Explore El Nido - The Filipino Rambler

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Friday, February 18, 2011

Explore El Nido

Thanks to the 'PISO-SALE' of Cebu Pacific Air last June 2010, we were able to book for Puerto Princesa for only P98 round trip! We scheduled our El Nido trip last Feb. 9-13, 2011.

El Nido is a protected area located in the northernmost part of Palawan mainland, Western Philippines. Its ecosystem contains 250 million year-old limestone cliffs, 888 species of fish, 447 species of coral, 114 species of bird, 5 species of marine turtle and 2,645 hectares of mangrove forest. source

It was a 6 hour ride from El Nido.We will touch down Puerto Princesa at 12.30pm so taking a bus or a van is a little impossible already since most of them are only available until 12nn. We rented a van for 10k roundtrip.

The last 2 hours to El Nido was really bumpy. It felt like traversing to a never ending rough road! We arrived at the town by 6.30pm where we've been greeted by a not-so-happy-welcome. Read the whole story here.

On my first morning at El Nido, I was greeted by this:


We had two days island hopping at El Nido. I'm so excited to see the magic of the island.

For Day 1, we chose Tour A
Destinations: Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Lunch at Payong-payong Island, Simizu, Secret Lagoon and Seven Commandos

Small lagoon, notice the small opening at the back..it's the entrance to the lagoon

Big Lagoon, yes there's a 'stage' at the middle.Our guides told us that weddings are held here..Isn't that amazing?

Payong-payong beach- we had lunch (and pictorial) here. It rained thus we had instant 'sinabawang porkchop at inihaw na isda!'


Snorkeling at Simizu-- finally a sanctuary of fishes!

Entrance to the Secret Lagoon

Inside Secret Lagoon

Day 2: Tour C- Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine/Island, Lunch at Talisay Island, Secret Beach and Helicopter Island.

The Hidden Beach- 'hidden' beyond great rock mountains, this is heaven!

The Matinloc Island- the most beautiful spot in El Nido. It's so beautiful, you'll run out of superlatives to describe this paradise!

Matinloc is a heart-shaped island. A shrine is erected here. During the past years, people gather at the island to celebrate Mass during the 'fiesta'. Our guides told us they volunteered in constructing the shrine. 

The small entrance to the Secret Beach- bringing a camera inside will be a lil impossible unless it's an underwater camera (of course!) I have to say I got scared entering because it was wavy that time and banging your head on the rock is possible.=))

Beach bumming at Helicopter Island

I marveled at the sight of El Nido. No doubt, our country is truly blessed with natural wonders. Foreigners abound in the place. In fact during the time that we were there, I think there are only 5 groups of us Pinoys there- like 90% are foreign visitors!

My jaw dropped at the great rock cliffs formation, turquoise- green waters and the many unspoilt beaches. The great rocks are a wonder as it opens to hidden or secret havens! The place is also eccentric- it has no electricity during 6am-2pm, there are no ATM machines, no telephone lines although there are mobile signals for Smart and Globe subscribers. There are restaurants and bars by the beach for those who would like to try  El Nido night life. 



And yes, El Nido is a paradise waiting for you to be discovered.

4 comments:

  1. Breathtaking views..how I love to swim in those clear waters, explore our country..I will do that in the near future :) Thanks for sharing. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. @ Car, our country is blessed to have such wonderful spots..you definitely must visit el nido

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi! Thanks for sharing :) My friends and I are planning to go to El Nido summer of 2012. May I ask where did you rent the van? :) Do you still have their contact number? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. hi Anonymous,

    It's my friend who arranged for the van..unfortunately, she lost the contact number already :(

    I suggest you take a tricycle from PP airport to Fort Wally..the van terminal to El Nido is there

    ReplyDelete

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