Explore the landscapes of El Nido, Palawan

16.07.2022 | Asia, Philippines

Explore the landscapes of El Nido, Palawan

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After seeing so many different places of the Philippines, we can say that Palawan has the most stunning landscapes. The formations of limestone rocks enclosing different lagoons are so unique in the world! They are only accessible via boat, but you will find the clearest water there! The most common activity in El Nido is to choose a boat tour (A-D are going to different islands). We booked a private tour with a combination of Tour A and B, which allowed us to start earlier than the group tours. However, it’s also really nice to explore the close Cadlao Island via kayak on your own! Also, plan some time to explore some beaches in the North!

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WHAT TO DO ?

Bacuit Bay is a protected area with 45 islands. Most of them are shaped with big limestone mountains. You can explore the close Cadlao Island on your own with a kayak. The other islands are reachable by a boat tour. Since 2019 there is an environmental tax for the island hopping tours, but even if you do more than one tour, you only have to pay once.

1. Rent a kayak and paddle around Cadlao Island

If you feel fit enough it’s a great way to explore the close Cadlao Island on your own with a kayak. You can rent a kayak for 500 PHP per day at Anang Balay Turista / Anang travel tours. You start at the main bay in front of the center of El Nido and paddle to the island. You can make it a 2 hour trip to the tip of the island and back or a day trip paddling around a big part of the island.

At the harbor they sell different day tours to different islands. Actually group Tour D goes to different beaches of Cadlao Island, so you can do this tour on your own and book one of the other tours A-C.

Paradise Beach

This beach was one of the first ones when we went left around Cadlao Island and it is a beautiful paradise beach! There was no one around at this place with clear blue water and palm trees. And this view of these limestone rocks, looked kind of unreal. The beaches were very clean, no rubbish around. Don’t forget to bring enough water on your kayak tour!

Pasandigan Cove

This was the second beach we stopped on the left side of the island. Also a beautiful beach with some local beach huts. We turned around to the tip of the island to explore the other side of the island. But if you are feeling good and start early, they told us it’s possible to surround the whole Cadlao Island with the kayak.

Bukal Island, Nat Nat Beach

We found this beautiful little island on the right side of the Cadlao Island and had some amazing time on this beautiful beach. The water was one of the clearest I saw on the whole trip. If you paddle to the opposite located beach you will find a beach with lots of palm trees.

Have a look at Helicopter Island

From Paradise Beach and Pasandigan Cove you have a pretty good look at Helicopter Island. However, it looked a little far for going there with a kayak although the beach looked very beautiful.

2. Choose between Tour A, Tour B, Tour C and Tour D

They sell different boat tours A, B, C and D going to different islands. Tour A and C are the most common ones. Most people book the cheap standard group tour, unfortunately they only start at 10am and the different stops get really crowded. If you book a private trip (around 50-100€ per person + entry fees) you can start at 8am, so you reach the different destinations before the other people arrive. Another tip people told us, is to ask for starting with the typical last destination and end with the first destination.

We listet the different destinations of the tours so it’s easier for you to choose. The destinations with a !-!!! we found really amazing or heard they are amazing:

Tour A – Around Miniloc Island

Tour B

Tour C

Tour D – Around Cadlao Island, you can do this with a kayak from the main beach!

What we chose:

We walked around the harbor and asked different boatmen and different shops about the boat tours they offer. We finally found a boatman at the shop “My island hopping tours” that was willing to do a combination of Tour A and B as a private tour starting at 8am, earlier than the group tours. We had an amazing crew for our day trip: Emmanuel Gallo, Joselito Morales, Jerome Pogo.

We highly recommend to bring a dry bag for this trip, since you have to swim through lagoons. We bought really good ones from Overboard before our flight to the Philippines, however they also sell some cheaper dry bags everywhere in the center of El Nido.

1. Secret Lagoon

The boat started at Corong-Corong Beach, they organized us a tuk-tuk to get there. At Corong-Corong Beach we also met our crew. Our first destination was Secret Lagoon from Tour A and this beach is so beautiful! These rock formations in the middle of the beach and surrounding this cove. We had to jump in the water from the boat and swim to the beach, so bring a dry bag! You can also swim to the small lagoon in the left of the picture and climb through the hole in the rocks.

2. Shimizu Island

Our second stop was Shimizu Island, we had this whole beautiful island with this paradise beach for ourselves. Just look at this clear water! Shimizu Island is located just in front of Secret Lagoon.

3. Small Lagoon

Then we drove to Small Lagoon (on the right side of the first drone shot), just next to the Big Lagoon (on the left side of the drone shot). There is a little platform in the middle of Small Lagoon, where you can rent some kayaks. You can choose between Big and Small Lagoon for your trip.

4. Entalula Island

For lunch we visited my favorite beach of this trip, since the water is as clear as in the Maldives. The beach is framed by beautiful rocks and palm trees. The crew built an amazing lunch under some rocks, which was incredible.

5. Snake Island

After that we went to Snake Island, it’s a long sandbank in front of an island. When we’ve visited the water was waist-high. You can walk along the sandbar in the water, just wear some flip flops because there can be urchins in the water.

