Imagine pristine white sand beaches, enchanting lagoons, karsts Limestone Mountains, water so clear it’s like glass, unexplored coves, spectacular archipelago, and a sunset that makes you believe fairytales are real!
This is El Nido. El Nido is the ultimate beach paradise in central Palawan in the Philippines. It is a little slice of heaven before all the commercialization. It’s a small town comprised of a few blocks of restaurants, shops , hostels, scuba schools, and tour companies all along Bacuit Bay. It doesn’t get much better!
How to Get There:
The best way is to fly into Puerto Princessa, although, they are currently in the process of making the El Nido airport bigger (currently it only allows charter planes and it costs an arm and a leg!). So for now, flying to Puerto Princessa is your best bet!
When you land, take a shuttle bus or the Roro bus to El Nido.
There are about 3 shuttle services at the Airport that will take you straight to El Nido.
-Travel time: 5.5- 6 Hours
-Fare: About 800 Ph ($25 USD) for a shuttle van but if you can haggle you can get it for cheaper. The Roro bus is about 400 Ph ($9 USD) and leaves on an hourly schedule.
-Passengers: the shuttles usually fit about 12 people and the busses are quite large!
Things to Do:
Fishing
Go fishing! We can not emphasis how amazing fishing was in El Nido. The marine life is out of this world and have the best seafood (surprise surprise!). So why not go fishing and cook your own dinner to perfection?
Most tour companies offer fishing early morning during the sunrise and it is so expensive, but we wanted something different. We took the initiative to make our own fishing tour in the afternoon for half the price while watching the sunset!
We got our own charter boat, fishing gear, guide, grilling equipment, rice and veg for the fish, and our own private island to cook the fish on. We caught so many fish- kept the ones we could eat and threw back the ones we couldn’t. Don’t be afraid to go for what you want!
They will help you out to make the best out of your tour. Fishing in El Nido is such an incredible experience and highly recommended to do while you are there!
Island Tours:
Did you know the Philippines is made up of more than 7,000 islands? You can get a taste of Island hoping in El Nido!
El Nido has four island tours to see the surrounding islands of El Nido. All tours visit different islands, so choose wisely (or do a combo pack, or hell, all of them if you have the time!). All tours include transportation, snorkel gear, life jacket, and lunch (and a damn good one!).
-Tour A- Secret Lagoon, Shimizo Islands, Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, and 7 Commandos Beach for 1,200 PH
-Tour B- Entalula Island, Pinagbuytan Island, Snake Island, Cudugnon and Cave for 1,300 PH
-Tour C- Hidden Beach, Helicopter Island, Secret beach, Matihloc Shrine, Star Beach for 1,400 PH
-Tour D- Bukai Island, Ipil Beach, Nat Nat Beach, Cadlau Lagoon, and paradise Beach for 1,200 pH
We did tour A and were told that Tour A and C are the most popular, while D was the least. We ended up seeing heaps of islands from tour B and C while we kayaked the previous day, so it was easy to make our decision! There is also a marine fee to help keep the archipelago clean and beautiful!
Kayak:
There is something absolutely wonderful from the freedom and calm you get in when kayaking out in the ocean. You aren’t far enough to be in any sort of danger, but far enough to adore the peace that surrounds you.
The islands, the Limestone Mountains, the unbelievably flat and glass like water is all breathtaking. Not to mention the insane arm work out you get!
We were mostly impressed by how flat the water was. When we stopped rowing and looked straight down, you were able to see the fish and coral at least 20 feet below you, it was insane!
We were able to kayak to a few of the islands mentioned above and it was really amazing because we were able to explore the empty islands before the tours were there! Rentals were 300 PH ($7) for the day for kayak and oars.
Motorbike:
The best way to explore places is to take a motorbike and go. El Nido is a small island but there are so many places to motorbike to! You can go to amazing view points to quite beach coves. Personal favorites to motorbike to are Nacpan or Bucaria beaches. It definitely gives you a big thrill!
Things to Know:
– It is a developing city, so there isn’t much electricity throughout the city. Electricity runs from 2pm to 2am. So that means breakfast can be a bit weird (like no coffee, or toast) unless they have their own generators, no fans during the hot humid night, and no charging of electricity during the night.
– Bring a power bank! Since there isn’t much electricity at night, charge your power bank during the day, and then use that to charge your other electronics at night!
– Again, developing city, which means there are no ATMs. The closest place to get money is in Puerto Princessa so it might be a touch out of the way to go allllll the way back there to get cash. Make sure you have enough for the time you are staying, and even bring a bit more just in case, that way you are prepared in case you miss a bus or love it so much you just don’t want to leave.
– Give everything a chance. El Nido is an island full of treasures and surprises, so even if it doesn’t look the best, it can totally surprise you. We were looking for a budget place to stay and an old lady asked if we wanted to check her place out. This house was covered with tarp, there was rubble everywhere, it was gross and dingy, but when we went upstairs we found the nicest room yet, all to ourselves, with a TV, mosquito net, and the most spectacular beach view! It was incredible!
– Always haggle. You are a tourist in this city so prices will be raised higher. If you truly want something, make sure you negotiate a fair price for both you and the provider. It really isn’t as bad here as we saw in most places though!
– GO NOW!! This city is a gem in the Philippines but we know it will only get bigger and better, which yes, means more tourists. The best part of El Nido was feeling like you were immersed in the local culture and the quite! Filipino food and fresh seafood, no electronic distractions, magnificent scenery, and the nicest people make El Nido a go-to place.
