El Nido has been described as an "unspoiled paradise on earth", a "Philippine gem" and "the Philippines' last frontier". This was my first ever trip to the Philippines and I wanted to see if the hype was true.
Okay, to be honest, whilst I was indeed intrigued by these descriptions, the real reason I wanted to visit was because it's where Garland wrote The Beach, which was my favourite book as a 14 year old. Of course I wanted to see the beaches that inspired The Beach!
I found that what El Nido has are undoubtedly the most breathtaking beaches I've ever had the privilege of seeing (sorry Australia), with many fun things to do there. And whilst it is undoubtedly way more touristy than when Garland visited (and displays the regular negatives that tourists bring), it still definitely has this feel of 'edge of the world' remoteness that certainly shocked my sheltered outlook at the time.
So although I didn't always enjoy Palawan (more about this later), it opened my eyes to the fact that was my character flaw, not Palwan's and something I wanted to change about myself. Which I'm very grateful for! So that, combined with those insanely pretty beaches has stayed with me for many years afterwards - thank you El Nido!
Thus, I wrote this blog post - partly to prepare you better than I was, so you can enjoy it more than I did, partly as a tribute to this magical place. I hope you enjoy my Ultimate Guide to El Nido Palawan!
Marimegmeg Beach is not the closest beach to El Nido but in my opinion it is the prettiest, closest beach.
5 Things to Do in El Nido
Thus, I wrote this blog post - partly to prepare you better than I was, so you can enjoy it more than I did, partly as a tribute to this magical place. I hope you enjoy my Ultimate Guide to El Nido Palawan!
1. Chill Out at Marimegmeg Beach!
Marimegmeg Beach is not the closest beach to El Nido but in my opinion it is the prettiest, closest beach.
By this I mean there are certainly closer beaches but they aren't as nice as this one. Even so, this wasn't my favourite beach in Palawan, but it's perfect for days where you want to go to the beach, but you don't want to have the effort of getting there by boat or long tricycle ride.
There is a bar on the beach that makes good sandwiches and drinks and it's the perfect place to watch the sunset:
My friend Jon also wrote a guide about El Nido which you can see here: DIY guide to El Nido.
From Marimegmeg beach it's pretty easy to visit my favourite island: Pinabuyutan Island.
2. Hire a boat and go to Pinabuyutan Island!
From Marimegmeg beach it's pretty easy to visit my favourite island: Pinabuyutan Island.
It's my favourite because I'd never seen (and haven't since seen) a more beautiful beach. It's the epitome of beach perfect.
With the help* of our friends Sab and GK we hired a local fisherman to take us to Pinabuyuan Island and back.
(*This here means that Sab kind of bullied the local fisherman into lowering their prices in what felt like a moment that left her and the fisherman all feeling like they got the worst end of the deal. But considering that Sab, GK, Tan and I had all come from Europe, we could have just paid more to the fishermen who'd no doubt had way less money than us... Like I feel icky thinking back on it. Sorry!)
We paid 1200 PHP (which is about £20 or $25) in total for the four of us. Aka £4 each for a ticket to paradise and back. Whilst I feel bad about Sab bullying the fisherman now, at the time I had my own financial traumas and hang-ups and felt protected by her 'expertise' and happy that we 'got a good deal' and 'weren't being ripped off' or 'seen as walking atms'.
As to the beach itself it's perfect for taking Pinterest photos (which is what Sab and GK did) and perfect for taking Instagram photos (which is what Tan and I did). We swam a bit too (for the gram) and GK climbed a coconut tree (for the Pinterest). Yes, we all went across the world to take photos for our computers (all hail the screens). In terms of 'things to do there' there are no cafes or restaurants or anything - if I went back, I would defo make an effort to be in the moment and do nothing!
Extra info: My friends Rachel and Ruben wrote this blog post: Palawan Travel - A Philippine Treasure Destination, which I think compliments this blog post well.
I used to have a love/hate relationship with tricycles: I loved them because they are exciting, I hated them because I felt like they were dangerous.
Extra info: My friends Rachel and Ruben wrote this blog post: Palawan Travel - A Philippine Treasure Destination, which I think compliments this blog post well.
3. Hire a tricycle for the day and see Nacpan Beach!
I used to have a love/hate relationship with tricycles: I loved them because they are exciting, I hated them because I felt like they were dangerous.
A tricycle is a motorcycle that's been DIY altered so it can take a passenger or two (or four) on the side. Lots of the sidecars seem to be made out of old cars, most are colourful and all (at the time) seemed to my sheltered western butt to be about as safe as a rusty nail.
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| Jeepney - popular in Manila - next to a tricycle (Photo credit: Pixabay) |
Of course, nowadays I am less sheltered and more chill about tricycles. At the time I wasn't comfortable hiring a motorbike, and maybe you aren't either, in which case hiring a tricycle and driver for the day to take you up to Nacpan beach is my recommendation.
