Ask me what’s the finest white sand beach I ever saw and hands down I will say aloud- Panampangan Island, off the coast of Tawi-Tawi. Panampangan Island White Beach is actually part of the Municipality of Sapa-Sapa, Tawi-Tawi. Some also call this the “virgin beach” because only a few go here. We are 10 in the boat and 9 on us are first-timers. See, how lucky I was thinking that all of them are locals of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu.
Tawi-Tawi’s Finest White Beach- Panampangan Island
I believe I’m the first travel blogger who was able to checked this island out, if I’m not the first one, please let me know. I was trying to google this island and only text results are available plus some small photos from Flickr.
One of the police escorts that we have, we actually have 3 policemen with us in the boat
Going to this island white beach is not that hard. In fact, its just an hour and 15 minutes away from Bongao town. I think if you are renting a boat, it would cost you Php2,500-3,000. Don’t forget to coordinate with the local police for escorts. Although its very peaceful in Tawi-Tawi, having a police escort is very much recommended.
Yeah for off-the-beaten-path travelers!
Spell PARADISE: P.A.N.A.M.B.A.N.G.A.N. I.S.L.A.N.D. This is the first time I ever walked on white beach that my feet sinks because of the fineness of the sand. Really, really amazing! I believe Tawi-Tawi has lots of these kind of beaches too, but for now let me call this the finest white beach Tawi-Tawi has to offer (meaning I will be back to explore some more). Come, tag along with me next time!
The northwestern tip of the island
I was lucky enough when I was in Tawi-Tawi because I went here for FREE. Ohh yeah, I just taggeed along Sir George, a businessman in Tawi-Tawi who is having a picnic and fishing trip in Panampangan beach through the help of Col. Rodelio Jocson, the Provincial Police Director of Tawi-Tawi. Thanks Rhye for connecting me to Col. Jocson. See, I’m may not be rich in material possessions but I’m sooo rich with friends.
Sir George on white shirt and BM Renil brown longsleeves
Anyway, the picnic trip was filled with laughters, food and booze. The gang was having all kinds of jokes, cowboy din. I was really blessed to have joined this trip with big time people in Tawi-Tawi, among them is Board Member Renil Samsuya. So I feel a big time narin! 🙂
JourneyingJames set foot on Panampangan Island during Day 76 of #ISANGDAAN Journey (April 16, 2012)
This is what I want to emphasize in traveling, you don’t need to be rich to experience the beautiful places in the Philippines, you just need to be ‘out there’ always ready should opportunity knocks. 🙂
I also met the 2 caretakers of the island, the brothers Han Malah and Abdul Samad Malah.
Han Malah and Abdul Samad Malah
Where is Panampangan Island on the map?
The encircled island- that’s Panampangan in Tawi-Tawi, Philippines
Note: The photos are intended to have that white matte effect so as not to be used without any written permission. Please respect copyright. Thanks
___ ___ ___
I visited Panampangan Island during Day 76 of my ISANGDAAN Journey. Thank you so much Sir George and Col. Jocson for letting me join the excursion to this paradise. After this we even visited the Oldest Mosque in the Philippines- Masjid Sheik Makdum in Simunul.
#ISANGDAAN is a personal journey and challenge to backpack around the Philippines the cheapest way possible for 100 days.
If you want real time updates, you can check my facebook page: www.facebook.com/journeyingjames or follow me on twitter: @journeyingjames
If you want to follow my steps, I have an interactive map- ISANGDAAN Journey map.
3 words, awesome, beautiful, astig-ness..uhm another word, kakainggit!!!!
Tsk. Napakaganda!
Wow! Beautiful 🙂 Mas gusto ko talaga mga places na di masyadong commercialized. Kaso mahal naman if we went there on our own. I might plan a trip for me and my friends, parang mas gusto ko dito kesa sa Boracay
agree! maganda pumunta dito barkada, its safe naman. oo naman, walang sinabi boracay dito.
Hot off the press, ngayon lng to ah. Congrats for a wonderful find, if we’re in the 13th-15th century natalo mo na si Magellan and Columbus. Blinding white sand indeed! #wowTawiTawi
yep, natulog lang ako tapos publish na.
haha sa magellan comment mo pre. #WOWTAWITAWI talaga!
