A little gratitude. A clear source.

The people, photography and research behind this invitation to Balabac.

Photography

Destination photography comes from the project’s existing research library. Unsplash photos are used under the Unsplash License; available source pages and original library files are linked below. Island-detail images illustrate the destination experience; a photograph is not a guarantee of a particular island’s present facilities or access.

The sandbar photograph in the people section is Pixabay photo 10340984 in the project library, used under the Pixabay Content License. The person is not identified as a particular resident, operator or Indigenous community member.

The example vans and drivers

The ride picker uses ten AI-generated photographs created for this prototype: five passenger vans and five fictional driver portraits. Names, vehicle details and driver profiles are illustrative. These images do not depict verified transport providers, and the picker does not make bookings.

The Locals: people, place and wildlife

The opening photograph, a seaweed harvest carried home at sunset, was shared with Taga-Balabac in September 2026. The person in it is not identified. The cultural feature uses GMA Public Affairs’ original Molbog film; the town film is by Wander Nonoy. Videos and their preview images are served by YouTube, with playback initiated by the visitor.

Photographs may be resized and cropped for the page layout. Adaptations of the pilandok photograph remain under CC BY-SA 4.0. The pilandok was photographed at Wrocław Zoo, and the cockatoos elsewhere in Palawan; these are species references. The Onok turtle photograph and Balabac pier photograph document their stated locations. The musical instruments were photographed in a Manila museum.

Community copy draws on the NCCA’s Molbog profile, GMA’s reporting on Molbog traditions, and the existing community research. Wildlife references include the Philippine mouse-deer species record and Katala Foundation’s conservation work.

Island stories

Old charts and maps are public domain. Wildlife photos are species portraits; most were taken elsewhere in Palawan, and the crocodile at the wildlife rescue center in Puerto Princesa. The photos on the sample tourist stories are credited below. They aren't those travelers' own photos. Photos may be cropped to fit the page, and adaptations of CC BY-SA photos stay under the same license.

Detail of an 1870 British Admiralty chart of the Balabac Strait, showing Balabac Island, its reefs and a compass rose. UK Hydrographic Office, Admiralty Chart 948, 1870 / Public domain
An 1870 British Admiralty chart of the Balabac Strait and the channels between Borneo and Palawan. UK Hydrographic Office, Admiralty Chart 948, 1870 / Public domain
A chart of Balabac and the east coast of Palawan, surveyed in 1753 and engraved in London in 1775. Antonio Faveau Quesada, 1753, published by Alexander Dalrymple, 1775 / Public domain, via the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Chart of the bay at Balabac town, surveyed by HMS Rifleman in 1868, marking the fort, naval station, infirmary and coal store. From A Pronouncing Gazetteer and Geographical Dictionary of the Philippine Islands, 1902 / Internet Archive Book Images, no known copyright restrictions
Cape Melville Lighthouse rising above the forest at the southern tip of Balabac Island. Joseph Emmanuel Magallanes / Unsplash
Old photograph of the Cape Melville Lighthouse and the low buildings at its base, soon after it was finished in 1892. Unknown photographer, 1892 / Public domain
A 1944 US Army Map Service sheet of the Balabac Strait, showing Balabac Island and the northern tip of Borneo. US Army Map Service, 1944 / Public domain
Bare orange slopes with concrete channels and stone steps at an abandoned mine site on Balabac Island. DarwinNaredo, 2020 / CC BY-SA 4.0
Bamboo musical instruments attributed to the Molbog, Sama and Maranao in a museum display. Gary Todd / CC0. Photographed at the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila
Map detail with the Molbog-speaking areas marked in blue at the southern tip of Palawan, on Balabac, and on the islands off northern Borneo. Kobokanaeru73 / CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped from a map of the Philippines
A bangka and its passengers stopped at a Balabac sandbar. Cris Tagupa / Unsplash
A saltwater crocodile resting on a wet concrete ledge, seen from above. Chuck Wilson / CC0, via iNaturalist. At the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center, Puerto Princesa, 2026
A white Philippine cockatoo with red feathers under its tail, feeding on a seed pod in a bare tree. gery-dupas / CC0, via iNaturalist. Palawan, 2019
A Philippine mouse-deer with slender legs and white throat markings standing on leaf litter. Klaus Rudloff / CC BY-SA 4.0. Species portrait photographed at Wrocław Zoo, Poland, 2014
A long-tailed macaque sitting on white sand with its long tail stretched out behind it. Chuck Wilson / CC0, via iNaturalist. Palawan, 2026
A Palawan bearded pig with a pale, bristly snout behind a wire fence. Yvette Tan / CC BY 2.0. Calauit, northern Palawan, 2012
Close-up of a Palawan water monitor's head, its dark scales flecked with pale yellow. Jay Paroline / CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist. Puerto Princesa, 2026
Palm fronds framing a white beach and clear water on the far side of Onok Island. Hanna Zapant / CC BY-SA 4.0
Sunset over a wooden pier and palm trees on Onok Island. Hanna Zapant / CC BY-SA 4.0
A swimmer sitting in pale, knee-deep water on a sandbar off Candaraman Island. Ervin Malicdem / CC BY-SA 4.0
Sunset over the Balabac Strait, seen from the bow of a boat. Ervin Malicdem / CC BY-SA 4.0
A painted welcome sign for Candaraman Starfish Island on a white beach. Vishe Artiztry / Pexels
A green-roofed beach cottage under palm trees on Candaraman Island. Vishe Artiztry / Pexels
A bangka silhouetted against an orange sunset in Balabac. Vishe Artiztry / Pexels
An old boat moored off a palm-lined white beach at Candaraman Island. DarwinNaredo / CC BY-SA 4.0
Aerial view of a bangka moored in turquoise water off a palm-lined beach on Sicsican Island. Marcreation / Unsplash
Aerial view of a coconut-lined Balabac coast above turquoise shallows. Cris Tagupa / Unsplash
Palm trees against a sunset over a Balabac beach. Cris Tagupa / Unsplash
Panorama of Patawan Island with a bangka in the shallows. Kris Guico / Unsplash
BRP Jose Andrada alongside the pier during the Balabac open-ship event in December 2022. Naval Forces West, Philippine Navy / Public domain

