facilities. It suits motorbike explorers pairing it with a Napsan sunset, and nobody else.
Is Puerto Princesa good for waterfalls?
No, and it is better to say so. The island's spectacle is marine and subterranean — lagoons, reefs and an 8.2 km underground river. The waterfalls are pleasant provincial swimming holes and they will not compete with Cebu or Bohol.
What is the best day trip south of Puerto Princesa?
The Narra loop, and only in the second half of the year: Estrella Falls for an hour, a Narra beach, and Rasa Island in its July to December window. Outside that season the south is a long drive for a ₱50 swimming hole.
Can I get to Estrella Falls by public transport?
Buses and vans run south along the highway toward Narra and Brooke's Point, but the timings do not make a comfortable same-day return across 90 km each way, and the falls are off the highway at the far end. Hire a vehicle, or join a private tour at $60–90.
Everything down here is cash and half of it is unpublished
Several entrance fees on the city-tour circuit are not published anywhere current — the crocodile farm (free in one source, about ₱40–50 in others), Plaza Cuartel, the Heritage Center and the Butterfly Garden all carry conflicting 2026 figures. Where that is the case this site gives the range and tells you to ask at the desk, rather than printing a number that will be wrong.
Draw cash in the city, and draw more than feels reasonable. Tours, tricycles, markets and most restaurants are cash. Foreign cards are charged about ₱250 per withdrawal at nearly every bank and per-transaction limits run ₱10,000–20,000. Airport machines empty at weekends and around the 15th and 30th. Sabang is effectively an ATM desert — arrive with the whole stay in your pocket. Always decline the machine's offer to charge you in your own currency.
The south road is where this bites hardest. Estrella's fee is unverified, Olanguan's is unverified, the Rasa permit process is unverified, and none of the three will take a card. Draw in the city, carry small notes, and treat every number on this page as the shape of a price rather than the price.