The honest summary: Puerto Princesa has no gay bar, no gay club, no gay sauna and no cruising scene. What it has is a relaxed, tolerant provincial capital, one bar that gay guides still point to (Tiki on Rizal Avenue), a city anti-discrimination ordinance since 2015, and a small but active local LGBTQ+ community. Most visitors are here for the Underground River and Honda Bay, and the city treats that tourism as its main business. Come for the nature and the food, expect a mixed night out rather than a gay one, and do your partying in Manila or Cebu.
Legal in one line: same-sex relations are legal in the Philippines, but there is no same-sex marriage or civil union and no national anti-discrimination law; the SOGIE Equality Bill is still stuck in Congress and was left out of the July 2026 State of the Nation Address. Puerto Princesa itself passed City Ordinance No. 657 on 1 June 2015, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and sets penalties. Palawan province has no equivalent ordinance.
Where people actually go
Rizal Avenue is the city's main strip, running from the airport area west towards the bay, and it is where most restaurants and bars are. Tiki Resto Bar on Rizal Avenue in San Miguel is the one place TravelGay lists for the city, as "gay-popular". It used to be an explicitly gay bar; today the crowd is mixed, with many local gay men on Friday and Saturday nights, according to the same listing. It is a bar-restaurant with music, not a club, and it is the closest thing the city has to a gay night out.
Beyond Tiki, gay locals go wherever their friends go: KTV (karaoke) bars, comedy bars and the restaurants along Rizal Avenue. That's normal in provincial Philippine cities and doesn't mean there is a hidden scene you're missing. Nomadic Boys and EveryQueer both say Palawan has no specific gay venues and point to Tiki at most.
What isn't here
There are no gay saunas in Puerto Princesa. W Spa and Sauna on the North Highway in Tiniguiban is a Korean-style family spa with separate male and female sauna rooms; massage spas such as Hilom, Amacan and Spa Navi are ordinary wellness businesses. The nearest gay saunas are in Metro Manila. We also found no documented cruising area in the city on any cruising site or forum, and we don't list one.
Gone but still Googled
Older listings, including earlier versions of this site, described several Puerto Princesa businesses as gay bars or gay saunas without any evidence: B-Club at Robinsons Place, Sip and Savour, Rockafellas, Before and After Club (an after-hours electronic club above Chez Rose on B.M. Road), Lafftrip Comedy Bar, and the Spa Navi, Mulan's, Hilom and Amacan massage spas. We couldn't find a single outside source calling any of them gay, so we have removed those labels. Some are perfectly good places for a drink or a massage; they're just not gay venues.
Community, health and Pride
Balangaw LGBTQ+ Association of Puerto Princesa was founded in June 2018 with support from the city government; balangaw is the Cuyonon word for rainbow, and the group counted 207 members at its launch (Outrage Magazine). Tandikan Puerto Princesa Inc. is an LGBTQIA-led HIV-prevention non-profit that works with Roots of Health on testing. Local press credits the two groups with the city's Pride Month activities each June, including a 2024 trans-health session billed as the city's first.
We couldn't find a dated Pride march for 2024, 2025 or 2026, so we're not promising one. If you're in town in June, ask Balangaw or Tandikan on Facebook what is planned. Older community traditions include the Queen of Queens LGBT pageant, which ran for years and was covered by Palawan Daily News in 2018.
For a free, confidential HIV test, the City Health Office's Social Hygiene Clinic tests Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Roots of Health also runs sexual-health services in the city.
Safety
Puerto Princesa is generally easy-going, and same-sex couples are unlikely to get more than curious looks in tourist areas. It isn't perfect: in June 2026 a foreign man allegedly shouted anti-LGBTQ slurs at a trans woman in a city bar, and the story went viral after she hit him with a chair (Interaksyon, 3 July 2026). Many locals online sided with her. Apply the usual precautions with dating-app meetups: meet first in a public place and tell someone where you're going.
Where to stay
The city has plenty of mainstream hotels that are comfortable with same-sex couples, and none we found is gay-owned. Rizal Avenue and the Bancao-Bancao and San Miguel barangays put you near restaurants and Tiki; the North Road around San Manuel is near Robinsons Place mall; San Pedro and Canigaran are quieter. Our hotels page lists nine, from Canvas Boutique Hotel and Hue Hotels on the North Road to Princesa Garden Island Resort and The Funny Lion.
Puerto Princesa International Airport (PPS) is only 3 to 4 km from the centre, about 10 to 20 minutes by tricycle; a ride to the Rizal Avenue or Bancao-Bancao area was around PHP 50 in 2025, so agree the fare before you get in. Tricycles and jeepneys cover the city. The Underground River at Sabang is roughly 80 to 90 km away, 1 to 2 hours by van and then about 20 minutes by boat; book the permit through a licensed agency or your hotel. Honda Bay's islands are a short boat ride from the wharf north of the city. El Nido and Port Barton are reached by van along the same northern highway.
A few words
Salamat po means thank you (polite). Magkano po? means how much? Bakla is the common Filipino word for a gay man or effeminate man, used both affectionately and as an insult depending on tone; beki is the friendlier slang. Balangaw, as in the association, is Cuyonon for rainbow.
At a glance
Gay bars: none dedicated; Tiki Resto Bar is gay-popular. Gay saunas: none. Cruising: none documented. Pride: June Pride Month activities by Balangaw and Tandikan; no dated march confirmed. Local law: City Ordinance No. 657 (2015) bans SOGI discrimination. Airport: PPS, 3 to 4 km from the centre. Population: 316,384 (2024 census). Best for: nature trips, food and a quiet base before El Nido.
Last verified: October 2026.
常見問題
大致上是的。同性關係合法,且 Puerto Princesa 有自己的反歧視條例(2015年第657號市法令)。在觀光區,同性伴侶很少受到超過好奇的目光注視。情況並非完美無缺:2026年6月,據報一名外籍男子在市內一家酒吧對一名跨性別女性高喊恐同言論,許多當地人在網路上聲援她。使用交友軟體相約見面時,請採取一般性的預防措施。
No. Rizal Avenue 是餐廳與酒吧聚集的主要街道,而深受男同志喜愛的 Tiki Resto Bar 就位於此處的 Barangay San Miguel。多數遊客會選擇住在 Rizal Avenue、Bancao-Bancao 或 Robinsons Place 附近的北區道路一帶。
目前沒有專屬於男同志的酒吧、夜店或男同志三溫暖。TravelGay 將位於 Rizal Avenue 的 Tiki Resto Bar 列為深受男同志喜愛的場所,每週五與週六晚上當地男同志顧客最為踴躍。W Spa and Sauna 等水療中心則屬於主流大眾型(W Spa 設有獨立的男性與女性三溫暖區)。最近的男同志三溫暖位於大馬尼拉地區。
我們沒有找到由同志經營的飯店。Canvas Boutique Hotel、Hue Hotels and Resorts、Princesa Garden Island Resort 以及 The Funny Lion 等主流飯店,都是同性伴侶舒適的選擇;我們的飯店頁面列出了九家。
六月是驕傲月,當地媒體將該市的驕傲活動歸功於 Balangaw LGBTQ+ Association 和 Tandikan Puerto Princesa。我們無法確認 2026 年有確定日期的驕傲遊行,因此在規劃行程前,請先在 Facebook 上向這些團體詢問。