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HRH BEACH COMMUNITY · BARANGAY SAN RAFAEL
A barangay on the north highway, about 58 kilometers from the city proper. The waterpark, the mini city hall, and Police Station 5 are here. Honda Bay is a drive south. El Nido is the road north.
EL NIDO SUNSET · WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
THIS IS THE COAST
San Rafael sits on Puerto Princesa’s north road, about 58 kilometers from the city proper. Phase 1 of HRH Beach Community is the cottage ground. Around it: a mini city hall, Police Station 5, a clinic, a school, and the waterpark at Km 62.
01
The community
Phase 1 is the cottage ground between the highway and the water. The pad is a monthly lease, separate from the home. There is no finished photograph of the cottages on this page — only the places already standing around them.
02
Next door
Palawan Waterpark by Astoria sits at Km 62, North National Highway, Barangay San Rafael. Wave pool, slides, lazy river, cabanas. It is the city’s waterpark, and it is not part of the cottage.
Weekday tickets include meal, drink, and dessert coupons. Friday to Sunday, lunch is a buffet. Rates are the park’s published nett figures — confirm before you go.
Park site03
Public buildings
Police Station 5 is at the San Rafael Mini City Hall. It covers Manalo, Maruyogon, Lucbuan, Maoyon, Babuyan, San Rafael, Tanabag, Concepcion, Binduyan, and Langogan. No published exterior of the finished hall was available to put on this page, so the buildings are listed, not pictured.
04
Honda Bay
Sta. Lourdes Wharf is south of San Rafael, nearer the city than Km 62. You rent a bangka for the people you came with. The stops are yours — Cowrie, Luli, Starfish, Pandan — and you leave when you are done.
That is not an El Nido lagoon boat. Those fill every seat so the day pays. Honda Bay can be a private morning. The four photographs below are the bay. Pandan’s frame is Barlas, a neighbor in the same water.
HONDA BAY
Usually the first stop. White sand, boats on the beach, a place to eat.
Honda Bay. Wikimedia Commons.
HONDA BAY
A sandbar. It sinks and rises with the tide. Ask before you promise a landing.
Honda Bay sandbar. Wikimedia Commons.
HONDA BAY
Shallow and calm. Stay inside the marked swim line.
Honda Bay shore. Wikimedia Commons.
HONDA BAY
The longer swim, when Cowrie is crowded. The frame is Barlas, a neighbor in the same bay.
Barlas Island, Honda Bay. Wikimedia Commons.
05
El Nido
El Nido Eco Farms is the northern chapter we promote from this coast. Not a lagoon tour, and not an afternoon bolted onto the waterpark. Coconut, banana, cashew, a carabao on the lane, a table set from what was cut that morning.
Bacuit Bay — the limestone and the lagoons — is a different journey, and the boats there are built to be full. Give the farms their own date. Sleep the other nights in San Rafael. If you want a boat that is only yours, that morning is Honda Bay.
The river is a full day west. The hall is in the barangay.
AROUND SAN RAFAEL
01
Km 62, North National Highway
Same barangay, Km 62, North National Highway. Wave pool, slides, a lazy river, cabanas. Open 9 to 5, closed Tuesdays. A neighbor, not part of the cottage lease.
02
Beside the waterpark
The resort around the park, on the Sulu Sea side of San Rafael. Infinity pool, mangrove hall. The hot hours next door.
03
In the barangay, about 58 km from the city proper
The city’s northern satellite. Ground broken 18 August 2020, funded at ₱27.7 million, so residents from Manalo out to Langogan do not have to go to the main City Hall in Sta. Monica. The City Assessor now takes tax declarations and assessment records here. It is also the evacuation hall.
04
At the Mini City Hall
Puerto Princesa City Police Office, Station 5. Covers Manalo, Maruyogon, Lucbuan, Maoyon, Babuyan, San Rafael, Tanabag, Concepcion, Binduyan, and Langogan. Globe 0956-179-0083 · Smart 0999-380-2689. Tourist police as well as the barangay.
05
San Rafael
The barangay’s own hall, separate from the mini city hall. Both opened as shelters in Typhoon Tino: the mini city hall took about 100 families, the barangay hall about 20.
06
San Rafael
A city birthing facility for low-risk pregnancies in the northern barangays. X-ray and a clinical lab were named as the next commissioning after Macarascas. Confirm what is open before you go.
07
In the barangay
DPWH added a single-story, two-classroom building, 18 by 11.45 meters, with a walkway and a PWD bathroom. The school is growing with the barangay.
08
San Rafael
Covers Langogan, Binduyan, Concepcion, Tanabag, and San Rafael. The parish watched the mini city hall and the barangay hall through Typhoon Tino.
09
Sta. Lourdes Wharf, south toward the city
Not next door. Rent a bangka at Sta. Lourdes for your own party and your own stops. Not an El Nido boat filled to the rail.
10
Honda Bay
Usually the first stop. White sand, a place to eat, snorkeling off the beach.
11
Honda Bay
A sandbar. Lulubog, lilitaw — it sinks and rises with the tide. Time the boat, don’t fight it.
12
Honda Bay
Shallow, calm, orange starfish on the sand. Stay inside the marked swim line.
13
Honda Bay
An oval of sand and reef. The quieter swim if the nearer islets are crowded.
14
Sabang, a full day west
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River. UNESCO, and one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Book the permit before you promise anyone the boat.
15
Dusk on the river
A short evening boat. Pair it with a quiet day, not with a dawn departure for Sabang.
16
North road, Sibaltan country
The northern chapter, inland of Bacuit Bay toward Sibaltan. Coconut, banana, cashew, a harvest table. Not an add-on to the waterpark, and not the same day as the lagoons.
17
El Nido
Lagoons and limestone. A different trip from the farms. Don’t stack them into one San Rafael afternoon.
ONE DATE
Stay for the bay. Leave for everything else.