El Nido, Palawan

11 things we did in El Nido Palawan
May 6-9, 2012

1. Checked in at Rosanna's
2. Island Tour A
3. Kayaking
4. Snorkeling
5. Dinner at Squido's
6. Island Tour C
7. St. Francis of Assisi Parish Church 
8. Had Bird's Nest Soup at El Nido Skyline Restaurant
9. Dinner at The Alternative Restaurant
10. Island Tour B
11. Food Trips

Photos
Underwater Photos

Trip Notes

• Our Palawan tour was arrange by Hadefe Travel and Tours c/o Cherry Ronao.

• Tour package cost P8,500 each for 9 pax including Puerto Princesa.

• Tour includes van for the whole trip, accommodations, breakfast and lunch, island tour A, B and C, city landmarks tour mentioned in the itinerary, insurance, fees (permit, conservation, park entrance, boat and tour guides)

• Round trip ticket via Cebu Pacific Air cost P3,890 per pax.

• Stayed at Rosanna's Cottages, only a minute away from the beach but not beach front.  Our rooms are on the other side of Cama street behind the cottages.

• Please bring mosquito repellents.

• Rentals for snorkel mask is P100, snorkel fins is P100 and kayak is P700 a day.

• Electricity runs 16 hours a day (2pm-6am) and inconsistent.

• Travel time from Puerto Princesa to El Nido is 6 hours.  About 30% of the ride is rough road.

May 6 (B, L)
Arrived at 2am, checked in at Rosanna's.
Island Hopping
Tour A:  Miniloc Island (Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon), Simizu Beach, Inatula Island and Seven Commando

• We stayed at Rosanna's 2 storey building, not in the beach front cottages.  It's fairly good, you get what you pay for a budget room.  Problems we had are the place is infested with mosquitoes and bed bugs.  On our second night, electricity went out, they have generator but the authorized person to operate it is nowhere to be found.

• Big Lagoon.  We are in the middle of a lagoon on a platform.

Big Lagoon

• Small Lagoon.  We are being tugged by our tour guide on the kayak.
• Kayak rental for 1 day is P700.

Small Lagoon

• Simizu Beach.  We had our lunch here prepared by our tour guides.  

Simizu Beach

• Seven Commando Island.  This island has a small store where you can have some snack and refreshments.  Bought my 8oz coke here for P30, the price didn't bother me because it's ice cold, I'd rather have this than a fresh coconut juice.  It also has a volleyball net set up and some hammocks.  Played the frisbee here.

Small store at Seven Commando Island

Ice Cold Coke

• Dinner at Squido's.  I ordered their best seller Grilled Stuffed Squid.  Check out what else I ate.

Squido's

  

May 7 (B, L)
Island Hopping
Tour C:  Secret Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Tapiutan Island, Star Beach, Helicopter Island

• Secret Beach.  Another snorkeling site and best chance to see a sea turtle, but we didn't.

Secret Beach

• Matinloc Shrine.  You'll also get into a little hike on a limestone cliff for a panoramic view of the island.  There's also a small underground museum.

Matinloc Shrine

• Helicopter Island.  After 2 days of snorkeling, we decided to play frisbee at this island because of the wide sandy beach.  The girls still went snorkeling with the tour guides and they spotted a sea turtle.  Uhh!  What a time to decide to stop snorkeling, I missed my chance to see a sea turtle.

Frisbee Time

Sea Turtle Sighting

• Tried some Bird's Nest Soup at Skyline Grill and Restaurant.  You can use Bird's Nest on any kind of soup you prefer but here in El Nido, it is often mixed in Nido Soup.  A Bird's Nest actually has no taste, the real value is from its medicinal benefits (which the waitress failed to enumerate).  But what I really liked at Skyline is their Mango Coffee Cooler.  You should really try it.

• Bird's Nest Soup cost P200 per serving.

• A sachet of Bird's Nest cost P1500.

• Imagine how much Bird's Nest in my P200 Nido Soup.  Is it really tasteless or too little to savor?

Nido Soup with Bird's Nest

• After trying the Bird's Nest, we went to The Alternative for our Dinner.  

May 8 (B, L)
Island Hopping
Tour B:  Pinagbuyutan Island, Codugnon Cave, Cathedral Cave, Snake Island

• Pinagbuyutan Island.  For me, this is the best beach from all the islands I've been, not a good snorkeling spot though, but this is a paradise beach.

Pinagbuyutan Island

• Codugnon Cave.  They say that this cave was once a graveyard for Malaria victims a long time ago.   But would you believe they will clear out all those human remains resting in peace for tourism?  I doubt the story.

Codugnon Cave

• Beside this cave is a small beach where we had our lunch.  There's also a small store, a volleyball net set up, some hammocks and nipa huts for overnight stay.

Lunch at Codugnon Island

• Snake Island.  It is a sand bar visible during low tide, it runs between islands.  When we arrived it was still submerged and we were like walking on water.   There's a small island at one end of the sand bar where you can hike up for a panoramic view.   When we got up the hill, the sand bar is now really visible.

Sand bar visible on top of this island.

• Dinner at Squido's.  Our last dinner in El Nido.  I orderd Pork Cordon Bleu.

May 9 (B)
Checked out at 7am, headed to Sabang for 5 hours.





Here is my Puerto Princesa Palawan post.