Voted #2 out of things to do in El Nido by TripAdvisor, Nacpan Beach is basically another beautiful beach in Palawan. There is a small restaurant there, it's safe to swim in the ocean, and if you take a tiny walk down the beach you will find this:
Which is a triple beach!
The tricycle driver that we hired waited for us at the beach. I was surprised that he didn't expect payment until the end of the day - I figured it would be half before, half after or even all before, not all at the end - but that again says more about me than him!
Nacpan Beach is far away from Corong Corong, about 40 minutes drive, but it felt further to me because the ride was 'bumpy'. (Again, I was a sheltered princess.) Even so, I still decided it "was totally worth it though!"
4. Rent a kayak in El Nido!
You can hire a kayak on the beach in El Nido for a mere 200 php (about £3/ $4)
It's a great way to combine exercise with finding deserted beaches, coves and water so clear, you can see for metres and metres!
5 Mistakes to Avoid In El Nido
Nevertheless, we still had some awful days in El Nido, and have no one to blame but ourselves. Luckily you can make use of our misery by reading these '5 mistakes not to make in El Nido' (and by not doing them yourselves)!
El Nido is famous for its ABCD tours - four separate tours that take you to the best beaches and coves off the coast of Palawan. Unfortunately, we never made it on a single tour. Firstly we made the mistake of trusting a certain tour guide, who agreed to take us in three days, but didn't, and thus wasted three days. Then we had severely bad food poisoning which put us out of action for the rest of our time in El Nido (more about this later).
1. We Didn't Go On A Tour In El Nido :(
El Nido is famous for its ABCD tours - four separate tours that take you to the best beaches and coves off the coast of Palawan. Unfortunately, we never made it on a single tour. Firstly we made the mistake of trusting a certain tour guide, who agreed to take us in three days, but didn't, and thus wasted three days. Then we had severely bad food poisoning which put us out of action for the rest of our time in El Nido (more about this later).
We've heard mixed reviews about the ABCD tours anyway - most say that it's really expensive for the service you're given, but the beautiful sites make up for it, even if they are a bit too touristy nowadays. We'd love to have made a decision for ourselves though - next time El Nido! Take away lesson: make sure you find a reputable ABCD tour guide.
We'd heard the (incorrect) rumour that there is no cash machine in El Nido, so we tried to take out enough money for our time there beforehand in Puerto Princessa. This itself was a problem: most of the banks wouldn't take our international cards, and then my card got blocked because even though I'd told the bank I was abroad, apparently no one in their right mind would go to Puerto Princessa so it still blocked me.
2. We Didn't Have Enough Money
We'd heard the (incorrect) rumour that there is no cash machine in El Nido, so we tried to take out enough money for our time there beforehand in Puerto Princessa. This itself was a problem: most of the banks wouldn't take our international cards, and then my card got blocked because even though I'd told the bank I was abroad, apparently no one in their right mind would go to Puerto Princessa so it still blocked me.
When we finally found a bank that would work for us we found a crazy limit on our card (about £100 per day). We'd planned to spend two weeks in El Nido, but £100 wasn't going to be enough for two people. Compared to other South East Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and even Thailand, we found the Philippines to be expensive.
This put a downer on our trip, we wanted to have massages by the beach, eat delicious meals, have cocktails whilst the sun went down, but because we didn't have enough money, we couldn't do these things. Okay, this wasn't the end of the world, but we'd got used to this lifestyle in Asia. Take away lesson: get your PHP before you come to the Philippines!
We made the mistake of pre-booking for an entire week after a recommendation by a few other bloggers. The place turned out to be really crappy. We hated everything about it, especially the fact that we'd paid for an air-conditioned room and then found out that the air-con wasn't allowed to be on between 10am and 4pm. Most days this wasn't a problem, as we were out enjoying El Nido during these hours.
This put a downer on our trip, we wanted to have massages by the beach, eat delicious meals, have cocktails whilst the sun went down, but because we didn't have enough money, we couldn't do these things. Okay, this wasn't the end of the world, but we'd got used to this lifestyle in Asia. Take away lesson: get your PHP before you come to the Philippines!
3. Booking Accommodation In Advance
We made the mistake of pre-booking for an entire week after a recommendation by a few other bloggers. The place turned out to be really crappy. We hated everything about it, especially the fact that we'd paid for an air-conditioned room and then found out that the air-con wasn't allowed to be on between 10am and 4pm. Most days this wasn't a problem, as we were out enjoying El Nido during these hours.
But when we had food poisoning it was a nightmare, we couldn't move from the room (apart from running to the toilet) and it was so hot and horrible. Take away lesson: pre-book the first couple of nights so you're not stressed when you get there, but then go and look round the hostels and pick one you like for your next few nights. And don't even bother with Novies!
