El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

El Nido is a northern city on the island of Palawan. Unlike Boracay, a very popular tourist spot in the Philippines, El Nido is a sleepy little town with little commercialization (as of 2014).There were no known chain restaurants or hotels. Just friendly small private businesses. Though many are owned by foreigners but they employed locals.

El Nido is beautiful. The ocean is warm all day long. The water is crazy clear and you forget you're in the ocean. The corrals and sea life are amazing. It's like watching National Geographic. Near waters are littered with small islands and hidden beaches in the centers of small hollowed out peaks on these small islands. The only way to get to them is to swim and wade through small openings that only experienced guides can find. 

People are friendly. None of the hustle and bustle of Manila. And it is affordable. If you're not into the crowd, parties, and shopping malls, look into El Nido, before more discover it.

Getting There

You can fly directly into El Nido from near cities. However, El Nido doesn't really have an airport; it has a runway. So you'll need to be comfortable with a small plane. The one we flew in on from Manila was actually pretty nice. From the runway, you take a trike (motor-tricycle) to the town. We pre-arranged to have a driver there for us. You can find all those information online. 

After El Nido, we went to Puerto Princesa by hiring a driver and shared a van with 8 or 10 people. The trip took about 6 hours and it was not comfortable. I still would not recommend driving yourself, though, unless you're really familiar with the locals. The roads are not paved and you're passing really rural areas. Better to let a reputable company take care of the driving. I would look into hiring a private car or an arrangement with less people.

Needless to say, you can fly into Puerto Princesa first then take the road trip to El Nido instead. Puerto Princesa has an actual airport so it has more routes flying into it.

Where to Stay

We stayed on the path (Access Lane to Caalan Beach on Google Map) leading to Caalan Beach. I like it but I advise not to stay too far from the town like we did.

There aren't too many options out there in terms of food, convenient stores, or anything other than hotels. Everything is in the town. You wanna eat, get bottled waters, fruit, hit the market, go out on a boat, you gotta go into town. Remember that it is hot there. After walking back and forth a few times, it gets old real fast. We were fortunate that one of the resort staff offered to take us on his motorcycle but you can imagine how uncomfortable it is having 3 adults on a motorcycle going through unpaved little path. Also, the trikes didn't go much further into the access lane. That was 2 years ago, though..

The little resort we stayed at does have its own access to water. And because it is a little further, the area is more secluded. It's like we have the ocean to ourselves sometimes. Water is also cleaner because you don't have a bunch of boats coming in and out of the harbor in town.

So if you like quiet, find a place towards Caalan Beach but not too far from town. For convenience, stay in town. :)

Hire Boats

You can always go with Art Cafe, a bigger local agency / hotel / store. Their guides are generally better and it is a very established and reputable business. We also asked our resort to arrange to have local guides to take us out. It was a lot more affordable. They may not speak English as well and boats may not be as nice. It worked out for us fine, though. 

Everyone boat pretty much follows the same island hopping tour packages. If you go during slower seasons, you don't need to pre-book. Some let you customize the tours. They are all great. I highly recommend doing snorkeling or diving and hidden beaches. 

For lunch, they'll take you to an island with a beach where you and other guests can have to yourselves for a couple of hours. They'll cook right on the beach and it was unexpectedly delicious. 

Goodies

• If you like seafood, go towards the ferry terminal. There's a place where you can eat right on the beach. You order by picking the fresh fish and whatever else they have (squid, octopus, clams, etc). They'll cook it fresh and you get to eat under the stars and moonlight on the beach.
• Ask the hotels or help you arrange tours with local guides. Be sure you are comfortable with it, though.
• Bring waterproof cameras or phones. You'll want to capture it all.