The Palawan Islands around El Nido

So far on our trip in the Philippines we’ve experienced some great adventures in Bohol and beautiful beaches and sunsets in Boracay, however we were now getting to the best the country has to offer, the Palawan Islands, located in the western part of the Philippines and known for the crystal-clear waters, white sand beaches and large limestone cliffs that rise from the sea.

We caught a small propeller flight that took us non stop from Boracay to El Nido airport where after a short tricycle ride (a motorcycle attached to a sidecar which was able to take two of us at one time) we arrived at our accomodation in the town of El Nido, the Bunakidz Lodge which we had booked through AirBnb. Our accomodation was basic but it offered a bunk bed for the kids and a queen bed for us, was near the centre of things and had friendly staff.

After check-in, we wandered down to the ocean and the harbour where we were met by a range of colourful boats against an amazing backdrop of towering limestone cliffs. We walked along the waterfront streets which is filled with shops, restaurants, cafes and bars where we located a place where we could sit down to have a cold drink and dinner whilst enjoying the views over the harbour during sunset.

After our meal, we walked past the main office of Kraken el Nido, a tour group that arranges tours throughout the islands in the archipelago around El Nido. Now there are many many different tour guides that offer tours, however I had done some research on these guys and it seems that they offered a slightly different experience as not only were their boat larger, they also left later in the day and arrived later (after sunset), meaning that you could avoid the large crowds everywhere you go. 

I had initially planned on booking their K1 trip, which is supposedly a combination of tours A and B (there are basically four types of tours along these islands which all other boats offer and which are called A, B, C and D). However, the only tour going out the next day was their K2 (C and D combined). We were also told that on Sunday nil tours were going out, so instead of risking us missing out, we booked four tickets for the following day.

Our tour began the following morning by us all getting fitted into our water shoes, masks and snorkels that we were to use during our tour and we were then guided onto the boat, which had ample seating along the sides of the boat and a large lie down bed in the centre offering plenty of room for us four. In total there were 18 persons on this trip and Xander and Eloise were by fan the youngest, however we were not the oldest either which I had almost expected but I guess that when you pay more for a trip, you don’t get the backpackers who generally book the cheapest option.

We took off from the harbour with the sea breeze flowing around us and soon ventured into the heart of the Palawan Islands, each destination providing us with awe inspiring sights of these limestone cliffs rising out of the ocean and amazingly turquoise waters, each scene as pretty as a postcard!

Our first stop was at the Pasandigan Cove where our guide had us jump into the waters and swim towards a small cave where we had to squeeze through a narrow passage to enter a hidden chamber where we observed stalactites and stalagmites whilst being inside the small pool of water, quite an sight! 

We continued with our second stop being Helicopter Beach located along Helicopter Island, named as it resembles a helicopter when viewed from far away. Here we were able to swim to the beautiful beach lined with palm trees or just snorkel along the crystal-clear waters which offered some great initial views of the marine life. After having done a dive among pretty poor visibility in Boracay, these waters were just amazing, the visibility was great and I could see close to 100 metres underwater. 

After this, our next stop was the Small Lagoon where we would be staying for a while whilst we were given the option to kayak into the lagoon before lunch was served. Eloise and I jumped on the first Kayak that was available and soon enough we were navigating through a narrow passageway flanked by limestone cliffs, and entered a beautiful lagoon, all by ourselves as there was no one else inside, just Eloise and I. We kayaked our way through, surrounded by water so clear that we could see everything around us. It was amazing to glide through the calm waters, discovering secluded alcoves. On our way back, we went past Suz and Xander who had only just started making their way into the lagoon. 

Once we were all back on the boat, we were offered an amazing lunch with a range of different food options. We were also explained that whilst they were able to offer lunch directly on the boat, most other tours took their food onto the islands where they offered it as they weren’t able to fit it on their smaller boats, another great reason for using these guys!

After lunch, I went for another snorkel swim which eventually led me to the small beach in the area, where I again was all by myself and almost felt like I was on the set of ‘Cast Away’. After a well deserved rest, swim and snorkel, we were again soon on our way again to our next stop, Cagbantang Beach on Matinloc Island, another amazingly beautiful secluded beach, were we once again were almost all by ourselves. Suz and the kids made their way onto the beach however I choose to stay in the waters surrounding the beach and exploring the coral reef on offer which again was stunning.

Our last stop for the day was Balinawood Beach, a beautifiul beach that stretched forever and offered plenty of time for just swimming and playing in the sand which we did plenty of (well at least Suz, Eloise and I, Xander at this stage had enough of beaches and was on his phone with his headphones playing games). 

On our way back to the mainland, I took the opportunity to sit near the water, beer in hand and just tried to soak it all in. Our boat did a quick stop before returning, just hovering in the ocean whilst we observed the sun set behind Helicopter Island before we headed back to the mainland. We all enjoyed our day so much that we immediately went back into the officers of Kraken El Nido and booked their K1 trip for Monday.

The following day we had a sleep-in and relaxed in town, exploring the charming streets to see what else was on offer and where I of course located a small craft brewery (who would have thought), Boodmo Brewery where I of course had to get a small sample of their beers which were quite tasty. Later that afternoon, Eloise and I took undertook the El Nido Canopy Walk which took us on an elevated walkway to the top of the mountain, offering great panoramic views over El Nido.

The following morning, for various reasons, I was the only one that undertook the K1 tour whilst the rest had another day of rest in town. I soon joined on the boat and realised that it was only 10 guests on board, and that I was the only one not from Spain.

This tour was very similar to the previous, the only difference was the destinations. On this tour we were treated to locations such as the Cathedral Cave on Cathedral Island, Cudugnon Beach and Cave, the amazing Snake Island and the Big Lagoon where we again were given the option to Kayak. I had another amazing day exploring all these destinations and the snorkelling appeared to be better and better at each place we stopped, not only that, but on the final spot, I finally managed to spot a turtle in the ocean which was one of the highlights.

Arriving back into land I soon joined up with Suz and the kids again, content after another amazing day at sea. The following morning however it was time to leave and after another short tricycle ride we were back at the airport where we caught a 45min flight that took us to the island of Busuanga Island and Coron Town, the gateway to Coron Island. 

We had an absolutely amazing time in El Nido and I could have stayed here so much longer as I would have been content to keep doing tours along these amazingly beautiful islands. I would recommend anyone and everyone to visit and I feel that I would be very happy to return here in the future!