El Nido! A Backpacker's Guide!
Howdy Travellers!
Welcome to my travel guide for the incredible EL NIDO! The beautiful paradise located in the North of the Filipino island, Palawan. This place has been has been on my bucket list ever since it started blowing up on social media a few years ago, and now that I'm in the Philippines, I just HAD to go!
I ended up falling in love with the place ( I feel like i say this about a lot of places in the world..) and ended up staying for 8 days so that I could celebrate my birthday there!
Anyway, lets talk about accommodation, prices, snorkel tours, beaches and everything else you need to know about backpacking the wonderful, El Nido!
Getting There!
Obviously if you want to explore this beach town, you're going to have to get there first!
OPTION 1: Fly to Puerto Princessa → Bus to El Nido
Puerto Princessa Airport is the main airport for Palawan Island and flights from all over the Philippines arrive there every day.
I flew from Cebu to Puerto Princessa for around $24 using AirAsia. Crazy cheap! The flight takes about an hour. There are flights all day from Cebu but I'm sure the cheapest one departs at 6:45pm and will get you there for 8pm.
When you arrive you have 2 choices. Stay the night or hop straight on a minivan headed for El Nido.
If you want to spend the night, I highly recommend Fanta Lodge!
Getting a minivan to El Nido town is simple, ask any tricycle driver to take you to a tour shop. I used Brylle Bielle Transport Services and they were great. The AirCon minivan ride costs 400 Pesos and takes roughly 6 hours.
TOP TIP: Don't party at Tiki Bar until 4am before getting on the bus at 11am. Not a wise move! However, if you do want some late night fun in Puerto Princessa, there's a number of bars along the main street, Rizal Avenue.
OPTION 2: Fly directly to El Nido Airport
AirSwift is a popular airline operating within the Philippines and flights depart from Manila, Cebu, Clark and Caticlan to El Nido. If you're on a budget, I don't recommend this option because tickets are usually significantly more expensive!
Great! Now you're in El Nido, you need a place to stay!
Accommodation!
Now, if you're happy to, I suggest that you look for your accommodation when you arrive because there's plenty of cheap and reliable places to stay that aren't on the usual online booking sites!
Over my 8 day trip I stayed in 2 different places. Clifftower Apartelle and Alexzus Backpackers Travel Lodge
- Cifftower Apartelle offered Aircon dormitories for $9 but because i stayed during the 'low season' the same room cost me $5
- Alexzus has aircon private rooms for $19 but again because of the season it cost me $11 !
For more Mid-Range accommodation take a look at La Casa Teresa Beach Resort , Orange Pearl Beach Resort or St.John Island View Pensionne
For a more luxurious stay check out The Last Frontier Beach Resort , the Lagen Island Beach Resort and The Miniloc Island Beach
Activities In El Nido!
SNORKELLING
Snorkelling tours can be booked anywhere and everywhere from bars and restaurants to tattoo shops and hostels. Of course they all claim to offer the lowest prices but the truth is they all cost the same! A local friend told me that the prices are set by the government but who knows!
I suggest you book through the travel desk at Art Cafe. Great staff and they have their own boat so you don't get stuck on a boat with 24 people who booked at random tour desks around town!
Before you can do any tour you have to buy a Environmental Pass for P200. This is valid for 10 days so you only have to buy it once!
Anyway, the choices are:
TOUR A: P1,200. Equal parts Snorkelling and Sightseeing. Includes: Small & Big Lagoon, Simizu Island, Secret Lagoon and 7 Commando Beach. Includes BBQ lunch.
Entrance to Big Lagoon
The BBQ feast!
Entrance To Small Lagoon. Boats can't get inside so you have to swim!
Simizu Island
TOUR B: P1,300. Mainly Sightseeing. Include: Pinagbuyutan Beach, Snake Island, Cudugnon Beach and Cathedral Cave. BBQ lunch.
TOUR C: P1,400. Mainly Snorkelling with Sightseeing. Includes Secret Beach, Matinioc Beach, Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Tapyutan Beach. Includes BBQ lunch.
Curious Little Clown Fish
BBQ lunch on Tour C
TOUR D: P1,200. Mainly Sightseeing. Includes: Cadlao Island, Ubugon Cove, Pasandigan Beach, Paradise Beach and Nat-Nat Beach.
- *Sometimes the tour companies mix and match the tour destinations depending on who you book with! The routes are the same but the stops vary.
- *When I say "Sightseeing" I mean the islands visited are great for photos in particular or have something quirky about them. Every tour is incredible for photos because you pass between mountains in the ocean and stop at paradise beaches.*
- Island tours
- Snorkelling gear
- BBQ feast
- Free use of the Kayaks and Paddle Boards
- Top deck diving board
- On deck bar
- Free massage on the boat
- Sunset view
- And much more!
DIVING
El Nido also offers a variety of Scuba Diving opportunities for those of you who want to get a little deeper!
El Nido Turtle Divers
Turtle Divers
These guys offer high quality dives at fairly reasonable prices!
- Fundives - P4000 - 3 Dives
- Try Scuba Dives - P4200 - 2 Dives
- Night Dive - P2800
- Scuba Refresher Course - P4800 - 2 Dives
- Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) - 4800 - 3 Dives
- Open Water PADI Course - P21,000
- Open Water SSI - P19,000
- Advance Diver PADI - P19,000
- Advance Diver SIS - P18,000
- Rescue Diver PADI - P24,000
- Emergency First Response (EFR) - P9,500
- Dive Master PADI - P90,000
INLAND TOURS
Fancy keeping your toes dry? There's plenty to do on dry land too!
Nacpan Beach!
