El Nido, Palawan: Wonders of Lagoons (Tour A)
Waking up the next day seeing those gigantic limestone cliffs, El Nido never fails to fill me with fascination with its splendors. It was surreal, seeing those rock formations surrounded by crystal blue waters, as if it was alluring you to another part of the world.
A perfect way to celebrate our birthday, we hopped on the boat and started our tour, discovering another wonders of Mother Nature.
SEVEN COMMANDOS BEACH
Seven Commandos Beach, named after a ship that was stranded on the island, gives a majestic welcome with its wide stretch of white sand and dozens of palm trees.
After we jumped off the boat, we left our things in one of the nipa huts and explored the island. Apart from the beach where you can snorkel or swim, there’s a volleyball net and a basketball ring and some vendors who sell buko juice and other drinks. A perfect appetizer for today’s tour, we spent nearly an hour swimming and enjoying the sight of the nearby islands. This is normally the last stop of the tour so we had the beach to ourselves. Our tour guide even offered us to take some pictures at tinuturuan niya pa kami saan maganda mag pose HAHAHA thanks, Kuya!
SMALL LAGOON
In time for lunch, our boatmen started cooking our food while we did some kayaking towards the lagoon.
One has to paddle through a small hole to get to the Small Lagoon.
An opening to the richness of nature, Small Lagoon offers us a peaceful feeling with its calm and cold waters enclosed with limestone cliffs. The water is clear enough for you to have a captivating sight of the corals and fishes.
After devouring our by-the-boat lunch, we cruised towards our next destination.
Secret Lagoon
Situated on the other side of the huge rocks, we had to swim and crawl, one by one, through a small hole to get inside the Secret Lagoon. There’s a pretty huge crowd when we arrived here so we had to wait in line before finally getting inside. Secret Lagoon is a small pool of waist-deep water surrounded by towering cliffs, it’s like entering another side of El Nido.
Shimizu Island
For our next spot, our boatmen decided that we do some snorkeling instead of going to the shore of the Shimizu Island, which was named after a Japanese scuba diver who unfortunately wasn’t able to come back after exploring the island.
Big Lagoon
Our boat sped away from the island going to our last destination and about 30 minutes later, we anchored in the middle of the sea. We opted not to rent a kayak again however, dahil malakas yung charm natin (hahaha joke), our tour guide gave us a free kayak ride! As our kayak glided through the entryway of the lagoon, we were welcomed once again with sky-high cliffs that lined up on both sides. The water is shallow and very clear that some of the tourists were actually walking. But as you go farther, the water becomes deeper and you feel like uncovering a hidden paradise in another dimension. Big Lagoon is like a postcard turn into reality. It was definitely a sight to behold.
By the time we went back to the shore, the weather became gloomy and soon started raining. It was pretty hard that the wind and waves were getting intense. After an hour sailing, we arrived safely with a feeling of enchantment with nature’s grandeur.
The same day after getting back to our place, we traversed going back to Puerto Princesa and squeezed in Underground River tour the next day.
5-DAY EL NIDO AND PUERTO PRINCESA ITINERARY
Day 1: Puerto Princesa to El Nido
3:10 PM – Arrival at Puerto Princesa Airport
4:00 PM – Travel to El Nido (via van)
9:00 PM – Arrival at Abad’s Place
9:30 PM – Dinner
Day 2: Tour C
7:00 AM – Breakfast
9:00 AM – Start of Tour C (P1400 + P200 environmental fee)
4:00 PM – End of tour
7:00 PM – Dinner
Day 3: Tour A
7:00 AM – Breakfast
10:00 AM – Start of Tour A (P1200)
5:00 PM – End of tour
6:30 PM – Travel to Puerto Princesa
Day 4: Puerto Princesa
1:00 AM – Arrival at Marianne Hotel
6:00 AM – Breakfast
7:30 AM – Pick up / Travel to Underground River
9:00 AM – Start of Underground River Tour
1:30 PM – End of tour
3:00 PM – Back at the hotel
Day 5: Puerto Princesa
7:00 AM – Breakfast
9:00 AM – Pasalubong/Souvenir shopping
12:00 PM – Check-out
1:00 PM – Travel to Puerto Princesa Airport
3:50 PM – Flight back to Manila
