Is the Puerto Princesa city tour worth ₱750?
It is a ₱750 (~$13) half-day of C-tier sights whose whole is slightly bigger than its parts, and three of the seven stops carry it. The crocodile farm, Binuatan Creations and Plaza Cuartel are the substance. Baker's Hill and Mitra's Ranch are drive-by kitsch. Local joiners run ₱600–900 for 3 to 4 hours; Klook sells it at $15.60 with 10,000+ bookings at 4.4★ from 1,001 reviews. If your time here is tight, take a tricycle to Plaza Cuartel and the Baywalk for under ₱200 and skip the van entirely.
A van, seven stops and a lot of car park
The city tour is not a walking tour of a historic centre, because there isn't one. It is a loop of scattered sites you would otherwise pay a tricycle ₱1,000 to reach.
The standard product is a 3 to 4 hour van joiner, usually running either a morning slot or roughly 13:00 to 17:00, at ₱600–900 a head booked locally. The Poor Traveler's canonical figure is ₱750. Klook lists it at $15.60 and Viator between $15 and $35. Hotel pickup is normal.
The loop is almost identical whoever you book: Plaza Cuartel → Immaculate Conception Cathedral → Baywalk drive-by → Binuatan Creations → the crocodile farm → Mitra's Ranch → Baker's Hill. Some operators swap in the Butterfly Eco-Garden or the Palawan Heritage Center, and a few will add Iwahig prison on request. Ask before you book if a specific stop is why you are booking.
What the van is genuinely buying you is distance. The crocodile farm is 30 to 45 minutes south in Brgy. Irawan, Baker's Hill and Mitra's are up on the Santa Monica ridge, Binuatan is out in Employees Village, and Plaza Cuartel is at the western end of the grid. Doing all seven independently means ₱1,000–1,200 for a half-day tricycle charter, which is why the joiner exists at all.
Every stop on the loop, scored
This is the opinionated version. Three stops justify the fare, two are filler you would not miss, and one of them has a live animal-welfare problem you should know about before the van pulls in.
| Stop | Entry | Time there | The verdict in one line | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palawan Wildlife Rescue Center the crocodile farm, Brgy. Irawan | free–₱50 conflicting | 45–60 min | The only stop with real substance: DENR-run since 1987, breeding the critically endangered Philippine crocodile. Skip the baby-croc photo op | WORTH IT |
| Binuatan Creations Sta. Monica, Employees Village | free or token | 30–45 min | A working hand loom you are allowed to try. The one stop reviewers consistently call surprisingly good, and the answer to where to buy something real | WORTH IT |
| Plaza Cuartel and the cathedral Brgy. Liwanag, west end of the grid | free–₱20 unverified | 20–30 min | 139 American prisoners of war were burned alive here on 14 December 1944. The only real history on the loop, and it needs a guide who tells it properly | WORTH IT |
| Baker's Hill Sta. Monica ridge | free | 20–30 min | Buy the hopia at ₱50–120, ignore the cartoon statues. Reviewers in Dec 2023 and Mar 2026 describe the caged animals as kept in appalling conditions | DEPENDS |
| Mitra's Ranch next door to Baker's Hill | free | 15 min | A free hilltop view over Honda Bay and nothing else. Horseback ₱100. A 15-minute stop that some operators stretch to 40 | DEPENDS |
| Butterfly Eco-Garden swapped in by some operators | ₱60–150 conflicting | 45–60 min | A modest dome, a bearcat, and Palaw'an demonstrations that some visitors find dignified and others find uncomfortable. No pangolin, whatever you read | DEPENDS |
| Baywalk as a tour stop, in daylight | free | 10 min drive-by | Pointless before 17:00. It is dead by day and excellent after dark, so the tour shows you it at exactly the wrong hour | SKIP |
| Palawan Heritage Center Capitol complex, rarely on the standard loop | ₱50 an older ₱150 figure circulates | 30–45 min | Touch screens, dioramas and good local guides — but it opens Mon–Thu 09:30–16:00 only and closes Fri to Sun, which kills it for most weekend visitors | DEPENDS |
Entrance fees on this circuit are the least reliable numbers on this site. Where two sources disagree, both figures are printed above.
