Baker's Hill and Mitra's Ranch: 30 minutes, tops
Buy the hopia, look at the bay from next door, and get back in the van. Baker's Hill is a bakery that grew into a kitsch theme garden — life-size cartoon statues, a small animal collection, a viewdeck, a playground — with free entry and hours of 07:00 to 20:00. The actual reason to go is the hopia at ₱50–120, the best pasalubong in the city. It rates 4.0/5 from 982 reviews, and the rising complaint in that record is animal welfare: reviewers in December 2023 and March 2026 describe the caged animals as kept in appalling conditions. Mitra's Ranch next door is free and is a 15-minute view stop, nothing more.
A bakery that got away from itself
One reviewer called it a theme park and food stalls rolled into one, in May 2025, and that is the fairest description anyone has managed.
It started as a bakery on the Sta. Monica ridge and it is still, underneath, a bakery. Around it has grown a free-entry garden of life-size cartoon statues, a playground, a viewdeck, restaurants, souvenir stalls and a small animal collection. Entry costs nothing, it opens 07:00 to 20:00, and on any weekend it is full of Filipino families rather than foreigners, which is the nicest thing about it.
The thing worth your money is the hopia — flaky mung-bean pastry, ₱50–120 a pack — and the crinkles. This is the best pasalubong in the city by consensus, it travels, and it is the correct answer to what to take home from Puerto Princesa if the answer is not a woven bag from Binuatan. Buy more than you think you need; everyone regrets buying one pack.
Everything else is filler. The statues are photogenic in a specific way and genuinely fun for children under about eight. Reviewers in June 2023 described the facilities as somewhat neglected and very hot with no shade, and that is still a fair warning for the middle of the day. Thirty minutes is the right allocation.
The caged animals
This is the fastest-growing criticism in the review record and it is specific, repeated and recent.
A reviewer in December 2023 described appalling conditions for the caged animals. A reviewer in March 2026 wrote that the animals were placed in jails, like prisoners. Those are two independent reviews more than two years apart saying the same thing about the same enclosures, which is the pattern that makes a complaint worth printing rather than a one-off bad day.
This is a private commercial garden with a small animal collection, not a conservation facility, and it should not be confused with the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center, which is DENR-run, has been breeding the critically endangered Philippine crocodile since 1987, and is a serious operation with its own welfare questions of a different kind.
The practical response: you can visit Baker's Hill, buy the hopia at the bakery counter and leave without going near the animal section at all. If you are on a city tour that stops here, nothing obliges you to walk the whole garden.
Fifteen free minutes for the best view in the city
Next door, free, and worth exactly one thing: the panorama over Honda Bay from the Santa Monica ridge.
Mitra's Ranch is the hilltop estate of the late senator Ramon Mitra, and the point is the view. From the ridge you look out over Honda Bay and the islands you will either visit or have already visited, and on a clear morning it is the best free thing in the city that does not involve the sea. Entry is free.
There is horseback riding at ₱100 and, sometimes, a small zipline — whether that zipline is operating in 2026 is unverified, so do not build an afternoon on it. If ziplines are the point of your day, the 800 m Sabang X Zipline at ₱550–750 and the Ugong Rock descent are the real ones.
Fifteen minutes. It is a viewpoint with a car park, and some tour operators stretch it to forty because the schedule needs padding. If yours does, that is a sign to take the city tour verdict seriously.
