Living in Puerto Princesa: A Neighborhood Guide for Families, Retirees, and OFWs
Picture a weekday morning in Puerto Princesa.
The air is cool and clean, the drive to school takes minutes instead of an hour, and before your first cup of coffee, you’ve already picked up fresh pandesal from the corner bakery and caught up with your suki at the market.
On your way home, you pass a community garden where a neighbor is gathering the day’s harvest.
Come the weekend, the same city that handles your groceries, check-ups, and errands opens up into islands, rivers, and forests most people only see on postcards.
If you grew up here, you already know this rhythm.
If you’re reading this from Manila or anywhere in the world, this guide is for you. It’s a look at what everyday life in Puerto Princesa actually feels like, and why more families are choosing to put down roots in the “City in the Forest”
It’s also an introduction to La Marchea, a farm-integrated community in Barangay Sicsican where homes sit beside shared gardens and a farmers’ marketplace.
Maybe you’re picturing a home where your kids can grow up outdoors, a quiet place to retire, or even a property that earns for you while you work abroad. Whatever brought you here, we’ll walk you through it, including how to make a home here yours even if you’ve never set foot in Palawan.
A City That Grew Up Without Losing Its Soul
For years, Puerto Princesa was best known to the rest of the country as the gateway to Palawan’s famous beaches and natural wonders. But those who live here have always known it as more than a stopover, and now the rest of the country is catching on.
The city has quietly become one of the most livable places in the Philippines, a place where you can have the convenience of a modern city without giving up fresh air, open space, and a slower, kinder pace of life.
Moving here doesn’t mean going off the grid but rather, trading traffic, noise, and long commutes for a life that has room to breathe.
Why People from Manila Are Making the Move
If you live in Metro Manila, you know the trade-offs by heart. Hours lost in traffic every week. A condo unit where the kids have no room to run. Weekends spent in malls because there’s nowhere else to go.
In Puerto Princesa, with the same budget, you can go further. Instead of a studio or one-bedroom condo, you can own a townhouse with two bedrooms, a parking space of your own, and a garden community right outside your door.
Your daily commute shrinks from hours to minutes. Your weekends trade crowded malls for islands, rivers, and forests. And with many jobs now remote or hybrid, more professionals are realizing they don’t have to live in Manila to work for a Manila company.
Closer Than You Think
For many people outside Palawan, the first question is simple: how hard is it to get there? Well, to tell you frankly, it’s not that hard at all.
Puerto Princesa is a short direct flight from Manila, and the city’s expanded international airport can now welcome up to 2 million passengers a year, making it Palawan’s main hub for both domestic and international flights. Coming from abroad, most OFWs simply connect through Manila, so getting home is usually one easy transfer.
On the ground, getting around keeps getting easier.
New bypass roads are easing downtown congestion and cutting travel times, so the quick trips that make up daily life, like school drop-offs, market runs, and work commutes, stay quick. The ongoing port expansion, which includes a dedicated berth for international cruise ships, is also bringing more tourism and trade into the city, a good sign for anyone thinking about long-term property value or rental income.
A home is more than where you live.
For any buyers, especially those working abroad, it’s also one of the biggest investments they’ll ever make. Puerto Princesa offers both: a place that feels good to come home to and a local economy with room to grow.
Tourism remains the city’s heartbeat. Every day, travelers arrive for eco-tours, island-hopping, and a glimpse of Palawan’s famous landscapes, which keeps demand high for hospitality and short-term rentals.
For an OFW or an investor, that can mean a home that earns while you’re away, then becomes yours to enjoy when you’re ready to come back for good.
The city’s workforce is changing too. A growing number of IT-BPO hubs and expanding local businesses are drawing in younger professionals, many of them Palaweños coming home and newcomers choosing the province over Manila.
As a result, the housing market is moving away from traditional subdivisions.
Buyers now want gated communities, master-planned estates, and self-sustaining neighborhoods where daily life is designed around them.
La Marchea in Barangay Sicsican answers this shift as a pioneering agrihood, where modern homes sit alongside community gardens and a farmers’ marketplace.
Puerto Princesa has always protected its greenery.
The city is investing in water security through the upcoming Sta. Lucia Water Impounding Project and lighting its streets with solar power.
A new wave of mindful real estate developers is following that lead. Instead of flattening hills and clearing trees, these builders are designing spaces that respect and integrate with the local ecology.
Kaluha Realty and Development Corp. is bringing this approach to life through the agrihood concept. At La Marchea, the community follows the land’s natural contours, and the greenery stays part of everyday life. You can walk out your door into edible landscapes, picking herbs for dinner from a shared garden, or unwinding on a slow evening stroll through a therapeutic garden path. Farm-to-table isn’t a restaurant trend here, it’s how your neighborhood eats.
Because the city and its developers share this commitment, the natural wonders that draw visitors from around the world stay close to home. Your weekends could look like this:
On a Saturday, you pack the kids into the car for a day trip to the Puerto Princesa Underground River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gliding by boat through a cave most people only see in travel documentaries. Another weekend, you charter a boat for Honda Bay island hopping, snorkeling over clear water and having lunch on a sandbar. When the grandparents visit from abroad, you take them on an evening river cruise for Iwahig firefly watching. The kids get to learn more about animals at the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center, and the thrill-seekers in the family climb and zip-line at Ugong Rock. On quiet Sunday afternoons, there’s always a stroll through historic Plaza Cuartel followed by sunset at the City Baywalk.
If you’re moving from Manila or abroad, one question matters more than any view: Are all the daily necessities close by? In Puerto Princesa, the answer is yes.