Yea I hear you, if you're in a place that looks like paradise you shouldn't care about the internet bla bla bla. We're not messing around on here, the internet is how we make a living. We're not trying to get a good Instagram photo to make people jealous (well okay we were a the time).
4. Assuming the Internet Would Be Good
Yea I hear you, if you're in a place that looks like paradise you shouldn't care about the internet bla bla bla. We're not messing around on here, the internet is how we make a living. We're not trying to get a good Instagram photo to make people jealous (well okay we were a the time).
Wrongly or rightly, the internet is very important to us, and as so many Filipinos are active online, and we get a lot of YouTube and blog traffic from the Philippines, we'd wrongly assumed the internet would be good. We were thinking the internet would be as good as it is in Thailand (where it's excellent). In Manila the internet is actually pretty good, and even in Puerto Princessa it was reasonable. In El Nido it was practically non-existent. So yeah, either we shouldn't be so dependent on the internet and/or we should have taken a break from work and enjoyed our trip in El Nido properly.
Take away lesson: go there for its beauty and to get away from using the internet, not to be a digital nomad.
I've already mentioned food poisoning a few times, but it deserves it's own section because it was the worst thing about our time in El Nido. And like all the other points, this was our own fault. When we first got to South East Asia we were really diligent about following our 'don't get food poisoning rules': we didn't have drinks with ice, we didn't eat meat or rice where we couldn't see it being cooked (and thus thoroughly heated) etc.
Take away lesson: go there for its beauty and to get away from using the internet, not to be a digital nomad.
5. Food Poisoning in El Nido
I've already mentioned food poisoning a few times, but it deserves it's own section because it was the worst thing about our time in El Nido. And like all the other points, this was our own fault. When we first got to South East Asia we were really diligent about following our 'don't get food poisoning rules': we didn't have drinks with ice, we didn't eat meat or rice where we couldn't see it being cooked (and thus thoroughly heated) etc.
By the time we got to the Philippines we'd become really blasé about these kind of rules and hadn't really thought about it. At Merimegmeg beach we ate rice and chicken where we hadn't seen it being cooked and then finished it off with a cool iced drink.
6 hours later, we had the worst food poisoning of our lives: both ends. It was awful. But our own fault. Take away lesson: learn a few rules about how to avoid food poisoning and stick to them.
As I've mentioned earlier: all the mistakes we made in El Nido were our own fault - either we were being stupid or we were being entitled which isn't cool and is something we are working on. We just hope that you can take something away from these lessons and have the perfect time in El Nido!
Summary: Do Not Make These 5 Mistakes In El Nido
As I've mentioned earlier: all the mistakes we made in El Nido were our own fault - either we were being stupid or we were being entitled which isn't cool and is something we are working on. We just hope that you can take something away from these lessons and have the perfect time in El Nido!
The (Good) Food in the Philippines
On the happy note of food poisoning, let's talk about the food in the Philippines!
On getting food poisoning: It was my fault. If you're planning a trip to SE Asia for the first time, no doubt you've looked up a few simple rules to follow so you don't get food poisoning- don't be dumb like me!
But enough of bad food experiences in the Philippines, what were good ones that I had?
The fruit in the Philippines is fresh, juicy, delicious and cheap!
On getting food poisoning: It was my fault. If you're planning a trip to SE Asia for the first time, no doubt you've looked up a few simple rules to follow so you don't get food poisoning- don't be dumb like me!
But enough of bad food experiences in the Philippines, what were good ones that I had?
The Fruit in the Philippines
The fruit in the Philippines is fresh, juicy, delicious and cheap!
Of course it is when it's grown right there. In fact, you will probably be lucky enough to eat it straight off the tree. I highly recommend the mangos!
Adobo was my favourite meal in the Philippines. It's basically meat or seafood or veg, marinated in soy sauce and garlic and browned in oil.
Filipino Adobo
Adobo was my favourite meal in the Philippines. It's basically meat or seafood or veg, marinated in soy sauce and garlic and browned in oil.
When I came back to the Philippines a year later as a vegan, I tried vegan Adobo and it tasted just as good (and is way less likely to give you food poisoning!)
I'm going to start by saying where not to stay in El Nido: Novie's Tourist Inn because I did and I didn't like it. I mean maybe it's my fault for having high expectations.. but maybe it's also because of false advertising: we booked an air-con room but this meant air-con for just two hours a day(!) and even then it rarely went on at the correct time.
Where to Stay in El Nido
I'm going to start by saying where not to stay in El Nido: Novie's Tourist Inn because I did and I didn't like it. I mean maybe it's my fault for having high expectations.. but maybe it's also because of false advertising: we booked an air-con room but this meant air-con for just two hours a day(!) and even then it rarely went on at the correct time.
