Balabac is the southernmost island in the Palawan archipeligo. Few tourists venture here because there is almost no infrastructure to support visitors.
The Melville lighthouse standing watch on the lonely south coast is the last thing you see if you are headed to Borneo.
It takes around 4 days from Puerto Princesa to get there and back provided the weather is cooperating. If not you might be stranded down there for a couple of weeks.
You can catch a boat to Balabac from Riotuba on the southern end of Palawan Island. I opted to take along a motorbike. It costs 300 peso per person and an additional 300 for the bike.
It leaves around 2pm and arrives after dark in the town of Balabac on the north side of the island. There are rooms available above the Sing and Swing karoke house for 200 peso per nite. All rooms come with mosquito nets.
South of Nara and Quezon on Palawan it is considered to be a high risk area for malaria and dengue.
My friends boatman was down with malaria at the time so one of the other guys filled in and brought me to the southern end.
Some people told me that it was possible to drive to Agutayan on the south side but others suggested that the trip would take 7 hours provided the road was not too deep with mud, in which case it would not be possible. I opted to go by boat.
I wanted to get down to the lightouse for no other reason than to look across the Straights of Balabac to Borneo.
This area is filled with small time and big time smugglers and the occasional pirate vessel so it makes for an interesting adventure.
I was closely interegated by the Philippine naval intelligence and was supposed to meet with Lieutenant Carenza in the morning but chose to head out of town instead.
It was a bizarre encounter because he and his men surrounded me as I emerged from the cr behind the Sing and Swing Karaoke lounge.
They were convinced that I was on a recon mission and wanted to coordinate efforts with my office.
It sounds a little weird but this area is the back door to the Philippines so navy intel, army intel, and the PNP keep information on everything going on in this part of the world.
I didn't want to have my travels restricted nor did I want to start a file on myself that would follow me indefinately in the Philippine.
I like traveling between Indonesia and the Philippines by boat and prefer not to be on any "watch" list.
Balabac island itself is mountainous, in contrast to most of the other islands in the area which are flat and loaded with coconut trees.
The jungle is thick and lush and has pilandok roaming about. These tiny deer are not easily seen because they are hunted diligently and stay out of sight. They are said to be delicious.
Quite a few of the residents speak Malay and enjoy conversing with you in that language. For the most part the locals are leery of strangers because a lot of shady operators do business here and people don't want to get involved with things that don't concern them. It is simply a matter of survival.
It takes 2 hours by fast boat to get to the south side of the island. There are a some dangerous reefs down there that have claimed a number of ships.
Some day this area might open up to dive operators but at this time it is not feasible.
The old Melville lighthouse has been retired and a solar powered model has taken up the guard.
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