Schools and Universities
You won’t need to send your children away to Manila for a good education. The city is home to respected institutions that produce professionals in marine sciences, agriculture, engineering, nursing, and the arts. Palawan State University is located just a short distance from the city center, with Western Philippines University and Holy Trinity University providing additional excellent choices, giving your kids room to grow from grade school to graduation without leaving home.
Hospitals and Healthcare
For families with young children, retirees, and OFWs whose parents live in the house, access to good healthcare is essential. Most of the city’s major hospitals are clustered around Barangay San Pedro and offer everything from routine check-ups and wellness programs to round-the-clock emergency care. Adventist Hospital Palawan is easily accessible, with ACE Medical Center Palawan and Puerto Princesa City Hospital also nearby. It’s reassuring to know, especially when you’re thousands of miles away, that your loved ones are close to help when they need it.
Shopping Centers and Commercial Hubs
Life in an agrihood doesn’t mean giving up the mall. On weekdays, your fresh produce comes from the community marketplace. On weekends, you can catch a movie, meet friends for dinner, or shop for school supplies at Robinsons Place Palawan, just a quick trip away. SM City Puerto Princesa and NCCC Mall Palawan offer even more choices for groceries, dining, and big shopping days.
The Practical Side of Everyday Living
If you’ve never lived in Puerto Princesa, you probably have a few practical questions. Here’s what to expect:
Internet
Fiber internet is available in the city, so video calls with family abroad, online classes, and remote work are all part of normal life.
Water and power
The city is actively strengthening its water supply through the Sta. Lucia Water Impounding Project.
Cost of living
Day-to-day expenses like fresh produce, transportation, and household help generally cost less than in Metro Manila, which helps a monthly budget or an OFW’s remittance go further.
As the city expands, finding a neighborhood that captures the true “City in the Forest” vibe is essential.
That is exactly what La Marchea in Barangay Sicsican offers.
Brought to life by Kaluha Realty and Development Corp, this community was designed with everyday living in mind. It shifts the focus from merely building houses to creating a space where life genuinely feels better.
Inspired by the Palawan Hornbill, a local bird symbolizing community and harmony with nature, La Marchea brings a farm-integrated lifestyle right to your doorstep. It sits tucked along Purok Anonang Dimalanta Road. This location offers a quiet sanctuary surrounded by landscapes while remaining incredibly connected to the city’s essential hubs.
If you’re not familiar with the area, Sicsican is a growing residential barangay north of the city center, away from downtown traffic but still a short drive from schools, hospitals, malls, and the airport
While La Marchea provides a peaceful, nature-centric lifestyle, daily conveniences are never out of reach. Educational institutions like Palawan State University are just a few minutes away, only 3.7 kilometers from the property. Healthcare and major retail centers are equally accessible. Adventist Hospital Palawan is located just 7.5 kilometers from the property, ensuring quick access to medical care and wellness programs. For weekend errands, dining, and leisure, you can easily take a short drive to Robinsons Place Palawan, which is 9.5 kilometers away.
Frequent flyers and professionals will appreciate that Puerto Princesa International Airport is only an 11-kilometer drive, making regional and international travel easy.
If you are ready to stop compromising between city convenience and nature, schedule a consultation today.
Live in the Agrihood
La Marchea reimagines modern living by weaving sustainability and agriculture directly into your daily routine.
Instead of a typical grocery run, the on-site Marketplace cuts out the middleman, letting you grab your daily produce straight from the hands of the Palawan farmers who grew it.
If the broader neighborhood is built around appreciating nature, the Bahay Kubo Garden is where you actively participate in it. It takes the farm-to-table concept and makes it a daily habit. Instead of just buying organic, you actually get to cultivate it. It is a dedicated communal area where neighbors can trade planting tips, get their hands dirty, and experience the satisfaction of growing their own sustainable food
For quiet moments of reflection, the Herbal Botanika Space offers a fragrant, therapeutic garden perfect for relaxing strolls and unwinding.
True to its closed-loop design, the property features a centralized Sewage Treatment Plant alongside an expansive detention pond that doubles as a tranquil aquatic environment.
For buyers, this also means peace of mind. The detention pond helps manage heavy rain and drainage, and the shared gardens and marketplace are maintained as part of the community
This intention behind mindful living carries straight into the homes.
While the pre-selling community offers mindfully designed spaces for every life stage, Townhouse 67 stands out as the ultimate sweet spot for a beautifully balanced family life.
Curious how close you are to holding the keys to a setup like this? Request a sample computation today to get a clear look at the numbers.
Townhouse 67
Sitting on a 67-square-meter lot with 82 square meters of constructed space, this home is meticulously planned to maximize comfort.
It features two well-appointed bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and an additional powder room for guests.
Beyond the private quarters, the layout ensures highly functional living spaces with dedicated areas for a modern kitchen and a comfortable dining setup, perfectly designed for preparing and enjoying the fresh, organic produce gathered directly from the community’s Marketplace and Bahay Kubo Garden.
It also comes with a dedicated personal parking space, offering a completely practical and welcoming home environment that accommodates the daily rhythms of modern family life.
It is hard to find a place that embraces progress while keeping its natural beauty completely intact, but Puerto Princesa does exactly that. No matter what stage of life you are in, it offers a living experience that is simply hard to replicate.
The fresh air, the easy connections with neighbors, and the quiet comfort of coming home are what truly make La Marchea special.
Taking the next step is easy:
- Request a sample computation to see your monthly payments and down payment options.
- Book a virtual tour to see the community and Townhouse 67 from wherever you are.
- Schedule a site visit or consultation if you’re in Palawan, or ask a family member to visit on your behalf.
Take the next step toward owning your piece of Palawan’s farm-integrated community today.
