Towering limestone cliffs, hidden lagoons and beaches, clear blue waters, coconut trees on white sands… Oh El Nido, I’ll always be in love with you.
Island hopping
Island hopping is the main activity in El Nido.
I booked our private 2-day island hopping tour with Midnight Sun Tours. I found them on TripAdvisor and they have positive reviews. More importantly, they allow flexibility with time and rates. We are happy with their service.
Midnight Sun Tours is a small family business located in Caalan Village — on the opposite end of the beach in El Nido town. I personally negotiated our rate with the tour owner, Mr. Ilde Dalumpines.
When you haggle, please note that gas supply in El Nido comes directly from Manila.
On our 2-day island hopping tour, his son and his nephew manned our small boat. We also met the owner’s wife who made sure everything was in order including our food and travel permit.
On that same day in their bigger boat were some 10-15 Chinese/Taiwanese nationals who were also on tour. I learned that they booked their tour ahead online. We met them on some of the spots in the islands.
Midnight Sun Tours Caalan Village, El Nido, Palawan Mr. Ilde Dalumpines - Tour Operator/Owner Contact No. 0916 548 0544
All Tour Operators in El Nido adhere to the set of tours arranged by their municipal government.
Rates for tours A, B, C, and D are already fixed. Some operators do offer combination tours.
Personally, I wouldn’t recommend combining Tour A and Tour C.
It is rather exhausting to explore big and small lagoons and secret and hidden beaches all in one day. Matinloc island in Tour C is more than an hour ride from town in a small boat.
Well, if you are renting a speed boat, that would be another story. La Salangane offers speed boat tours and speed boat rental.
An Eco-Tourism Development Fee of P200 per person is required when signing up for the island hopping tour. It's valid for 10 days.
Please, please be careful not to accidentally step on the corals.
• Entalula Island
• Big Lagoon
• Matinloc Island
• The Twin Beaches of Calitang and Nacpan
check out for more photos and stories here: Snapshots from El Nido Island Hopping Tour
Seven Commando Beach (Tour A)
This stretch of white sand beach is perfect for swimming. Forget your aqua shoes or slippers. Massage your toes in soft sands in warm tropical waters.
The most remarkable feature of this beach is having a panoramic view of its neighboring islands.
Entalula Island (Tour B)
This was our pit stop for lunch.
Go snorkeling, swimming, or just enjoy the view while your boat crew is busy with lunch preparation. They take it rather seriously with all those intricate fruit carvings and salad arrangement.
Oh if you do come in the water, wear any protective footwear. Some rocks are sharp, you might cut those dainty toes.
Big Lagoon (Tour A)
Simply majestic. It’s like being transported to another world.
Go snorkeling, kayaking, or just staring at those rock formations — you suddenly wish your eyes could take photos so you don’t have to be bothered fiddling with your camera.
Matinloc Island (Tour C)
Where do I start? Hidden Beach? Secret Beach? Matinloc Shrine? or those tiny beaches dotted all over the island with coconut trees on white sands to complete the picture? I wouldn’t mind exploring Matinloc island for a whole week.
Cruising around this island offers postcard-perfect pictures.
The Twin Beaches of Calitang and Nacpan (Inland Tour)
If you want to wind down after days of island hopping, this is the place to be.
An hour north of El Nido town with rough tracks that would be impassable during heavy rains is a 4km stretch of white sand beach. It is hidden behind long lines of coconut trees in a very small community mostly untouched by modern conveniences.
It would take you more than an hour of leisurely walking from one end of the beach to the other. I noticed one or two foreign tourists use motorcycle or an all terrain vehicle.
more photos and stories here: A Wave of Fun at Nacpan, El Nido, Palawan
• by van – the easiest and most convenient way
• by bus – schedule posted was quite reliable.; would pick up passengers along the way; 6-hour trip could run 7 to 8 hours
• Daytripper Palawan – most comfortable; prone to cancellation
We originally booked our trip with Daytripper Palawan.
They have the most comfortable transport to date. Rates are from P850 (Van) to P950 (Coach). Unfortunately, our booking was cancelled. They need to meet a particular number of passengers for the trip to push through. Ours was booked on a weekday during low season. Not much chance on that.
In the end we just decided to take the bus.
There are of course lots of vans at the terminal going to El Nido or you can arrange transport through your hotel. Prices vary from P600 to P700. But, I dreaded to be in a cramped van on a 6-7 hour land trip. I had bad experience, sorry. The bus is my obvious option.
We took the air-conditioned Cherry Bus that leaves at 9am, from El Nido to Puerto Princesa and vice versa. Fare is P380 per person.
Cherry Bus also has 2 more trips after that. It leaves at 1pm and 9pm, respectively. Both are air-conditioned buses. Take note though that they also service local passengers along the way. It’s their town, so I have no complaints. Though, I would take my chance again with Daytripper Palawan on our next visit.
Oh and don’t miss the sunset at Las Cabañas Resort in Maremegmeg Beach
It’s only a short ride away from El Nido town. I took the shot below just using my Iphone along the road going down to Maremegmeg Beach.
The panoramic view of the sunset there is really a sight to behold.
Enjoy your El Nido trip!