A paradise destination for discovering the most beautiful beaches
El Nido is definitely my favorite destination in the Philippines! El Nido is located on the northern tip of Palawan Island. During the various boat trips you will find yourself in beautiful surroundings with the most beautiful beaches. It is of course not without reason that Robinson's expedition was recorded for many years in the Bacuit archipelago (off the coast of El Nido). Time to go island hopping in this breathtaking destination! Enjoy the clear blue waters, lagoons and beautiful limestone cliffs. This destination reminded me a bit of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam (only in a more tropical guise).
Boat trips El Nido
In El Nido there are four standardized tours that are offered almost everywhere: A to D. It is also possible to do the highlights of several tours on a day tour. For example, I did a boat tour with the highlights of tour B to D and then another boat tour for route A. During these tours you visit really beautiful locations, you can enjoy snorkeling and enjoy a great lunch with lots of fish in beautiful beaches! A real must in El Nido. You can easily visit the tours upon arrival in El Nido at one of the many tourist offices or through your hotel/hostel. It is also possible to dive and explore the underwater world. Kayaking trips are also popular, where you can go out and discover beautiful islands yourself.
Nacpan beach
A nice alternative is to stay on the much quieter Nacpan Beach. This is a much quieter beach than the tourist resort of El Nido. It really is a beautiful long beach with a beautiful white beach and countless palm trees. I even stayed here for four days! I stayed at the popular Mad Monkey hostel and had some really fun beach parties. Eand highly recommended! Make sure you have enough cash with you, because the ATMs often do not work properly around Nacpan Beach. El Nido is approximately 17 kilometers away, so you can best reach Nacpan Beach via a tricycle, your own rented scooter or a minivan. The roads are unpaved and bumpy, especially during the rainy season. Be prepared for this!
How to get to El Nido?
Get rid of itSiquijor?Then first take a ferry from Siquijor to Damguete City on Engros Island. This takes about two hours. DaaThen you can take a taxi or tricycle to the airport for a domestic flight to Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island. Count on an hour of flight time. Finally, you take a shuttle bus from Puerto Princesa to El Nido, which takes about six hours. As you can read, this is quite a journey! That's why I spent a night in Puerto Princesa. Puerto Princesa is not a special destination, but it is possible to visit a prison here. TheIwahig prison has no walls, but despite this, a prisoner almost never 'escapes'. The area around the prison is enormous and the prisoners work and live together in a kind of large village. As a tourist you can walk around here and have a chat with the prisoners. These prisoners have often first served part of their sentence in a closed prison in the Philippines, after which they can now serve the rest of their sentence in more freedom. However, as a Western girl I did not dare to visit this prison alone, so I immediately drove to El Nido!
Get rid of itBohol? Then take the ferry back to Cebu City. From here you fly to Puerto Princesa in Palawan. The flight takes about an hour. From Puerto Princesa you take a six-hour shuttle bus to El Nido.
Stay overnight
El Nido has many beautiful luxury resorts and beautiful hotels. Something for everyone. Prices here are higher than in the rest of the Philippines. It is a very unique experienceDryft Darocotan Island, on an island located in the north of El Nido (45 minutes in a minivan and 15 minutes by boat). It is a beautiful resort near El NidoCadlao Resort. It is the nicest hostel in El NidoFrendz Hostel!
Are you staying at Nacpan beach? For the party loversMad Monkey Hostel the place to be! It is also very nice to stay hereNacpan Beach Glamping, for a very luxurious glamping experience.
Continue your journey
Continue your journey with a great oneexpedition to Coron, probably the last destination in the Philippines! Four days with a very nice crew and fellow travelers on a boat where you sleep on uninhabited islands. A truly unique experience! At night you see an enormous amount of stars, because you are far from civilization. You sleep in very cute primitive huts and eat delicious fresh food every day!
