El Nido 3 Years On...

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It was time for my annual leave again and for the 2^nd year in a row I have planned a “mini travelling” trip for me and my girlfriend. We had strategically timed our holiday to be around the Easter bank holidays and so we actually had 17 days to spend in the Philippines. This was my 3^rd visit to the country I fell in love with in 2010 and my 2^nd back to one of our favourite destinations – El Nido. Despite being warned by travellers and blogs all over the internet of the development and tourist boom in the area, we still could not resist the magnetic draw of this place.



I had spent quite some time making sure our travel to the Northern tip of Palawan was as time efficient as possible. All of our flights and onward bus journey’s had been arranged with military precision and I had put a lot of faith in the transport system of Malaysia Airlines and Cebu Pacific Airlines. This was my first mistake. The 12 hour flight from LDN to KL went smoothly and after a 3 hour stopover we were in the air on another flight across to Manila. We circled Manila airport feeling smug that all was going to plan when the pilot decided to ruin everything and diverted to Clark airport. We sat on the tarmac waiting to refuel for 4 hours and by the time we took to the air again and landed at Manila International we had missed our Cebu Pacific flight to Puerto Princesa. After some sweaty sprinting around the airport we managed to find another flight on another carrier leaving 2 hours later than our original flight.



We landed in Puerto 2 hours behind schedule and were extremely relieved when we arrived at Banwa at 10pm after 30hrs of travel. We were greeted by the owner who remembered us from last time and she gave us both a San Miguel to help us unwind. It was one of the best tasting beers of my life. Banwa has changed since 2010 – the common area has grown and opens out onto a much nicer garden/jungle. Other than that the rooms are the same and the people are the same. It is a lovely place to base yourself in PP.



So we had one night in this place and got picked up at 7:30am the next morning by a minivan for the 5 hour trip up to El Nido. We were very tired so the trip was a bit hazy but that made the journey go quite quickly. There was not a cloud in the sky when we arrived and that first walk out onto the beach to the sound of the gently tide was bliss. We had booked the cliff top cottage at Makulay. This place is in the perfect location for us – not on the main strip of beach but not too far off towards Kalinga Resort. It sits right on the cliff that juts out between the main beach and the resorts further up the coast. 167 steps up to our cottage that we would become accustomed to and the walk was well worth it. The view of the famous panoramic of El Nido was stunning from up there (see the pictures).

We had 7 days in El Nido and the weather was perfect for each of those. The first Island hopping tour we did was Tour D that we arranged through Makulay. We had the boat to ourselves and as this is the least popular tour (I don’t know why) we had a lot of the beaches to ourselves as well. Tour A we booked with another company and the places we visited were overflowing with Bankas! We had most of these sites to ourselves when we were here in 2010 and this time there were normally over 10 boats in each. The places are no less stunning but it is true that tourism has taken off here. Tour A is the most popular because of the names of the locations that are visited – Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon and Secret Lagoon! OooOOOOOOooo! The lagoons are stunning, especially the big lagoon, but there is no time to enjoy these any more L Our tour guide in 2010 purposely brought us to the big lagoon in low tide so we could walk the stretch up to the Chrystal clear lagoon itself. We then spent about an hour snorkelling its beautiful perimeter before strolling back to the boat. This time all the boats visited in high tide so that they could motor into the lagoon itself, circle the whole thing in less than 5 minutes and then leave. Oh well! Pretty place nonetheless.

Another day we went and chilled at Las Cabanas beach – which is amazing. I didn’t visit this the last time I was here and I now regret it. There are a few places to stay on this beach and this is why it is still very quiet. The beach is 10 times nicer than the one in El Nido Town and you get here via a 15minute Tricycle ride and a 5 minute walk along a dirt track. I cannot believe I have missed this gem in the past but it was stunning! A really nice place to relax for the day when you have one free.

For 2 of our days here we hired a motorbike and made the 1 hour journey (on very dodgy dirt tracks) to the twin beaches of Nacpan and Calitang. I had heard of this place before and we were aware that not many people make the treacherous trip so we really wanted to go! After a very tiring 1 hour trip we arrived at one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It helped that there was not a cloud in the sky but there was also no other tourists there and only a few local kids taking a dip in the shallows of some of the clearest water I have witnessed. During the day a couple of other people arrived from El Nido but other than that the whole beach was ours. We walked up Calitang beach and got a view of the 2km long Nacpan beach – this was completely empty. It was unbelievable - enough for me to hire a bike for a second day and make the horrible return journey there again a couple of days later. Once the road to this place is fully tarmacked (they have already started this) the place will be swarming with people so go and see it now!!

I understand the reports I have received from people about how the place has become overcrowded in the last few years but I still love it here. In 2010 I spent 10 days here and walking down the main road was never too much of a struggle. Now the road is cramped full of tourists and traders and tricycle drivers. However, the charm remains the same for me. You can find nice little places to stay off the main drag or outside of the centre and the location is perfect for exploring untouched paradises out in the Bacuit Archipelago or around El Nido on the mainland itself. All this just takes a bit more effort and a bit of industriousness now. Please do not get put off coming here – there is a reason it is so popular…

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Comments

[Sophie and Dale]

A home from home
Great blog guys. Love your passion for this place. The Caramoan penisular is of it's equal but dont shout it to loud. Great to read your blogs again.