Think tropical waters, pristine beaches, colorful fish, island hopping, kayak exploration, magical sunsets, nature reserves and spectacular lookouts. Oh, and did I mention the chance to see baby turtles hatch?! Read this guide for everything you need to know about Secret Paradise Resort Port Barton.

Why Visit Port Barton?

Thought Palawan was all about El Nido? Think again! Port Barton is perfect if you want to experience Palawan’s beauty and go island hopping, but don’t want to share the experience with squillions of your (not so close) friends.

Port Barton is pure chill. Imagine a sleepy fishing village on a quiet beach, but surrounded by beautiful islands with sandy white beaches and bays with turquoise waters teeming with aquatic life. Yup, that’s Port Barton!

Port Barton is slightly off the tourist radar, but not so far off to go in the ‘too hard basket’. Case in point: It’s a little bit of a mish to get to, but easy enough once you’re in Palawan. Accommodation and dining is mainly rustic with nary a high rise in sight, but is readily available. There’s also tonnes of things to do in Port Barton, provided you love Mother Nature and aren’t looking for wild parties.

And if that’s not enough for you (I know, I have high standards too), you can reach private islands and resorts in just a short boat ride from Port Barton.

Enter Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary in Port Barton: it’s not quite a private island as it’s on mainland Palawan, but it may as well be. Secret Paradise Resort is only accessible by boat and is only open to resort guests. No day trippers allowed! Cha-hoo!

Flight to Palawan

The best starting points on Palawan for getting to Port Barton are Puerto Princesa (Palawan’s main airport) or El Nido (Palawan’s main attraction, with a smaller and more expensive airport).

Most people start their Palawan vacation by flying into Puerto Princesa from Manila or Cebu. If you’re also visiting El Nido (which you should!) you can fly direct from Manila to El Nido for a little more $$$.

International flights to Palawan are increasing in line with Palawan’s reputation as a tourist hot spot, so keep an eye out for new routes.

If you’re reading this from the future (hello future!): San Vicente Airport in Palawan is due to expand into an international airport in 2021. From San Vicente, it’s only 25 minutes by speed boat to the resort.

Overland to Port Barton

From Puerto Princesa and El Nido, it’s a 3-4 hour drive to Port Barton. You can get a shared van or take a private transfer organised by the resort for a slightly faster and more comfortable trip.

The drive to Port Barton is largely easy and uneventful, other than the final section down a very bumpy gravel road. Rather than bitch and moan about the road as one may be naturally inclined to do, I was determined to look on the bright side: crappy roads = fewer tourists. Road upgrades are in progress, so it may just be a matter of time before: good roads = more tourists. Get in before everyone discovers Port Barton!

Boat to Secret Paradise Resort

Once you’re in Port Barton, the resort’s boat will meet you for the final leg to the resort. The resort provides one free boat transfer per day, or you can pay for a private transfer. Be sure to check boat times in advance.

The boat trip from Port Barton to Secret Paradise Resort takes around 45-60 minutes, depending on ocean conditions.

We traveled in February, when the ocean is MEANT TO BE beautiful and calm. This was an important part of my planning, as I’m a total wuss with boats and rough ocean. As (bad) luck would have it, the ocean was unseasonably choppy around Palawan when we visited. Not enough to have you fearing for life, but enough to have me wearing a life jacket and clinging to the edges with my sweaty palms.

That said, the boats were comfortable and the drivers were onto it, steering us to avoid the chop where possible. On the positive side, we had our first glimpse of turtles swimming underneath us on the boat transfer!

As we approached Secret Paradise Resort, the choppy water suddenly gave way to a completely calm and beautiful bay with stunning coloured waters. What a change!

If you’re totally cray cray a lover of boats, you can get a boat all the way from El Nido to the resort. That’s a hell no from me!

The Island

Oh the island, what can I say! This is one place that definitely lives up to its name: paradise.

The location 100% makes Secret Paradise Resort. The resort is absolute beachfront, with four private beaches and two private coves, and is surrounded by a massive hilly nature reserve with tropical forests. The resort is only accessible by boat, and only to resort guests. In case you haven’t clicked already, Secret Paradise Resort Port Barton is pretty remote, so don’t plan on doing too many activities outside the resort and island hopping. (This is a good thing, I promise!)

Like much of Palawan, the beaches at Secret Paradise Resort are some of the most tropical I’ve visited, second only to the stunning Mirihi Island in the Maldives. The bays are calm with clear water, making them perfect for swimming, snorkelling and kayaking. The resort’s Turtle Bay is a marine sanctuary, with sections of coral, resident turtles and countless tropical fish.