6. Pingbuyutan Island

In the end we stopped at the perfectly shaped Pinagbuyutan Island. Unfortunately somebody bought this island and it’s now privat. Months ago it was one of the top destinations to bring tourists, you could even take the kayak to get there from Las Cabanas Beach. Now you can only watch this island from the boat. But it’s still beautiful.

3. Las Cabanas Beach for sunset

Besides doing incredible boat trips, there are also a lot of nice places reachable on land. We highly recommend to get to this beach for sunset, it’s not crowded, the light is so beautiful there and you have a great view on Pinagbuyutan Island. There is an amazing restaurant at this beach, in the evening they installed some bowl of fire and a lot of torches.

4. Corong Corong Beach Walk

This is another great spot for sunset, but also a nice walk for the day. Just walk along the huge Corong Corong beach. We saw locals working on their boats, a lot of dogs and kids playing in the water.

5. Visit El Nido Public Market and buy fresh fruit

Just the road down from the center you will find the public market with incredible fresh fruit! Oh, the mangos are so good here! I could eat 10 of them each day!

6. Hang at Lio Beach in the North of the Island

We highly recommend to rent a scooter and drive up North the island, there are a few incredibly beautiful beaches you have to see! There are some restaurants at Lio Beach, if you get hungry.

7. Drive up to the beautiful and remote Duli Beach

When we visited Duli Beach we were the only ones together with some local kids. The gravel road towards the beach is a little exciting to ride, but totally worth the view on this beach! Don’t forget to bring enough water. This endless beach with all these hundreds of palm trees.

8. Visit Nacpan Beach for sunset

Nacpan Beach is a little more crowded then Duli Beach, but totally worth it for sunset. There are two different sides of the beach, both absolutely beautiful. The sun sets perfectly behind the ocean. At the main beach there are some beach bars and a lot of locals. If you walk to the tip of the beach there are less people.

9. Explore the center of El Nido

We really liked the small center of El Nido. Everyone is really friendly, there are beautiful small stores and even cafés with incredible vegan smoothie bowls. We found a nice airbnb directly in the center, which was amazing! The limestone rocks just behind the buildings look incredible.

10. Taraw Cliff closed to tourists right now

A while ago this hike was open to tourists going up with a guide, however it’s a steep hike and there were some accidents. Therefore they closed the hike to everyone. However, you can get some great views with a drone.

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WHERE TO EAT ?

El Nido has some nice places to eat. Luckily the typhoon in the end of 2021 didn’t hit El Nido that bad in contrast to Cebu and Siargao. Therefore a lot of restaurants are still open and buildings are not damaged like in other regions.

1. Taste El Nido

This was our favorite café in El Nido. They have vegan smoothie bowls, great coffee and the interior is amazing.

2. Happiness Beach Bar

This beach bar is great for dinner, but they also have some smoothie bowls.

3. Oz El Nido

This place offers some really nice smoothie bowls, too! But they also have rice bowls with vegetables and avocado. Above the restaurant is a Tattoo Studio.

4. Restaurant Las Cabanas Beach Resort (at Las Cabanas Beach)

We found this incredible restaurant at Las Cabanas Beach. They built a bowl of fire directly at the ocean with a lot of torches at the beach. Go there for sunset!

5. Boutique Art Café

This café also sell different group tours and is a great place to get some infos!

More:

Boodle Fight, Bella Vita, Glow Juice Box, The Cavern Speciality Café

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WHERE TO SLEEP ?

1. Airbnb “Luxury Garden Room in the center of El Nido” in Rizal Street Bazaar

We found this wonderful airbnb directly in the center a few meters from the crowded area, therefore it was really calm. The room surround a cute little garden in front of incredible limestone rocks. The rooms are big and very well furnished. We payed around 50€ per night.

Others:

The Birdhouse, Frangipani EL Nido

Where to rent a scooter? How to get around?

We rented our scooter at Bella Motorbike Rental, they have really good reviews. We payed 400 PHP per day. It’s the easiest way to explore the beaches in the North with a scooter. Otherwise you can ask a tuktuk driver for a day rate. From the airport you can get a cheap tuk-tuk for 30-50 PHP to the center of El Nido, since the airport is a few minutes from the center.

How to get to El Nido-Palawan and how to get to Coron-Palawan?

You can fly to Coron from Manila or from the other bigger airports like Cebu or Siargao. The fastest way to get from El Nido to Coron (both Palawan) is by taking a short 40-minute flight. The airport is really small, so you don’t have to be there that early. Since most of the inland flights are propeller planes you can only bring 10 kg without paying extra (we payed around 16€ for 8kg extra with Airswift). Different airlines take different fees. The propeller flight is incredible with amazing views over the island. On some days you can get flights for 50€, other days cost 80€.

The other cheaper option is to take the ferry from El Nido to Coron for a few bugs. At Covid times the ferry only departed one time a day and it takes 3.5-5 hours depending on the current.

Incredible limestone landscape and clear blue water!

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