This place has been on my childhood travel list and proud to say, this is the first place we flew to, another achievement it is. Palawan is such a beauty, my country’s lucky to have it, but there’s this one place in it that truly got my interest since I was a kid. Now, let us guide you to one of my dream places here in Philippines, “Kaja, let’s go to El Nido!”
We spent almost 3 days in El Nido then went to Puerto Princesa, you may refer to our previous post for our itinerary. I’m so in love with this place that I even chose it than the famous Puerto Princesa Underground River thus explains why we spent our vacay here longer though we’re still planning to visit the famous river in the future too. El Nido holds it’s unique beauty from the serene beaches, islands, limestone formations, lagoons, caves,..name it and this place have it, nature at it’s best! If Vietnam has it’s Hao Long Bay, then Philippines is proud to have El Nido 🙂
Location
Situated in Bacuit Bay, El Nido, covering a land area of 465.1 square kilometres (179.6 sq mi) in the northernmost tip of mainland Palawan. According to CNNGo, it is the Best Beach and Island destination in the Philippines for its “extraordinary natural splendor and ecosystem.” It is composed of 45 islands and islets, each has its own unique geological formations.
Getting there (Commuting):
Cheapest way of going to El Nido is travelling from Puerto Princesa to El Nido by land all thanks to the van transports. Though the travel time’s longer, it’s almost half the airfare if you are to take a chartered plane directly to El Nido. Book your flight to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, it’s a 1 hr. & 15 mins. travel time from Manila then ride a van directly to El Nido, travel time is 5-6 hrs. May we refer you to our previous post for the commuters guide, Eulen Joy Express is our recommended van transport. The land travel has 2-3 stopovers, Roxas and Taytay, from this town is where the bumpy drive starts haha. The roads on this town can be unforgiving especially if it’s raining, all thanks to government’s corruption hehe..don’t worry there are on going road repair works though.
Accommodation
El Nido has lots of accommodations, most of it are located in it’s town ranging from cheap to pricey. If you’re ok with night life, busy streets then staying in town’s for you, plus factor here is that you’re also near to restaurants & shops. But if you’re like us who are loners haha, then you should stay at Barangay Corong Corong. This place will come first before the town, it’s 5-10 mins. ride from the market & town so it’s not bad at all. Most of beach front resorts are found in Corong Corong in short privacy & quiet stay is here 🙂
it’s like your second home at el nido!
Telesfora Beach Cottages got our attention out of all the accommodations we inquired with via email and text, they’re the lucky one and now we’re going to spread our good words about them, good service is rewarded. After researching, this place won our interest, all thanks to the owner Ate Rosario “Chat” Jaboli‘s quick replies in our email & text inquiries, plus her patience in our many questions we asked her haha. Our agreed room was the standard non beach front room Php 800 but due to heavy rains who welcomed us in our 1:30 am arrival she got us a beach front cottage worth Php 1,500. The next day, we are supposed to transfer to the agreed Php 800 room but we chose to stay because it’s hassle for us to transfer, plus the cottage is spacious for 2 persons, it’s comfy & damn beach front haha. Ate Chat is kind and easy to transact with, she agreed to give the worth Php 1,500 room down to Php 1,000 for our 2 days stay, it’s a steal!
beach front cottage
We recommend Telesfora as your El Nido accommodation, why? Small yet homey place..sweet guard dog “Golden”..clean & comfy rooms..free breakfast & you can ask them to cook lunch/dinner for free..good customer service..friendly staff..they have their own island hopping tour and tricycle service..owners not taking advantage of guests..reasonable rates that you can even haggle 🙂
Island Hopping Tour A & B
Our plan is to avail private island combination tour with Northern Hope, but the agreed Php 3,000 price doubled when we’re at El Nido. Neriza said due to bad weather they can only allow big boats to do the tours thus explains the price increase. Of course we didn’t accept her offer, we thought of availing public island tours but for us lone travelers, we know we won’t enjoy it hehe. And so we asked Ate Chat if she can provide us a private tour, she charged us Php 3,000 all in.
Our tour guide’s name is Anthony (forgot his last name) his father is a cousin of Ate Chat’s spouse so he’s like the resort’s tie up guide for private tours. Before posting our island itineraries, we just like to share good words to Anthony and the boat captain for being our trusty guardians. We owe our lives to them during the big waves, strong winds & raining on the tour. We follow their directions over enjoyment, if they say we can’t go this place because of this & that, it’s fine with us, we just follow them..like what they say to us your safety is our priority. We started the tour at 9:00am then went back 2:30pm from an unforgettable sail through the strong rain and wind that we thought we’re gonna be “Castaway” already haha 🙂
Pinagbuyutan Island
It started raining when we are approaching this island, then on our arrival..voila..sun is up though still cloudy. Small island with pure white sand, clear water fit for snorkeling, all of it’s area is perfect for photos, it’s across the famous Helicopter Island.
The owner has it’s own house here, how we wish we own an island like him too.
This island is also known enchanted due to it’s towering limestone walls.
Cudugnon Cave
Our second stop should be Cathedral Cave but captain said there are big waves & it’s raining there so we opted here instead. Small island with smal limestone walls and shore, water here is not so recommended for snorkeling though.
One must crawl through a hole to enter the main cavern. This in turn leads to a smaller cavern which is believed by archeologists to be a burial site during the Neolithic period. This stop is wow, feels like we’re transported to Sumaguing Cave in Sagada.
