Transit: Flying to Busuanga

To explore the whole of Palawan is another one of my Holy Grails here in the Philippines. I was able to explore the Taytay Palawan years ago and definitely enjoyed that piece of the region and wanted to actually see more. Last weekend, another spot has been crossed out. Me, along with 4 other adventurers flew to the island of Busuanga for the weekend. All of us were new to the place so it was pure discovery and exploration backpacking style!

Currently, there are already 3 airlines servicing the Busuanga route in Palawan, but the fastest flights going there is via Seair’s 32-seater Dornier 328 which can take you to Busuanga from Manila in 35 minutes. Seair has been serving Palawan since 1995 along with other exotic routes like El Nido and Cuyo, so they are quite reliable on this region.

It’s nice to know that even on a 35 minutes flight, some snacks were served during the flight. You can also check out their Inflight Magazine. In my opinion, this magazine is one of the best designed out there. When I was still working on another inflight publication, I consider the designs for their inflight a direct rival to what I do for another inflight.

Flying here is pretty comfortable. Seats and leg room is just okay. They don’t have window blinds though but that’s just a personal preference. Cabin is well pressurized. No popping ears on this one.

And since the plane is flying on a lower altitude, you get to see more of the sights. I was really excited to see the landscapes of Busuanga. From the air, I could actually see those crystal clear torquise waters hugging the coastline. Beautiful! And those sloping mountain landscape is also quite a sight.

Like any small provincial airports, we landed on a dusty runway among vast leveled fields with only small fences dividing them. The landing was smooth and pretty soon we were walking towards the small terminal.

The sunny weather and cool breeze of wind from this part of the Philippines held a lot of promise for the coming days. It’s great to be back again in Palawan. We approached the Captain Lucky, who piloted the Dornier 328 and also welcomed us in Busuanga.

I noticed that there’s an expansion and improvements happening on Francisco Reyes Airport here in Busuanga. Beside the old terminal building, another larger structure is being made. Maybe in a few months time, we can see this spanking new terminal operating in Coron. We then rode a jeep and readied ourselves for an hour ride to Coron Town.

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If you haven’t done so, Seair is still giving you a chance to win 6 tickets to Busuanga for you and your friends. You can read the whole details here.