"Paradise on Earth."
Hello fellow travelers! This is my first post that will give you some tips slash advise about my travel activities. Hope you'll find it helpful. :)
WHAT TO DO:
Unless you're from another dimension and haven't heard about El Nido yet, please check out this post for a brief introduction about this island. Now if you're one of the million travelers who've been here, or have plans of going here, you should already have an idea that this place is surrounded by water and mountains. Hence, most activities involve these bodies of nature.
Unless you're from another dimension and haven't heard about El Nido yet, please check out this post for a brief introduction about this island. Now if you're one of the million travelers who've been here, or have plans of going here, you should already have an idea that this place is surrounded by water and mountains. Hence, most activities involve these bodies of nature.
Day 1 : I arrived in Puerto Prinsesa around 8am, left the city (read related post here) at 10.30am and arrived in El Nido bus terminal just few minutes past 4pm. After dropping my things in my room, I roamed around town to book my island tours for the next day. I was starving from the 6hour van ride, that right after booking the tour, I entered the nearest restaurant I could find and had an early dinner.
With stomach happy, I headed back to my room and dozed off to prepare for a busier tomorrow.
I stayed at Dayunan Inn. Read my review in Tripadvisor here.
I stayed at Dayunan Inn. Read my review in Tripadvisor here.
Day 2: Had an early room breakfast then went to the meeting place for our Island Tour. Originally I signed up for Tour A, but the captain of the boat decided to go on Tour C because of the weather. Turned out, my "tourmates" booked Tours A and C and the impending bad weather may make it difficult for them to go to islands in Tour C, which will mostly cruise the open sea known as The West Philippine Sea (aka South China Sea).
View from our meeting place for the tour, just right in front the Coast Guard Office.
Tour C it was then! Luckily my tourmates were very friendly and quite entertaining so it kinda made up for me being pissed off not able to go Tour A on this day. There were 11 of us travelers on the boat.
TIP: Monopods have become a necessity for most today, but let me tell you: MONOPOD, IF.NOT.OF.HIGH.QUALITY, IS NOT FOR ISLAND HOPPING. One of our tourmates used his monopod while we were on top of Matinloc cliffs, and boom! His phone just fell off from the monopod. Lucky him our tour guides were not only great swimmers, they were able to perform some acrobatics to get his phone back. Whew!
Trivia about Tour C:
It's all about surprises! There's the Secret Beach, and The Hidden Beach. Both are worthy of your money, camera memory space and swimming powers.
Some photos when we were in Matinloc Shrine
Trivia about Tour C:
It's all about surprises! There's the Secret Beach, and The Hidden Beach. Both are worthy of your money, camera memory space and swimming powers.
When we returned to Bacuit, and after a quick shower, I went to Art Cafe for dinner.
Day 3: My day started almost the same as the previous one, except that it was raining non-stop. It was very cloudy and gloomy, I actually had doubts if the Tour will push thru. Thank goodness it did.
It was almost the same group as the previous day. With some addition and subtraction, we're almost the same number of tourists on board too. :)
If Tour C was about surprises, Tour A is more about lagoons, Big and Small, they have it there.
Too bad I didn't bring my camera when we went to the Small Lagoon. It was pretty amazing in there!
Tip: El Nido's beauty lies mostly on the limestone mountains around the vast ocean. I guess God was fair when He didn't make its underwater as magnificent as that of Coron. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't bring your snorkeling gears when going to there.
I went to nearby Corong-corong beach in the afternoon. It was a 10 minute 15 peso ride from the town proper. Unlike Bacuit, Corong-corong's shore is more quiet and peaceful. It was very isolated. Had I known it earlier, I would've spent longer time there.
For my last dinner in El Nido, I decided to eat along the beach at Mezzanine restaurant.
Day 5: I bid El Nido goodbye.
Part II of this post will cover reviews of the restaurants I ate at and the expenses for the trip.
If Tour C was about surprises, Tour A is more about lagoons, Big and Small, they have it there.
The Big Lagoon.
Our tour guide said they sometimes host weddings here. Can you imagine how spectacular that would be?
Too bad I didn't bring my camera when we went to the Small Lagoon. It was pretty amazing in there!
Tip: El Nido's beauty lies mostly on the limestone mountains around the vast ocean. I guess God was fair when He didn't make its underwater as magnificent as that of Coron. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't bring your snorkeling gears when going to there.
I ended the day by eating the best pizza I've eaten in the entire country at Altrove restaurant.
Day 4: I decided to just stay in town during this day. No island hopping but more of land walking. I walked the shore of Bacuit in the morning, took some photos and had brunch in Art Cafe again.
For my last dinner in El Nido, I decided to eat along the beach at Mezzanine restaurant.
Day 5: I bid El Nido goodbye.
Part II of this post will cover reviews of the restaurants I ate at and the expenses for the trip.
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