Philippines ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ญ - El Nido

ยท 9 min read
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Tips ๐Ÿ‘

  • El Nido town is small but not that small, also very touristic packed with bars and European folks.
  • Everything within the town is do-able by walking distance and all services are available (ATMs, pharmacy...)
  • Easy to rent a scooter on the same day.
  • Easy to book scuba or boat tour the day before.
  • The town is the most practical spot to stay on the island.
  • Bring some cash during boat tour to pay for extra and buy some fresh beer to sellers in kayaks
  • You don't need to pre-book airport transfer, super easy to get/leave from the airport in tricycle for about 200 PHP (fixed prices)

๐Ÿ  Accommodation

We stayed at The Funny Lion and it was amazing. Definitely on the high-end side which is reflected in the price, but super practical with great facilities.

The staff is super kind and the hotel is located a pinch out of the town which is perfect for avoiding late night noise but still only 5 min by walk (although close to a busy road). Breakfast is also fantastic (go egg station) and they provide complimentary clean beach towels.

If you're not on a budget, that's the place to stay on El Nido!

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๐Ÿšฒ Getting there

We flew directly (1h30) from Cebu using AirSwift and didn't had any problems. Upon arrival it's actually super easy to get from the airport to the town via tricycle in about 10 minutes for around 300 PHP (fixed prices). Our hotel initially offered us a transfer option for more than a thousand, so tricycle all the way!

โฑ Duration

We stayed 4 nights and felt that was the good amount. As always there's always more things to do and see, but if you're well organised that's a good duration on this lovely spot.

โŒ Miss

Taraw Cliff is the tall cliff overlooking El Nido town. Due to its sharpness, it's strongly recommended to go with a guide. We searched all over town and online, but it was impossible to find a guide last minute willing to bring us. We also read that due to some accident few years back, the climb is not allowed anymore. It's possible instead to do the Via Ferrata but it's not very high so we don't think it worth it for the view. Let us know if you managed to find a guide!

Boat tour ๐Ÿšค

After an afternoon arrival at the hotel, we went for a walk in town in search of an agency to book a boat tour. As you might have read already online, there's four different boat tours offered in El Nido (A, B, C, D). They all differ slightly in terms of highlights but are in the same format. We went with Tour A since it's covering the most scenic spots, although folks recommended A & B or C & D. Price-wise all the agency in town are just re-selling tickets from boat operators so the agency matters little. We negotiated a private tour for 1200PHP per person (could have done better but too tired to hustle) at the super small agency next door of Palawan Divers. Tour was all-inclusive, with food & snorkelling gear.

We met the next day at 8AM in front of the agency, tried out fins on the beach (they tried to charge us again for the fee, Barbara's strong no made it free), and left the pier at 8:20AM.

We reached the big lagoon our first stop 30 minutes later. We paid an extra 300 PHP to rent a kayak to access the lagoon where we navigated around for about an hour. Super scenic spot with dramatic cliffs views and shallow waters.

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We then made another 20 minutes of boat to arrive at the secret lagoon, accessible only from a little cute beach by passing in a small cave. Note that it's not always accessible based on the tide, and it's quite small and packed.

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We then did another 20 minutes or so of boat and reached the snorkelling spot, pretty place but not many fishes to watch, before heading to a nearby beach for having an ok-lunch on the sand. Bought a couple of fresh lager to the funny sellers in kayak for 100 PHP each, and took a nice food-coma nap.

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We then made our way back to town doing a last snorkelling and nap stop on a super cute beach on the way before reaching the city centre around 3PM, allowing us plenty of time to relax and book next day activities.

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