Secret Paradise Resort Accommodation

Orchid Cottage at Secret Paradise Resort

Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary has a few different accommodation options: rooms, cottages and villas. The rooms are above the restaurant, and all cottages and villas are beach front.

So which one to choose?! The only accommodation I heard any complaints about were the rooms above the restaurant (junior suite room and superior room), so I’d go for one of the cottages or villas.

Cottages

The cottages are small and rustic, and are great for couples. The Jasmine and Orchid Cottages are on the main beach, and the Honeymoon Cottages are on the next beach over, which is very private but still only a short walk to the restaurant. All cottages are beach front. Nice!

My choice would have been for one of the Honeymoon Cottages, for the private location. These were booked out, so we went for the Orchid Cottage instead. Our cottage was a basic traditional style hut with a bed and bathroom with hot water and electricity. Pretty much all you need for a perfect Palawan beach break in my books! We were slap bang on the main beach, and had a small table, chairs and loungers out front. 

Villas

The villas are on the main beach next to the Orchid Cottages, and are large and modern. They can fit 6 people, so are a good choice for families.

The villas did look pretty awesome, but I resisted temptation and decided that they weren’t worth the extra cost as we didn’t plan on spending much time indoors. (I was wrong. Sick husband ended up spending a couple of days indoors. Oops.)

Things to do at Secret Paradise Resort Palawan

You may not want to move far from your villa!

For an isolated resort, there’s a surprising amount of things to do at Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary. I spent a pretty tranquil five days at the resort partly doing nothing at all and partly making the most of the great outdoors and activities on offer.

Snorkelling and Diving

The private bays at Secret Paradise Resort are full of tropical fish and are home to resident turtles. You can snorkel right off the beach and find small reefs packed with colorful aquatic life. In fact, the snorkeling at Secret Paradise Resort is some of the best I’ve experienced in South East Asia!

Tip: Bring your own snorkeling mask. Secret Paradise Resort has free snorkeling equipment. Woohoo I thought! Turns out to be not so woohoo, as the resort’s equipment is, how can I put this politely, total crap. The resort did not have enough snorkeling equipment for everyone, and most of it was very poor quality, falling apart, foggy or let in an entire ocean of water. Hopefully they get new gear in future. Until then, BYO!

I’m not a diver, but Secret Paradise Resort also offers scuba diving tours, including PADI certification for new divers.

Port Barton Island Hopping Tours

Island hopping at Port Barton – just as beautiful as El Nido, sans crowds

We’d already been island hopping earlier in our Palawan trip in El Nido, and were a little tempted to do literally nothing for our four nights at Secret Paradise Resort. In the end, I managed to drag my lazy ass off the beach and onto a boat (so hard, I know) for a day of island hopping around Port Barton.

I’m glad my inner sloth resisted, as the Secret Paradise Resort island hopping tour was excellent, and a different experience to El Nido where it can be difficult to avoid the crowds. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still many boats out exploring the bays in Port Barton, and popular hot spots to stop off at. However, in Port Barton, it’s much easier to get away from the hordes. Port Barton is also less rigid than El Nido, where regulations seem to require boats to follow the same tour path.

Secret Paradise Resort offers two island hopping tours – one focusing on island hopping, and one island hopping with waterfalls. We took the island hopping tour with waterfalls, and were the only guests on the tour.

Our day started with a boat trip to Port Barton and a short hike to a beautiful waterfall where we took a refreshing dip in the pool. For the rest of the day, we hopped around stunning Port Barton islands, stopping off for swims at white sandy beaches and snorkelling off the boat or beach. We were even lucky enough to snorkel with graceful turtles off the back of the boat!

After a bit of cajoling, we managed to convince our boat driver that we were happy to miss the ‘famous’ beach where everyone else was parked up, and to search out a truly private beach for us. In a real Robinson Crusoe moment, we ended up on our own deserted beach for a BBQ lunch complete with fresh coconuts, the fruits of labor from my husband scaling the coconut trees! The price we paid for solitude was a little more wind (okay, a lot more wind) and a slight chop in the water, which kept away the other tour boats. This was well worth it in my opinion, as it’s only getting harder to find quiet beaches in South East Asia. (Yup, I know tourists like me contribute to this issue.)

Hiking

Secret Paradise Resort from the lookout – definitely an apt name!

There’s some lovely hiking around the Secret Paradise Resort nature reserve. Some hikes require a guide, and some hikes can be conquered alone.

