El Nido, Palawan island - Philippines.

  El Nido, Palawan   island

    Paradise is a word often used to describe El Nido and rightfully so. The town is set against a backdrop of white and gray limestone rocks that look carefully crafted by man, except they weren’t. Further away from Bacuit Bay, the islands close to El Nido boast of crystal clear blue waters, rich teeming marine life, and the finest white sands.  

 Image from titastravels.com

      The most common route that travelers take is to use Metro Manila or Cebu, the Philippines’ most busy airport hubs, to fly to Puerto Princesa. If you book your airfares ahead using Cebu Pacific, one of the country’s budget airlines, you can score round-trip fares as low as 4,000 pesos or at least 75 USD. From Puerto Princesa, you can take one of the many vans that wait outside the airport to El Nido Town for 600-700 pesos or $14. 

If you already have a place to stay, you can give them your hotel name so they can pick you up when you’re ready to leave El Nido. The vans cannot take you directly to El Nido. You can take a tricycle from the van terminal to your hotel. Most tricycle operators know their way around El Nido.   

 Image  palawan-news.com

     Close to El Nido are several islands that are best explored through island hopping tours that already include an English-speaking guide, lunch, and fees. The tours are classified into A, B, C, and D; the most famous being A and C.   

       For 1,200 pesos, Tour A includes lagoons and white beaches. The first stop is usually the Small Lagoon. At first glance, it looks like two huge boulders but there is a small passage underneath that you can swim to or kayak your way through if you lay flat on your back.

 Image homeiswhereyourbagis.com

 What awaits is an enclosed lagoon bordered by limestone with blue waters. Many of the lagoons in Tour A are accessible this way. Big Lagoon is part of Tour A as well. In contrast to Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon is all about wide open seas and parted limestone rocks. Other stops in this tour are Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island, and 7 Commando Beach.  

  Image homeiswhereyourbagis.com

     Tour C is a little more expensive at 1,400 pesos but this tour is all about El Nido’s close to perfect beaches. Matinloc Shrine is one of the stops of this tour. In Matinloc Shrine, you have a great vantage point of El Nido Bay. There’s never a sight quiet like it. On a sunny day, you have blue skies and blue seas and the entire expanse of the beaches all laid out in front of you. 

There are more sights that can take your breath away in Helicopter Island, Secret Beach, Start Beach, and Hidden Beach.  

 Image from trover.com

       Finally, you can also venture inland and enjoy the long white beaches of Nacpan. You can arrange for a tricycle to take you there or rent a motorbike and drive there yourself. If the long beach front does not lure you in, the crystal turquoise waters will.  

So, pack your bags and explore El Nido. You will find yourself looking forward to coming back even if you just left.  

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  ( All images found in google image search and I added images source with the website name. These images are not mine. if there have any false details in this article , please accept my apologies )