Panalo talaga ang “100 Days of Backpacking the Phillippines- The Cheapest Way Possible” mo, Sir James. I wish I could check this place out too in the future.
Kudos!
yes sir, astig talaga. didnt know that it will be like this.
i hope you really do
Lupit mo James!
haha! mas malupit kayo sir, 2 kayo ngttravel e
A paradise, indeed. I love to go to the beaches na ganito. Not very commercialized but pretty amazing!
i know you will find more beaches like that. go elal! or pwede ka sumama next time pagbalik ko
If my recall serves me right, there’s an island in Tawi-Tawi they called Turtle Island because it serves as the breeding place for sea turtles. pansin ko lang, mostly ng mga beaches in southern part of the Philippines is white and very fine sand. can I tag along the next time you visit Tawi-Tawi? 🙂
yes, there is and im planning to visit that next time i go to tawi-tawi. why not? ipon na lauvee!
Hi, pwede po ba maki-join pag pupunta kayong Turtle Island? 🙂 pwede ko po ba makuha contact detaiLs nyo?
PS, seryoso po ako.
yes, why not? but i still dont know if i will be in tawi-tawi anytime soon
Hi!! im goin to explore the tawi2 this october 6-9 if u want u can join me, solo lang ako, heres my number 09174149867
Nice, ang swerte mo naman bro. Ang ganda ng lugar na yan at parang masayang kasama ang mga bigating kasama mo. ^_^
yes, they are really good host. very very down-to-earth sila
This is an amazing find. Mindanao has a lot of promises.
indeed!i really love mindanao!
Nice! I fell in love with Tawi-Tawi the first time I saw an aerial picture of its white beaches online. I wonder if it’s safe for female travelers though? Sayang ang potential tourism in the area.
yes it is safe for females too! next trip i will tag along females so as to encourage more girl travelers
wow james the place is so amazing.. let me know when you will come back there!! 🙂
yes, i will announce on the blog or facebook page, keep posted
Spell PARADISE: P.A.N.A.M.B.A.N.G.A.N. I.S.L.A.N.D I Love it! Exactly the way it is !! :))
can i say more? haha speechless
Wow!Indeed a paradise James!Will include it on my list 😀
ohhh yeah! it SHOULD be on your list
Wow! I was so amazed that there’s such place like this in the country. It’s really a satisfaction to discover and visit each island of our own archipelago 🙂
Kindly visit also my photoblog
Adobo Photoshop
and there’s more to discover and explore. thanks for dropping by biboy
Tama ka bai..Mahihiya ang Boracay dito. The best!!!!
eeeeew ang baracay! haha joke, boracay is boracay but the truth is panampangan beats them all
i would love to tag along..chos!
why not?! tara
tara!
Sweet post mate. Love the photos too!
Your journey to travel around all those islands sounds incredible. I’m envious of you mate. I’m stuck here in rainy old Europe dreaming of the kind of paradise you’re waking up to on a daily basis.
thanks will! haha, indeed im waking on a different paradise every single day for 79 days now.
Hi James! pki post nalang lhat ng pic sa fb ksi a lot of my shots are blurd due to the water proof case of the camera. thanks
yes bosing! i will post and tag you.
ohmann! kuy, nice one here! amazing. thousand of things to marvel about the Philippines, gusto ko na umuwi.
yes kit! when you get back here, lets visit tawi-tawi and go to your dream destination- turtle island
galing james! =) swerte naman they escorted you.
congrats!
thanks chyng! ako pa! hahaha
i was reading your tawi-tawi post a week ago and was thinking of that when i was here, i found it! haha
travel like a boss lol. XD
yep, like a VIP! haha thanks to sir george talaga
Ganda nga! Wow! Wanna go there soon! 😀
soon? go na mica!
At naunahan mo tlaga ako. hehehe..
The rumor is indeed true.. Pano na kya ung iba??
Hmmm…. hahahaha
Hope makasabay ka nmin the next tym na bumalik
kami jan… Feeling ko kc you need to stay a year jan
and own a speedboat to see everything in Tawi-tawi. LOL!
Ms. Medina “the master” wasn’t wrong to include the place to her
top 10 list. (* v ^)
ako pa! hahaha thanks again rhye, if not for your help, di ko rin narating yan.
tara, lets go back to tawi-tawi!