If you need to work off some cocktails but don’t fancy a long guided hike, take the short hike to the lookout behind the resort. This is a steep hike, but only takes 15-20 minutes one way. You’ll be rewarded with stunning views over the resort and bay below. Exhibit A: photo above taken from the lookout!

Kayaking

Secret Paradise Resort has free kayaks for guest to use. The kayaks are older style outriggers, which are heavy and a bit of hard work, but are still good fun.

I’m a strong independent woman and all that, but swimming and brute force are most definitely not my strengths. I made sure I kayaked with a life jacket and went in a double kayak with my husband. (For safety. Not so he could do all the hard work. Honest.)

We kayaked in the resort’s main bay and around the corner to another private beach. We were stoked to find our own deserted beach until we reached the shore and were attacked by THOUSANDS of aggressive sand flies. Itchy nightmare! After that, we stuck to the water or our kayak. Ever so kind, Mother Nature rewarded us with more turtles swimming beneath our boat.

Turtle Sanctuary

In case it’s not obvs from the name, Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary is legit an accredited turtle sanctuary. (I’ll admit it, this is totally the reason I booked!)

Year round, turtles swim in the resort’s Turtle Bay. We saw several turtles when we were out snorkeling and on boat trips.

Turtles also lay eggs on the resort’s beach from October to March, and the eggs hatch between November to May. The resort’s staff put little fences around the turtle nests to protect the nests, with details of the laying date and expected hatching date. The baby turtles usually hatch during the night, and you can ask the staff to wake you up if a nest starts hatching. As those who know me can attest to, I despise being woken up mid-sleep (or even before 8am really, clearly I’m not a mother). However, I wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to witness one of nature’s miracles.

As I’ve said before, we are pretty lucky wildlife viewers, and the turtle sanctuary was no exception. We only stayed at Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary for four nights, and were lucky enough to see baby turtle hatchings two nights we were there. Holy mcmoley, it doesn’t get much better than this! What an amazing experience to witness around 100 baby turtles in each nest burst into the world. (Actually, it was more like slow struggle out of their little shells and up through the dense sand. Kinda tough way to start life!).

The staff keep the baby turtles chilling in water overnight, before releasing them into the ocean in the morning to increase their chances of survival. Sadly, the turtle survival rate to adulthood is only in the single percent, with many turtles plucked out of the ocean by predators or perishing in the sun in their first days of life. We helped release the baby turtle hatchlings into the ocean, and to (safely) scoop ‘em up and return them to the ocean when they were beached on the rocks by the tide.

Relaxing at the Resort

I usually have more active holidays, but one of my favourite things to do at Secret Paradise Resort was … nothing at all. We stayed for four nights, so had plenty of time to chill. I spent hours reading on the beach loungers, watching spectacular sunsets, drinking cocktails, and chasing making friends with the resident dogs and bunny. Go on, you’ve earned it! 

Restaurant, Food and Service

So this review of Secret Paradise Resort Port Barton has been all nice and shiny so far. Here’s the not-so-positive part of my experience at the resort: the food and service.

Food isn’t the focus of my travels, and I’m pretty chill with service, so these issues didn’t bother me too much. I would definitely return to Secret Paradise Resort Port Barton for the amazing location and opportunity to completely unwind and disconnect. (In my view, the very limited wifi is a pro!). However, if you travel for luxe food and service, then you may be disappointed. My rating: 5 star location, 3 star food and management.

Food: Like the rest of the resort, the restaurant has a great beachfront location and laidback vibe. And cold beer, I’ll drink to that! The food, unfortunately, was bit of a let-down. I was excited to see fresh fish, but even the fish was decidedly average. I mostly stuck to rice and veges, which gets a bit boring after a few days. While the resort is remote, they could do much better by focusing on simple, fresh and tasty food. The food wouldn’t put me off staying again, but I’d bring snacks next time.

Service: The staff were lovely, but a little clueless. We had to ask for things several times, they didn’t seem to be able to make decisions and couldn’t answer many of our basic questions about the resort and services. Not a biggy to me, but this could be easily resolved if the resort trains and empowers its staff.

I gotta say, food and lacklustre service were the only real let downs at what is otherwise a great resort in an incredible location. But, let’s face it, you don’t come to the Philippines for the food, and sometimes you just need to give in to island time!

Ready to book Secret Paradise Resort & Turtle Sanctuary? Click here! Prefer to stay somewhere else in Port Barton? Check out all the options on Booking.com.

Keen for a trip to tropical Palawan? Read the AF’s Palawan Travel Guide for more info on when and where to go, what to see, and how to get around!

Have some spare time for a short hop around some other South East Asian countries? Check out my favourite spots for a short vacation from Singapore.

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