Just a short drive away from El Nido town, Nacpan beach is a true paradise beach surrounded by thousands of palm trees and beautiful water!
Surrounded by blue waters and palm trees!
Hire a motorbike in town for P400 (don't pay any higher than that!) and drive north for 45 minutes. The last 15 minutes of the ride is ... interesting. The country roads leading to Nacpan are yet to be developed past a mixture of sandy, stoney, pothole-riddled roads. Go slow and have fun!
As always, speak to the locals! They're the best part !
Watch The Sunset From Las Cabañas Beach!
Get a short tricycle ride or use your motorcycle and head 10 minutes south to Las Cabañas beach and watch the sunset across Bacuit Bay.
I managed to capture this insane sunset a few days before I left. These photos aren't edited, the colours really are this intense!
Tarraw Hike
Climb the near by small mountain to get seriously amazing panoramic views of El Nido!
Tours leave every day at 7am and 2pm and cost P500!
The Hike takes about 1 hour so beginner hikers don't need to worry!
Places To Eat!
If you want to survive long enough to leave El Nido, you're going to have to eat!
Because of the touristy nature of the town, it's easy to over spend on food and hard to find cheap places to get a feed!
The main streets are jam packed with the typical western restaurants and snack bars and as always, they are way too over priced! Seriously, I paid less in Australia for some things I ate here!
Silog Republic - This was my favourite place to eat and super cheap!
dav
- Unlimited Rice + Mang Inasal (Fried Chicken) - P129
- Pork Sisig - P109
- Banana Pancakes - P119
- Combo Meals
- OPEN 24 HOURS
BIR Restaurant - Another cheap place to eat with similar prices
Sea Jane Resto Bar - Sea Food BBQ on the beach!
dav
- BBQ grilled fish - as low as P200 each
- Pork BBQ skewers - P150
- Fresh Squid
- Fresh King Prawns
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LC Burrito Bar
- Burrito Bowl - P250
- Burrito - P250
- Quesadilla - P250
- Pretty much everything - P250
It is possible to find cheap eateries and street BBQ places. It took me 5 days to venture out and look for the cheapest places to eat but I found them!
Opposite the Gym there is a place called Kitchenette and it sells Pork Adobo, Chicken Adobo, Vegetables, Grilled Fish, Etc. ranging between P20 - P70 per side dish.
Partying In El Nido!
Making friends at Pukka Bar
Unfortunately, there's not much to do in El Nido in the evenings... Fortunately, there's plenty of bars, clubs and karaoke bars to get stuck into!
Or if you want to drink the true Filipino way... Buy some cheap beers or liquor at a convenient store and some plastic cups and sit on the beach with your friends and some locals!
Small Beer In A Bar - P75 to P120
Big Beer In A Convenient Store - P100
Shot Of Liquor In A Bar - P150 - P200
Whole Bottle Of Liquor In A Convenient Store - P100
For live music, DJ's and dancing try Pukka Bar or Coco Bar. Both located on the beach, they're pretty hard to miss once the night gets going!
For lives music and a relaxed vibe go to Art Cafe!
For social and relaxed drinking head to Rooftop, Happiness or Sava!
Relaxed drinks at Sava
Moving On From El Nido!
So you've enjoyed your time in El Nido, snorkelling, diving, tanning, partying and meeting new friends, now you have to continue your adventure!
Coron
There are boats leaving the El Nido port every day and you have a choice of boats!
- Fast Craft - Montenegro Lines - 4.5 hours - Mon to Sun: 6am - P1760
- Slow Boat - Bunso - 6 hours- Mon to Sun: 8am - P1300
Puerto Princessa
Heading back down to the airport? There's a multitude of options for you!- Cherry Bus: every 2 hours from 7am. Aircon Bus - P550. Non Aircon - P450
- RORO: Every 2 Hours from 4am. Same price as Cherry Bus
Port Barton
- Aircon minivans leave from El Nido at 7am, 9am, 1pm and takes 4 to 5 hours.
So That's It!
El Nido is one of the most amazing places I've visited in South East Asia! The scenery, the people, the waters, the sunsets, everything about this place makes it a must-see on any Asia trip!
Now that you have all the information you need... What are you waiting for?! Get your flippers on and experience EL NIDO!
Need more info?! Leave me a comment or shoot me a message!
Been To El Nido? Tell me what your favourite part was!
Want More?! Follow me on INSTAGRAM or Subscribe to my YOUTUBE!
Love Joe , x
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blog worthy! el nido is a favorite of mine. i agree nacpan is very beautiful . i heard a new restaurant/bar is opening there. i hope that won't ruin its beauty.
I hope so too! Would be such a shame if that area get ruined :(
indeed.. i actually love the fact that it doesn't have any fancy restaurant or hotels there.. hopefully it will stay as simple and beautiful as how it looked like when I visited it.
awesome adventure in El Nido :) Welcome to the Philippines, keep exploring the community and find useful insights on the trending section for more updates! Steem on @travelgasm :)
thanks a lot !
I traveled to the Philippines last year, it was great ( :
Yeah the Philippines are amazing! Glad you enjoyed it!
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STOPThis is awesome! I'm actually planning to visit el Nido too. I would love to go after your suggestion to look for an accomodation once I get there but what worries me is the hassle it may bring if ever the inn's are fully booked. Anyway that was such a great deal! I'm excited to see El Nido! ❤
That's awesome! sorry for the late reply, however, i'm happy that I inspired you more! You'll be fine, the whole town won't be fully booked, you'll always find something!
Amazing! have you been to Nacpan Beach, this place is magical but the only downside is the lack of ATM, i wasn't ready for it hahaha