Canibungan Island Base Camp is one of those places that instantly makes you slow down and appreciate how beautiful simple island life can be. It’s like we’re in a different dimension because the time here is sooooooo slow!
Clear blue water, white sand, peaceful surroundings, and no pressure to rush anything. It honestly feels like a little escape from reality and one of the spots in Balabac that made me fall in love with Palawan even more.
When we first arrived here, we had to wait for the organizers to call us so they could assign where we would be staying. We were expecting to stay in one of their tents, but we were lucky enough to be upgraded to one of their huts, which has electricity. That means we can charge our gadgets and even have an electric fan. Yohooo!
The electricity in the island is from 6:00pm to 6:00am but there are instances that it’s still on until 8:00am. For the internet connection, they have Starlink but the connection is intermittent while the strongest signal here is Smart so you can try to connect using your data.
By the way, they have big tents, and we wouldn’t have had any problem staying there because we’re used to it from our camping trips. But since there is no electricity there and the upgrade was offered, who are we to say no, right? *smirk*
The hut doesn’t look appealing to be honest, but they’re comfortable enough because Canibungan Island is also known as Mosquito Island. Yep, there’s so many mosquitoes in the island so I advise you to bring insect repellant.
Now, this is how our hut looks like inside and sorry for the mess because I forgot to take a photo of it before we even put our stuff inside.
Don’t worry guys, the beddings are all clean if that’s your main concern.
Look at my feet having their own mini e-fan LOL.
Now, let’s explore Canibungan Island a little bit. This is their pavilion – where we dine with the rest of tourists and the charging station for those who are staying in the tent. They also have unlimited coffee, tea and water.
Too bad I wasn’t able to take a photo of their toilet slash shower room. So let me just write about it.
There are 4 toilet/shower rooms and 1 public shower area. Since there are more or less 30 tourists, plus the locals on the island, everyone will be sharing them. This means you may need to line up for your turn to shower or use the toilet.
Our technique is to wake up early, around 5:00 AM, since we’re morning people, so we can shower early. Easy, right? After that, we have enough time to take photos on the island.
Look at their beautiful sunset!
I would love to try the other base camps next time. I know that there’s Sicsican Island, Candaraman Island and Punta Sebaring Island but I think here is the nearest island if you want to go to Onuk Island. Next time, for sure!
