El Nido town is not like Boracay where you can walk to Station 1 and swim, or dress up at night and go partying. It is a simple town with a very friendly neighborhood.
The Town
Tip: Charge all your gadgets before you go to sleep. Bring power banks if you have a lot of gadgets. Charge it at night as well, so your gadget won't die on you in the middle of the day. Bring mosquito repellant lotions or citronella patches as well just to be sure that you won't get eaten by the mosquitoes.
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| A normal afternoon at the beach. All boats are back from the tours. |
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| Parked. |
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| This fisherman is cleaning his boat before sailing. |
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| Kids hanging out at the beach. |
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| A kid swimming in her pajamas. |
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| There are crablets everywhere! |
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| Sunbathing dogs. |
Tours
El Nido offers the standard tours. These are Tours A, B, C, and D. Tour prices are from P600 to P900 per person. It includes a sumptuous buffet lunch, snorkeling gears, and towels. The boatmen usually stick to the route plan of the tours, but if the weather doesn't cooperate, they always have a Plan B.
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| Map of the El Nido tours. Photo from http://www.gopalawan.travel |
Tips: Bring your own water. Although the lunch is part of the tour package, there is no water included. So if you don't want to drink salt water after feasting on grilled tuna and pork chops, buy one liter of water at the convenience stores along Rizal Street. It only costs P35. Bring a trash bag or a big plastic bag where you can put your things while on the boat. The waves are sometimes a bit crazy out there. You also have the option to rent a dry bag in Artcafe for only P50 for a whole day of use. Bring sunblock because you will be swimming a lot.
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| This bag is waterproof and it's really big that you can put your bag, camera, and towels. |
We only stayed in El Nido town for three days and we only did two tours -- Tours A and C. They say that these are the most popular tours in El Nido. Tour A is P600/pax and Tour C is P900/pax. Tour boats leave at 9AM and tour ends around 4PM or 5PM. They would also give you a life vest and a towel.
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| Let the tours begin! |
TOUR A
7 Commandos Beach
Our first stop was the 7 Commandos Beach. Our boatmen said that there was once a ship that got stuck in this part El Nido and the name of the ship was 7 Commandos. He said that the ship crew wrote a 7 Commandos on the limestone wall of the island, but was cleaned by the local government. We noticed that part of the island was closed and surrounded by barb wires. Our boatmen noted that the beach was already bought by a resort owner in Boracay and is planning to develop it soon. Looks like this will not be a part of the tour anymore if that happens.
Big Lagoon
Our next destination was the Big Lagoon. Maybe it's called Big Lagoon because there's a Small Lagoon. A lagoon is a body of water normally separated from a bigger body of water by barrier islands or reefs, and in this case, the Big Lagoon is separated by limestone walls. We went inside the canal that leads to the lagoon and went around once. It took about five minutes or so to go around the whole thing. There were some parts of the lagoon that are shallow where you can see the white sand through the clear water.
Simizu Island
It was almost lunch when we left the Big Lagoon so our boatmen decided to have lunch on our next stop which is Simizu Island. Of course, I interviewed them again on why the island is named Simizu. According to him, years ago, there was a group of Japanese tourists who went on this island. They discovered a tunnel where they can snorkel or dive. Unfortunately, a diver named Simizu died while exploring the tunnel. Her parents asked the local government to name the island Simizu in remembrance of her.
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| Lunch! |
Small Lagoon
The next destination is the Small Lagoon. Unfortunately, we didn't take any photos. The boat was parked outside and tourists had to swim going inside the lagoon. If you don't have a waterproof camera, don't try to bring it there because all you can see inside is deep water. There is a big rock in the middle where people stay, but it can only accommodate about 10-12 people plus it is still submerged in water.
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| El Nido Resorts - Miniloc |
We were still supposed to go somewhere else but the boatmen said that the current is a bit strong so we can't go. We just stopped again at the entrance of the Big Lagoon and we swam for about an hour. It was about 4PM when we returned to the town.
TOUR C
We did the Tour C the next day. It was a bit expensive compared to Tour A because we paid P900 per person for this tour. The inclusions are still the same -- lunch, towels, and snorkeling gears. We went to five destinations this time -- Helicopter Island, Talisay Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Hidden Beach, and Cadlao Beach.
Helicopter Island
The island is called Helicopter Island because of its shape. It looks like a helicopter to some, and sharks to some. Our boatmen for the day said that Survivor Sweden shot on the same shore that we swam, much to the delight of our half Russian-half Swedish friend, Olia.
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| Do you see the helicopter? |
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| Now, do you see the helicopter? Haha! Please forgive my drawing skills. |
Talisay Beach
Our next stop was Talisay Beach, where we had our lunch. We were supposed to go to Secret Beach but the current was too strong. There's a big Talisay tree in the middle of the beach, hence the name. There's a small cave on the left side of the beach. The sand is so white and the waves are not too big. I found something interesting along the shore -- there are watermelons and papayas that are growing there. I realized these are the seeds of the fruits that the boatmen serve for the tours. I also noticed a pile of cans that was burnt on one side of the beach. I hope they would have proper waste disposal, so the beach won't be trashed soon.
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| Tourists waiting for lunch. |
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| Small cave. |
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| It looks like the cucumbers were a standard part of the lunch. |
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| Garbage! :( |
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| A watermelon fruit that was maybe eaten by crablets or something. |
Matinloc Shrine
Although our boatman tried, we were really not able to go to Secret Beach. It will remain as as secret to us until we return. We went to Matinloc Shrine instead. It used to be a convent or a home of the nuns, but is now abandoned. There's a big dome in the middle where there's an altar of Mother Mary. There's also a small beach.
Rumor has it that there's a big deposit of oil under the island. In the 1970's, a foreigner and his Filipino wife spent P25M to build the convent. Our boatman said that P25M at that time was too expensive for a convent. He then pointed to the altar which is made of pure white marble. He said that under the altar is a big revolving machine that sucks out the oil underneath. In mid-1990's, the owner of the convent just fled and then it was closed. He also noted that until now, there's still oil underneath. Again, this is just an urban legend. Not really sure if everything that the boatman said was real. Every year, people go to the shrine to celebrate the feast of the Our Lady of Matinloc. The owner of the shrine spends for everything in the feast. Maybe to give thanks for all the oil that they got from the island.
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| So who's going with me to dig up the oil? |
Hidden Beach
Our fourth stop is the Hidden Beach. It is a small cove in an island. You may need to go through a small cave to get the beach. I didn't bring my camera when we went there because I was scared that it would get wet. I borrowed some photos from our friend, Marky, so I can show you the place.
Tips: It is okay to not go through the cave. There's a small canal that you can take as an alternative. Bring beach shoes as well because this place have a lot of small stones that may hurt your feet.
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| If you are claustrophobic (like me), don't go in there! |
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| This leads to the sea. |
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| I don't have any other photo to show you what the beach looks like, so forgive out stomachs here. |
Cadlao Beach
For our last stop, we went to Cadlao Beach in exchange of the Secret Beach tour. It is a good place to snorkel as there are so many fish and corals underwater.
We went back to town around 6PM that day. We were too sore and sunburnt from Tour C but we already know why it was more expensive that the others.
El Nido is really a paradise worth going to. I hope every Filipino can go there to see how awesome God's creation. We look forward to going back to El Nido soon!
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