Nobody publishes these prices
Several entrance fees on the city-tour circuit are not published anywhere current — the crocodile farm (free in one source, about ₱40–50 in others), Plaza Cuartel, the Heritage Center and the Butterfly Garden all carry conflicting 2026 figures. Where that is the case this site gives the range and tells you to ask at the desk, rather than printing a number that will be wrong.
On a joiner tour this mostly does not matter, because entrance fees on the standard loop are either zero or bundled. It matters a great deal if you are doing it yourself: budget ₱300–400 a head in cash to cover whatever the desks actually charge on the day, and expect to be told a different number than the one you read online.
Two specific traps. The crocodile farm is listed as free by one source and at around ₱40–50 by several others — ask at the gate, not before. And the Palawan Heritage Center is closed Friday to Sunday, which no tour itinerary mentions because it is rarely on the loop in the first place.
Doing the good half yourself, by tricycle
If you only want the three stops that earn their place, a chartered tricycle beats the van. If you want all seven, it does not — the charter rate is ₱1,000–1,200 for a half day and that is before any entrance fee.
The two genuinely good things on the loop — the massacre site with the cathedral beside it, and the Baywalk at the hour it is actually alive — plus dinner. Without the food it is under ₱200. You miss the crocodile farm and Binuatan, both of which are too far out to reach for that money.
Seven stops in an air-conditioned van with hotel pickup, 3 to 4 hours, a guide who tells the massacre story, and the two stops you cannot practically reach yourself. Klook's version is $15.60 at 4.4★ from 1,001 reviews and 10,000+ bookings.
Compare city toursVerdict. If you have half a day spare, take the van — ₱750 for four hours and seven stops is not a bad rate anywhere. If you have three hours before a flight, do Plaza Cuartel and the Baywalk yourself for under ₱200 and you will have seen the two best things on the itinerary.
Is it for you?
The practical bit
Where to book the half day
Local operators and hotel desks sell this at ₱600–900. Platform prices sit at roughly the same level, so book on whichever one shows you the actual stop list before you pay.
City tour questions, answered
Is the Puerto Princesa city tour worth it?
It depends on how much time you have. At ₱600–900 for 3 to 4 hours it is fair value for a spare afternoon, and Klook's version has 10,000+ bookings at 4.4★ from 1,001 reviews. But only three of the seven stops earn their place, and if you have under four hours you should do two of them yourself for under ₱200.
How much is the city tour in Puerto Princesa?
₱600–900 (~$10–16) per person booked locally, with The Poor Traveler quoting ₱750. Klook sells it at $15.60 and Viator between $15 and $35. Chartering a tricycle to do it yourself costs ₱1,000–1,200 for the half day, which only makes sense split between three or four people.
What stops are on the Puerto Princesa city tour?
The standard loop is Plaza Cuartel, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, a Baywalk drive-by, Binuatan Creations, the crocodile farm, Mitra's Ranch and Baker's Hill — seven stops in 3 to 4 hours. Some operators swap in the Butterfly Eco-Garden or the Palawan Heritage Center.
Which city tour stops are worth it?
The crocodile farm, Binuatan Creations and Plaza Cuartel. That is the substance. Baker's Hill is worth ₱50–120 of hopia and no more, Mitra's Ranch is a 15-minute free viewpoint, and the Baywalk drive-by is worthless because the Baywalk only works after 17:00.
Can you do the Puerto Princesa city tour yourself?
Partly. Plaza Cuartel, the cathedral and the Baywalk are all in the same western pocket and cost under ₱200 by tricycle. The crocodile farm is 30–45 minutes south and Binuatan is out in Employees Village, so reaching those independently means a ₱1,000–1,200 half-day charter.
How long does the city tour take?
Three to four hours including hotel pickup and drop-off, usually as a morning slot or roughly 13:00 to 17:00. A realistic chunk of that is driving — the crocodile farm alone is 30 to 45 minutes each way from the centre.
Is the crocodile farm entrance included in the city tour?
Usually, but the underlying fee is genuinely unclear: one source says free and several say around ₱40–50, and no 2026 figure is published. Carry ₱300–400 in cash across the loop and expect at least one desk to charge something your itinerary did not mention.