The two stops, side by side
They are adjacent, both free, and almost always visited together on the same 45-minute leg of the city loop.
| Stop | Entry | Time | The reason to stop | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baker's Hill bakery counter hopia and crinkles | free entry | 10 min | The best pasalubong in the city at ₱50–120 a pack. This is the entire case for the stop | WORTH IT |
| Mitra's Ranch viewdeck Santa Monica ridge | free | 15 min | The Honda Bay panorama. Free, en route, and better than anything the garden next door offers | WORTH IT |
| Baker's Hill gardens and statues cartoon figures, playground, viewdeck | free | 20 min | Fun for children under eight. Reviewers in June 2023 called the facilities neglected and very hot with no shade | DEPENDS |
| Horseback riding at Mitra's on the ridge | ₱100 | 10 min | Cheap, brief, and mostly a photograph. Fine with children, pointless without them | DEPENDS |
| The Mitra's zipline sometimes operating | unverified | — | Reported as sometimes running and unconfirmed for 2026. Do not plan around it — Sabang X at ₱550–750 is the real zipline | SKIP |
| The Baker's Hill animal section caged collection | free | — | Reviewers in Dec 2023 and Mar 2026 describe appalling conditions. You can buy the hopia and never walk past it | SKIP |
Review records: Baker's Hill at 4.0/5 from 982 reviews and Mitra's Ranch.
The practical bit
What to actually take home from this city
Baker's Hill wins the food category outright. It does not win the souvenir category, and the difference is worth two hundred pesos.
Hopia and crinkles from the Baker's Hill counter, ₱50–120, are the food answer and they travel in hand luggage. Add cashews and dried mangoes from any supermarket rather than an airport stall, where the same packet costs half as much.
For anything that is not edible, go to Binuatan Creations instead. It is a working hand-loom workshop weaving native grass and fibre into bags, placemats and blinds, made on the premises by the people you can watch making them. The prices are higher than a market stall and that is the point — this is the anti-fake-souvenir stop, and it is on the same tour loop.
Puerto Princesa's single-use plastics ban has been enforced with fines since 16 April 2024 — bags, cups, straws, cutlery, stirrers and styrofoam, ₱1,000 rising to ₱5,000 and loss of business permit. Nobody will hand you a plastic bag. Bring a tote and a refillable bottle; the tap water is not drinkable but refill stations are everywhere.
Almost nobody comes here independently
The Santa Monica ridge is a ₱600–1,200 half-day tricycle charter from the tourist strip, which is a great deal of money for 45 minutes of hopia and a view. Both stops are on the standard city loop.
Baker's Hill questions, answered
Is Baker's Hill worth visiting?
For 30 minutes and the hopia at ₱50–120 a pack, yes. Entry is free and it opens 07:00 to 20:00. It rates 4.0/5 from 982 TripAdvisor reviews, with praise going to the bakery and complaints going to the caged animals and the lack of shade.
How much does Baker's Hill cost?
Entry is free. You pay only for what you buy — hopia and crinkles at ₱50–120 a pack, plus the restaurants and stalls inside. Mitra's Ranch next door is also free, with horseback riding at ₱100.
What are the Baker's Hill opening hours?
07:00 to 20:00. That makes it one of the few stops in this city that works early or late, so if your city tour cannot fit it, a tricycle up the ridge before breakfast or after dinner is possible.
Is there an animal welfare problem at Baker's Hill?
Reviewers say so, repeatedly. A December 2023 reviewer described appalling conditions for the caged animals and a March 2026 reviewer wrote that they were placed in jails, like prisoners. You can buy the hopia at the counter and skip that part of the garden entirely.
Is Mitra's Ranch worth it?
For 15 free minutes, yes. The Honda Bay panorama from the Santa Monica ridge is the point and there is nothing else. Horseback riding costs ₱100 and a small zipline is sometimes reported as operating, which we could not verify for 2026.
What is the best pasalubong from Puerto Princesa?
Hopia from Baker's Hill at ₱50–120 a pack, which is the consensus answer and travels well. For something that is not food, buy hand-woven work at Binuatan Creations in Sta. Monica, made on site by the weavers you can watch.
How do you get to Baker's Hill?
It is on the Santa Monica ridge on the northern edge of the city, and almost everyone arrives on the ₱600–900 half-day city tour. Independently it means chartering a tricycle at ₱600–1,200 for the half day, which is a lot for a 45-minute stop.