Island pages

The island pages show 149 YouTube videos and clips by the visitors and residents who made them. Each one is credited with its channel on the page, plays in YouTube's privacy-enhanced player, and stays on YouTube: we don't copy or re-host them. Posts on Facebook and other sites are links only. The island charts use OpenStreetMap coastlines, credited below. Photos not already credited under Island stories are listed here. Some are cropped from panoramas, and adaptations of CC BY-SA photos stay under the same license.

Onok: Half-underwater view of two sea turtles gliding over pale sand beneath a moored bangka hung with orange life vests at Onok. Eye1979 / CC BY 4.0. 2023
Candaraman: Tall shade trees over the sand at Candaraman Island, with beach huts and hammocks beneath them. Vishe Artiztry / Pexels
Sicsican: Looking straight down on Sicsican: palms, a strip of white sand, and a bangka over the reef where it drops into deep blue. Marcreation / Unsplash
Sicsican: Two tall palms on Sicsican's white beach, with two bangkas moored over the reef beyond. Marcreation / Unsplash
Patawan: Footprints across a curving white beach on Patawan, with clear turquoise shallows and distant islands under towering clouds. Ervin Malicdem (Schadow1) / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Mapillary, 2018. Cropped from a panorama
Patawan: Looking straight down on Patawan's shore: palms, pale sand and a bangka in turquoise water. Cris Tagupa / Unsplash
Bugsuk: A broad, rippled white sand flat at Punta Sebaring meeting pale shallow water, with a long treeline under heavy grey cloud. Ervin Malicdem (Schadow1) / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Mapillary, 2018. Cropped from a panorama
Mansalangan: The Mansalangan sandbar running out into turquoise water toward the forested island, edged with a line of washed-up seaweed. Ervin Malicdem (Schadow1) / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Mapillary, 2016. Cropped from a panorama
Balabac: Cape Melville Lighthouse rising out of the forest, with the blue Balabac Strait behind it. Joseph Emmanuel Magallanes / Unsplash

The moving ocean

The island mood film uses Pexels video 29954228. The turtle sequence uses Pexels video 34139432, with Pexels photo 37819341 as a still. These are atmospheric stock images, not footage documented as filmed in Balabac. Media is used under the Pexels License.

The island map

Coastlines © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0. The map contains 47 simplified coastal polygons from a regional OpenStreetMap query. Heights, shading and reef outlines are illustrative, not measured terrain or bathymetry. The explorer is not a navigation chart or a claim of access to any island.

Download the attributed coastline data

Travel and community research

Travel ideas draw on the project’s September 2026 research. Example budgets and itineraries are for planning inspiration, not current bookable offers. Confirm schedules, fees, entry permissions and sea conditions directly before travelling.

Read the sourced safety guide before planning a visit. The business directory includes clearly marked fictional sample listings while real owners are being onboarded.