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If you believe the travel agent cliches, Palawan is the Philippine's last frontier. For once it's almost true. Tourism has yet to penetrate this long, sword-shaped island to the southwest of Luzon, and travellers willing to take the rough with the smooth will find a Jurassic landscape of coves, beaches, lagoons and razor-sharp limestone cliffs that rise from crystal clear water. Nature is making its last stand in Palawan, with government officials in the provincial capital, Puerto Princesa , declaring war on litterers, loggers and dynamite fishermen. Even in the less populated areas - of which there are many - the battle for the environment is on. Palawan is made up of 1780 islands and islets, most of which have irregular coastlines that make excellent harbours. Thick forests covering these steeply sloped mountains assure adequate watersheds for rivers and streams. Many of the islands are surrounded by a coral shelf that acts as an enormous feeding ground and nursery for marine life. It is sometimes said that Palawan's Tubbataha Reef is so ecologically important that if it dies, the Philippines will also die. The area's history can be traced back 22,000 years, as confirmed by the discovery of caveman remains in Quezon, southwest Palawan. Anthropologists believe these early inhabitants came from Borneo across a land bridge that connected the two. There are several stories regarding the origin of the name Palawan. Some contend that it was derived from the Chinese words "pa lao yu" meaning "Land of the Beautiful Harbours". Popular belief, however, is that "Palawan" is a corrupted form of the Spanish word "Paragua", because the main island is shaped like a closed umbrella. A typical journey through Palawan might take you from Puerto Princesa, north to Honda Bay and the Underground River , then onwards up the coast to Port Barton , Taytay and El Nido . From El Nido you can take a ferry north to Busuanga (Coron) and from there you can fly or take a ferry back to Manila. The southern half of Palawan, from Puerto Princesa downwards, is relatively unexplored. The main gateway to Palawan is the airport at Puerto Princesa, but it's by no means the only way to get there. WG&A and Negros Navigation both sail regularly between Manila and Puerto Princesa, while small airlines such as Pacific Air, Golden Passage and Seair fly to Busuanga in northern Palawan, from where you can island-hop across to the main island and on down the coast to the provincial capital and beyond. Seair has a particularly good network of flights from Manila to Palawan and within Palawan itself. Its Let410 aircraft fly two or three times a day to Busuanga. From Busuanga the plane continues to El Nido, Sandoval and finally Puerto Princesa. There are also a limited number of non-stop Seair flights from Manila to Sandoval.
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