I'm back from Palawan. This time I was able to go to El Nido, the backpackers paradise. I took the photo above before snorkeling. It was the first stop of the island hopping tour that I joined. With me are tourists from France. El Nido is that big in France because of Koh Lanta, their version of Survivor.
In the photo is the entrance to Small Lagoon. The entrance is the slit on the left of the man on the canoe.
Going in with snorkel was easy until I reached the end where I discovered that the snorkel is leaking.
Going back was...
...I saw a slide show of my life with no sound.
The next photo shows the beach front of the town. El Nido is a small town located at the northern tip of Palawan. It faces west so sunsets are good.
El Nido can be reached by bus from Puerto Princesa. The buses that ply this route leave too early as their last trip is 8:30AM. They do this to have extra time because some segments of the road are not well paved that flat tires are very common. But road conditions have significantly improved.
PPS-Roxas is the first segment and is more than 120 km. The road is concrete and good. Travel time is 2-3 hours.
Roxas-Taytay, the second segment is 1/4 rough road and 3/4 concrete and construction is ongoing. Travel time is approximately 2 hours.
Taytay-El Nido is 1/4 concrete. Travel time is approximately 2 hours.
So the total travel time is 6 to 7 hours. It's like going to Baguio but of course more stressful because the buses are non-aircon, the seats are smaller, and the road is bumpy.
Fare is 350 to 400 pesos depending on the bus company.
In a way this is also good. Imagine the crowd that would go there if transpo is better?
I stayed in El Nido Plaza Inn, one of the cheapest places to stay in El Nido. It's already peak season there so it's difficult to find a cheap place to stay specially if you arrive late in the day. A couple from Prague I met had to stay on a $50+ inn. They told me that they'll look for cheaper accommodation on their second day. Here's a list of inns from the town's tourism office.
El Nido Plaza Inn is comparable to the hut where I stayed in when I went to Guimaras. It has a fan, which is useless because electricity is scheduled for only several hours. Toilet and bath is common just like in Green House in Sagada, but Green House is even cheaper.
Below is a photo of the tour rates in El Nido. These are the sets that they offer. According to the operator the best to take are A and C. So El Nido can be best enjoyed if you will stay for a week or more!
I was only able to join one, Tour A and the experience was life changing! Really! :)
Our first stop was the Small Lagoon about 30 minutes from town. Here's a video and intro to the place that "was once a cave".
Next was Simezu where we had lunch. Another accident happened here. I was really that accident prone that day. While I was carefully and slowly going down from the boat which was parked on waist-deep water, my foot was caught by a rope supporting the small stair and I plunged face first in the water. Luckily I did not carry my dSLR with me or else... Lunch was included in the package and consisted of rice, grilled fish and salads.
After contemplating on the meaning of life under a tree for several hours, I was convinced by one of the French guys to snorkel again. The sight was great, there were many fishes of different kinds and the water was just waist-deep lang pala.
Next was Secret Lagoon which is an even smaller lagoon with very cold water.
Below are photos of the entrance to the Big Lagoon.
We then headed to Seven Commandos beach and headed back to town.
Happy new life/year to all!