⚠️ Warning: Balabac Tours ⚠️
The islands are beautiful – but this tour operator (@balabacofficial and @backpacker_balabac) is an absolute disaster. If you really want to enjoy Balabac (the southernmost part of Palawan, Philippines), you should urgently find another provider!
This island-hopping tour in Balabac was a complete disaster – chaotic organization, false promises, and a miserable execution. If you're looking for an idyllic, untouched island experience, you'll only be disappointed.
❌ Deceptive Advertising – "Remote Virgin Island"? What a joke!
They claim the island is peaceful, remote, and idyllic – in reality, a loud generator runs all night, and bright lights shine everywhere. There's no peace or nature experience to be found.
They promise "no mass tourism" – in reality, there were many boats and multiple tour groups. When we asked the organizer, they said: "Well, there are no hotels here, so it's not mass tourism." Ridiculous.
❌ Tent Accommodations? A complete scam!
The ads show private tents in nature – in reality, it was a massive tent pile-up, worse than a music festival. Every tent was packed next to the other, with no space in between.
Some people even had to share a tent with strangers because the organization was so terrible.
Privacy? Zero.
❌ Poor Organization & No Contact Person
While other groups had a responsible guide, we were completely abandoned. No information, no plan, nobody knew:
When is food coming? – Answer: "In 30 minutes" → Actually, it was always 30 minutes to 2 hours late.
What's next on the itinerary? – No idea.
When can we check into our accommodation? – Unclear. Many had to wait for hours, not knowing where they would sleep.
❌ Nightmare Accommodation – The worst experience:
Waited three hours for a tent, which was then set up in the wind and rain – unusable.
Instead of the booked accommodation, we got a half-collapsed storage shack.
Inside? Two sun lounger mats, a bedsheet covered in lizard poop, and two wild cats.
Our luggage was left out in the rain, just like everyone else's.
❌ Dangerous Weather Conditions – Tour should have been canceled
The forecast already predicted bad weather: heavy rain, strong winds, lightning, and high waves.
Swimming was impossible, and island-hopping became extremely dangerous.
Several passengers were scared, some feared for their lives.
Yet, the tour was not canceled – because the operator didn't want to lose money. Money Safety.
❌ Almost the entire group wanted to quit after just half a day & get a refund – but that didn't happen!
We were promised a refund if we wanted to leave early – a lie!
Everyone still had to pay a high price, even though we just wanted to get out.
The tour was extremely expensive by Philippine standards – for the same price, we could have stayed in a nice hotel with working bathrooms, a real bed, good food, and better day trips to the same islands.
What’s even worse: Other tour operators canceled their trips because of bad weather – but this one pushed through, just to avoid financial loss. They should have either canceled the tour or at least allowed guests to cancel for free.
❌ Not just us – even locals are complaining!
After the tour, I met a Filipina who had the exact same experience.
She had visited Balabac three years ago and had an amazing time.
Now, she was shocked by the terrible service and even felt ashamed as a Filipina for what had become of it.
She will also file an...
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