The wifi was appalling, though that's pretty much true for the whole of El Nido (and let's face it, you don't go for the wifi).
The showers only had cold water. I know, I know, it's a hot country and who wants hot water anyway, but I'm sorry, I sometimes do. The bathroom smelt really bad too!
The location had its advantages and disadvantages: it's outside Corong Corong which is good as it's away from the craziness, but bad because tricycle drivers will try and charge you a 100 php (£1.70 / $2) to get to Corong Corong - that's so expensive for a 3 minute drive!
It's a stones throw from a nice looking beach (where I wouldn't recommend swimming because of invisible pollution).
The showers only had cold water. I know, I know, it's a hot country and who wants hot water anyway, but I'm sorry, I sometimes do. The bathroom smelt really bad too!
The location had its advantages and disadvantages: it's outside Corong Corong which is good as it's away from the craziness, but bad because tricycle drivers will try and charge you a 100 php (£1.70 / $2) to get to Corong Corong - that's so expensive for a 3 minute drive!
It's a stones throw from a nice looking beach (where I wouldn't recommend swimming because of invisible pollution).
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| The nice looking beach |
All in all, not our cup of tea. Others recommend:
Though we haven't personally stayed at these and can't personally confirm that they are good, our friends who have stayed there said that they were and we trust their judgement.
There are a few ways to get to El Nido:
The most comfortable and the most expensive option would be to fly directly to El Nido. The only way to do this is to fly out of Manila - the capital of the Philippines.
Though we haven't personally stayed at these and can't personally confirm that they are good, our friends who have stayed there said that they were and we trust their judgement.
How to Get to El Nido
There are a few ways to get to El Nido:
Fly straight to El Nido
The most comfortable and the most expensive option would be to fly directly to El Nido. The only way to do this is to fly out of Manila - the capital of the Philippines.
Pretty much everyone we'd spoken to didn't like Manila, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that we did like it. It's no Paris, but it has a certain charm and identity to it that lots of capitals (Canberra, Bratislava, Tallinn) certainly don't have.
Alternatively you can fly to Puerto Princessa and get the Cherry Bus up to El Nido. The bus is bumpy, they play movies or music which seem to be at a really loud volume when you don't want to hear them, and a really low volume when you do... Still, both the bus ride there and the bus ride back were some of our favourite memories in the Philippines (we're sad):
Fly to Puerto Princessa and take a bus to El Nido
Alternatively you can fly to Puerto Princessa and get the Cherry Bus up to El Nido. The bus is bumpy, they play movies or music which seem to be at a really loud volume when you don't want to hear them, and a really low volume when you do... Still, both the bus ride there and the bus ride back were some of our favourite memories in the Philippines (we're sad):
On the way there, a few local girls wanted their photo taken with Tanbay and made him feel like a rock star.
On the way back, the bus got really full and a pregnant lady and her husband had to stand. I made Tanbay give up his seat to the woman (I'm a saint). The man was so grateful he tried to give us a bunch of bananas, it was so kind and makes me cry every time I think about it...
Anyway, some practical information if you decide to take this route: we took the Cherry Bus, you can pay on the day, you don't have to worry about booking a seat.
Depending when you arrive/leave it might be a good idea to spend the night in Puerto Princessa. We stayed with Hotel Centro and recommend them very highly, because their staff are unbelievably kind and helpful.
On the way back, the bus got really full and a pregnant lady and her husband had to stand. I made Tanbay give up his seat to the woman (I'm a saint). The man was so grateful he tried to give us a bunch of bananas, it was so kind and makes me cry every time I think about it...
Anyway, some practical information if you decide to take this route: we took the Cherry Bus, you can pay on the day, you don't have to worry about booking a seat.
Depending when you arrive/leave it might be a good idea to spend the night in Puerto Princessa. We stayed with Hotel Centro and recommend them very highly, because their staff are unbelievably kind and helpful.
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| Beautiful pool at Hotel Centro |
When looking for cheap flights you can book with Traveloka, they have the most competitive prices in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
Wrap Up: The Ultimate Guide to El Nido, Palawan
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| Sunset in El Nido |
In conclusion, there are many great reasons to go to El Nido. I can almost guarantee you will find the most beautiful beaches of your life.
Go with an open mind and heart, don't expect good wifi, don't get food poisoning and you will absolutely love it. We can't wait to go back and explore more of the Philippines!
Have you been to the Philippines? What's your favourite part? More about the Philippines: Coron Palawan itinerary. P.S.: If you're interested in a way of travelling and getting accommodation cheaply, you might wanna check out house sitting. Trustedhousesitters.com was kind enough to provide us and our readers with a 10% discount, feel free to click on the link to use it :)