Sun’s shining up and so we decided to take our early lunch as well, cottage rental is Php 100. We’re taking advantage of the good weather that’s why we’re putting all in a rush by that time. We had another steal here by the way, the local fisherman sold us lobsters for Php 300 a kilo / 4 pieces, we saved it for our dinner hehe.
Snake Island
We must say we spent longer time on this stop, probably we’re captured by the view deck’s surprise.
It’s also called Vigan Island, located near Pangulasian Island, but it’s famously called as “Snake Island” because of a fine natural sandspit (s-shaped sandbar). Again, an island with picturesque area everywhere 🙂
After Snake Island, this is the part where clouds are starting to appear again, the winds are getting stronger.
Help me on this, forgot the island’s name 🙂
This is the quickest stop on the tour we’ve made, we didn’t the get island’s name and we just did few photo ops. It’s crowded with tourists having lunch so we chose to just leave and proceed to the lagoons.
We skipped Big Lagoon as what the guide & captain suggested since there’s a chance that we might get slammed to the limestone rocks due to strong waves.
Small Lagoon
The tour’s portion that literally made us say “Wow!” and then speechless moments because we can’t help but admire it’s serene beauty.
entrance to small lagoon
Reached through a crack between rocks, the small lagoon is enclosed by towering marble walls.
The guide won’t let us wander alone and said he’ll just row the kayak for us, advised us to still wear life vests because water’s around 10 feet deep. We enjoyed it soooo much, it’s our first time to ride a kayak too hahaha, and so a photo op of course 🙂 If I’m not wearing aqua shoes, I couldn’t imagine what kind of injury I’ve sustained. On the hidden portion of lagoon, our guide stopped the kayak so me and Dear can exchange seats since he wanted to sit in front. I stood and went out of the kayak then I slipped on a slimy big rock, good thing I managed my balance and didn’t get any wounds or injuries.
Don’t miss the “private” pool in the innermost part of the lagoon. If you’re a good swimmer then go ahead and take a plunge!
Seven Commandos Beach
After 1 hour sailing through the big waves, we are now on our last stop of the tour. This is where we spent our free time left..beach bumming..swimming and snorkeling. My first time to snorkel with a clear vision, yep I wore contact lenses, I too like to live dangerously haha.
it’s getting cloudy again..hehe
This island was named after the 7 commandos who lived in the island, their names printed on the rocks at the island but cannot be found anymore. Some said they died because of the serious malaria outbreak in Palawan. Island is ideal for picnics due to it’s wide & slightly sloped shore, sunset viewing here is recommended too. We think there’s a resort in this island and they even put fence, off limits sign by the shore, so there’s just a limited space for tourists to wander.
We can’t see the other islands anymore since they’re all covered in clouds and it’s a sign for us to leave 7 Commandos. While we’re sailing few meters away from the island, here comes the strong wind and it rained so hard, we’re both holding tightly to the boat and we’re freaking cold. There’s this point where the boat was about to hit the limestone wall in our left side, it’s one shaky and bumpy sail we could tell. I was even thinking what if this boat will go upside down, though we have life vests, I’m scared and I can’t swim well plus our personal stuff will disappear with this sea, we don’t wanna be like Tom Hanks in Castaway hahaha. I tried to stay calm and kept looking at Dear, the guides, and our surroundings, I think we both prayed hehe then a few minutes, thank God we made it safely to the shores of Corong Corong. That will be included on our unforgettable experiences we had, scary awesome it was! We freshen up, watched the rain haha, did some chitchats with Telesfora’s owners and had those huge lobsters for dinner then dozed off.
Our 3rd day in El Nido is our free time, we chose not to avail of the inland tour meaning we skipped Nacpan beach hehe. We don’t want to risk ourselves again in a bad weather, we just simply want to spend the rest of the day by resting.
We went to El Nido town c/o Telesfora’s tricycle service to buy souvenirs then rode a public tricycle going back, it’s a Php 20 fare, also took some photos of the town.
souvenir shopping
dogs everywhere
Of course we wouldn’t leave El Nido without experiencing the “low tide walk” of Bacuit Bay in Corong Corong shores. We were easily amazed with that low tide effect haha.
crabs went hiding.. coral revealed
Visiting El Nido truly is one of our travel achievements, it will be included on those places that we’ll surely do a return trip. Everything here is just too good to be true, feels like you’re in an entirely different place. If we can win the lottery, we’d love to buy our own island, set up resorts, and make a beach front mansion in El Nido 🙂 Truly, this place have captivated our wanderer hearts.
We’ll keep on coming back for more, El Nido! Soon!
Budget/Expenses
- Transportation (tricycles,vans) – Php 2,270.00
- Accommodation – Php 2,000.00
- Tour – Php 3,000.00 plus Php 200.00 tip *optional
- Food & Pasalubong – Php 2,400
Total Budget/Expenses: Php 9,870 On our next trip here, we’ll definitely bring food and snacks. We’ll also take advantage of the cheap seafood and fish treats that those local fisherman sells in some island we’ve been to.
And so the El Nido travel blog is done, hope it triggered your itchy feet and excite you to visit this such pristine province. What’s next? Watch out for our Puerto Princesa side trip post. Please rate and thank you! 🙂
Kaja let's go! 