El Nido, Palawan
Summer Getaway
by: Anjo Catapang
DISCOVER
What's to Discover?
El Nido is one of the Philippines' top tourist destinations. Last year, around 200,000 tourists visited the municipality, which is located at the northern tip of Palawan. It is known for its beautiful beaches and enchanting limestone rock formations. And like any island destination here in the Philippines, there's a lot to do in this paradise, from island hopping to scuba diving to hiking.
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El Nido, Palawan, Philippines has some of the most beautiful scenery we have ever encountered. This cluster of islands is off the tip of the Palawan Island is full of dramatic rock formations and surrounded by bright blue waters. There are a ton of things to do in El Nido so give yourself a week in El Nido if you can. The town itself has enough options for food and the basics for a week-long trip or so.
Day 1
We arrived at Puerto Prinsesa Palawan around 7 pm and in order to make it to El Nido, we need to take the van and travel for 6 hours. We arrived at the hotel in El Nido at 1 am. We were all so tired and got some rest because in the morning we need to be ready for our island hopping. In the morning, we had our breakfast and went to the church first before we went to the boat. We prayed there and after that we started going to the famous tourist spots in El Nido. First destination is the Big Lagoon. Second was the Small Lagoon and next was the Hidden Beach were we ate lunch in the boat. After we ate we head to the Secret Beach and after that is the Matinloc Shrine and the last stop for the tour is the Helicopter Island. After seeing different spots we went back to the hotel to change our clothes and find some place to eat dinner. After eating, everyone was already full and tired so we went back to the hotel and got some rest.
Island Hopping
It is known for its beautiful beaches and enchanting limestone rock formations. And like any island destination here in the Philippines, there's a lot to do in this paradise, from island hopping to scuba diving to hiking.
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Miniloc Island’s Small Lagoon is just one of the many unbelievably beautiful lagoons in El Nido, Palawan. Usually the first stop of El Nido Island Hopping Tour A, this lagoon is surely a good place to kick-start this tour. Small Lagoon is not too intimidating, although it can still overwhelm, and is a welcoming sight for nature revelers.
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Big Lagoon is the second stop of El Nido Island Hopping Tour A, right after Small Lagoon. Just like any other lagoons in Palawan, Big Lagoon is dotted with dark limestone cliffs. The entrance to the lagoon has shallow water, but the emerald color of the water indicates the deeper areas.
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Hidden Beach. Hidden between two rocks is a strip of white sand beach.The beach is really hidden, that you can't see it unless you go further in between these two stones. It was named hidden beach, simply because it is a beach hidden between two rocks.
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The Secret Beach is a piece of paradise concealed by the cliffs and is only accessible through a narrow crevice. One has to swim through this opening to reach this place, shining even under the shade created when the sun kisses the cliffs.
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Day 2
On our second day at El Nido, we had a land tour. We went to two beaches. First is Nacpan Beach. What I liked in this beach was the clear water. It was the clearest water of all the beaches that I've seen. Second beach was the Lio Beach. The waves in Lio beach was very big and we very much enjoyed them but only for a short time because it started raining. They said there was a typhoon that time so we returned to the hotel and ate after. At night, me, my friends and cousin went to the bar to enjoy our last night in El Nido to the fullest. We had drinks and had party till midnight. There were a lot of memories that we won't forget. In the morning we went back to Puerto Prinsesa airport to fly back to Manila and there, our El Nido trip ended.