Ang ganda! Sana mapanatili ang kagandahan niya para ma-enjoy ng marami!
yep, konti lang kasi nagpupunta
Wow! This is such a beautiful place. Maybe the next time that you explore Tawi-Tawi, I can tag along. 🙂 I have a list of places here in the Philippines that I want to go to, but the farthest that I listed is Northern Mindanao. But thanks to your posts, mas naappreciate ko iyong ibang parts of Mindanao na hindi naman pala ganoon kagulo compared to how they are portrayed by media. 🙂
Great job, James, in this “Isang Daan” Project. Nakakainspire ka mag-travel 🙂
sure thing! yes, it is a very beautiful place, its just sad that most medis demonize the place and say things that are second-hand informations
Amazingly Gorgeous! sana makapuntin din ako dito. 🙂
sabi ko sayo eh, dapat sumama ka 🙂 gorgeous talga!
So nice!!! james lapit na matapos 100 days challenge mo! see yah!
yep, lapit na nga.
The waters are just unbelievable! To be so clear even so far from the land
yep, as we are just approaching the island, the color of the sea was unbelievable, green, blue, seagreen, dark blue, bluish white, it was a display of blue. just awesome!
Ito yong sinabi mo james na talagang white sand at finest pa. :-). Timing talaga. Di kelangan na may malaking baon ka para ka makarating dito.
timing lang talaga sir. salamat sa mga contacts natin
unexploited area,less people visited = More beautiful!
ang ganda!
pwede magsnorkeling jan sir!
yep, pwedeng pwede. maganda din daw mag dive ken
*envy*
ASTIG! james ask ko lang, kung pupunta kami dto as a group like 4 or six persons, magkano ang gagastusin kasama na yong police escorts? ormay iba pa bang beach and other attractions sa Tawi2x maliban dito? thanks james!
Php3000/boat. police escorts are free, just request from the police dept. bud bongao is a tourist attraction too. you can visit the tourist dept in bongao, tawi-tawi too.
Definitely one of Philippines’ finest beach!!! Unfortunately, my friends do not have enough sense of adventure to go with me there so i guess i’ll just tag along with u journeyingjames when u go back to Tawi-tawi, if that’s ok with u. 🙂
sure thing gail! although, i dont know when ako balik
Hi…there…what a beautiful island,,i just wanna ask if there any possible to make this island famous in South East Asia..?as for your information i met some of the family MANULON here that the owner of the island. They said if got any investor they want to publish this island to the world
Pwede kaya makitira don ng 1 month?ala survivor……
why not! but it would be better if you go around the islands
hi james! i’ll be on a solo trip to tawi-tawi, sulu, and basilan this coming aug 21-26. i’ll be reading more of your blog as i continue my research. you, ms gael, and ms chyng reyes inspired me to go to these often misunderstood places. thanks:-)
and if i do finish coming up with an itinerary, i hope i could share it to you and ask for your suggestions. thanks 🙂
I’ve been there. Thanks for promoting our nearby island.. every May we used to go there for the celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph.. but now no more since am here in Jolo to pursue my studies. I hope you can go to Mapun as well. Maganda din po dun… 7hrs. away from Taganak if u would ride by boat.
you’re such an inspiration to me…someday, i want to explore the Philippines and the world to see God’s great workmanship.
God bless your humble endeavor and passion! 🙂
this post brought me to panampangan. thanks alot james. 🙂
glad you were able to visit that island too. grabe noh, super ganda!
sobra! the best indeed!
I am a foreigner from South Florida, USA, and I have been traveling to the Philippines every year for three weeks for the past 9 years. Every time I come to the Phil, I explore it’s outer islands. I first visited Tawi-Tawi in Nov 2010, this place is amazing, like going to a new frontier. I didn’t get a chance to visit the surrounding islands because it wasn’t recommended then. However I can’t wait to revisit Tawi-Tawi and explore further based on your story. Thanks dude…EARL P.S. Another place of interest is Tarzans Beach Resort, Dagohoy, Hinatuan Island, Dapa, Siargao…Not to be consfused with Surigao…to different places.
PANAMPANGAN ISLAND
I stayed here for almost a year(1996-97)MANULON CLAN/ISMAEL
super ang ganda even walang electricity we used solar charging.Sagana ang lamang dagat Jan fishes to shell..gz3m
Marami ring turista ang pumupunta Jan,,