I’ve been trying to finish this blog after our trip to El Nido last February 12, 2016 but things happened unexpectedly and we’ve been so busy making life that I’ve forgotten it. We actually welcomed our firstborn, Von Gabriel last October 2016 and he’s now 7 months old. I will try to write on why we’ve come up with that name for him and how we found out that I was pregnant (honestly, I’m already a month pregnant when went to Palawan 😅) So I decided to finish this post since it is already outdated and my memories aren’t that fresh anymore but still I couldn’t forget them. That was the best trip ever that we’ve had so far! 💕
Traveling to Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan (4:30am wake up time)…
Our flight to Puerto Prinsesa was 8:05am and we left the apartment of Russell (he’s my husband now ❤️) at Boni around 5:20am. We managed to book Grab however the Grab driver didn’t know our exact location and we ended up walking 4 corners to get to the car where the driver parked. Russell got annoyed about that and I made him calm. I asked him why he gets annoyed easily? He just said that “I dont want to miss our flight and I’m way too excited for this” (well, who’s not? 😂😍). We arrived at NAIA Terminal 3 just in time for our check in to Cebu Pacific. We’ve checked in as soon as we’ve entered the airport and happy that I’ve got the window seat reserved.
Window seat💕
We just waited for about an hour for the boarding(perfect timing I guess) and thankful that our flight isn’t delayed. Btw, we bought our tickets last November 2015 because we saw that the airfare was cheap at that time and Russell decided that we would really go to Palawan for a Valentine’s vacay. Awwww ❤️. He’s the sweetest, I know. 😍
Even if this is our first time to travel together via plane we still planned it as a Do-it-your-own Itinerary to El Nido and we actually really saved a lot. From the room for our 4D3N-stay to our island hopping and food 😁. We’re also lucky to knew someone we contact there that were so accommodating and nice. I’ll be providing the details in Part 2 for our budget trip to El Nido. Continue to the adventure, while on board I noticed some foreigners and on our lane there are some senior citizen women who are so excited for the trip. I heard one saying “I would definitely go snorkeling!” That confidence in that age. I admire those kind of people and I’m happy to see such old people who still loves adventure with their friends and family. I wish I could do that too when I get old. ☺️
We arrived in Puerto Prinsesa airport around 9:30am. The moment we got out of the plane we didn’t want to miss out the view so we took pictures on the ramp seeing the Puerto Prinsesa airport at the back.
At Puerto Prinsesa Airport
We were greeted by the friendly airport staffs and welcomed by the boy who were waiting for us to get to the van for our 6hr ride to El Nido.
On our way to El Nido😍
After 2hrs of traveling, we stopped at a beautiful place somewhere along the highway to have some snack and use the toilet. I was amazed when I get inside the toilet and see the amazing view in front of me while peeing! What a relaxing way to welcome us😍
What a nice view while peeing!😍
We just bought some snacks and water to keep us filled. We stayed there for 10-15mins I think. Here’s the landscape view outside:
First stop over😁
Since we dont want to miss the view on our way we didnt take a nap. Then, we stopped after 2hrs in a resto for lunch. We ate shrimp (His fav).
Quick Lunch😋
We stayed there for only 30mins, we ate and took pictures of the view. Then we head our way. I’m sorry but I now forget the names of the places we’ve stopped on our way. 🤔😞
The view during lunch. 😍
Atlast! We arrived in El Nido. I was so excited to see the limestones of the cliffs and I said we’re almost there! We’re the 2nd to the last passengers who were dropped by the driver to our place. I noticed right away that there are a lot of foreigners there. I almost see foreigners in the streets than the natives. We waited for Ms Ivy who we contacted. We we’re so happy that they actually didn’t arrange us downpayment first before we get there. They trusted our word that we will be going there. They were really nice people. Finally we’ve met but she said that there’s no available room in Blessed Inn. But she didn’t disappoint us. 🤗 She has already arranged with the owner of Mountain Side Inn Ms Annabel that we will be staying there instead. How great right?! And we praise them because they are working and helping each other to get others have customers too. Such a good place and people. 😍
So we stayed at Mountain Side Inn (place is at the back of Mt Taraw) but we booked initially at Blessed Inn. We are actually lucky enough because we get to see the view of Taraw cliff, it is not so crowded and noisy place.
View from our Inn. Taraw Cliff is at the back! 😍
After we finished unpacking our things, we prepared the GoPro and went strolling to catch the sunset. Just a 15min walk to the beach we get to see this beautiful view. Unli pics!!! 😂😍
Sunset in El Nido…
See, the view didn’t disappoint us. If you go to El Nido, please stop by at the local beach just at the back of Mt Taraw(not the front beach where you assemble for island hopping). You’ll witness the perfect sunset there. That was our perfect sunset actually. 🌅❤️😍
After the sunset, we look for our dinner. We bought bbqs. It’s actually good but the thing is you’ll have a hard time looking for a good food. Well for us we want to budget but for good and delicious food also.
We slept early to recharge for the next day’s adventure. We planned to go island hopping. The normal rate for island hopping usually is within 1000-1200php each for Tour A. But since Ms Ivy is kind 😁 she only gave it for 800 each. We also saved on that.
The next day, Island Hopping adventure…
Around 7am we had coffee and bread for breakfast. We met two guys at the next room and they said that they would also go island hopping. So we’re going together on the same boat. 🤗
Ready😁
We head to the front beach and we’re amaze because we haven’t discovered it yesterday. But we’re timing though.
Nice to meet an ilonggo too ☺️
Our guide is an ilonggo. He can speak and understand but he grew up there in El Nido. His parents are ilonggo.
Travelers from different countries 😁
It’s amazing to see different people in one boat with different nationalities. It seems that we’re the one foreign in our own country. 😅✌🏻
First Island stop is at 7 Commando beach. This beach is good for relaxing. I wish we had it last but since it’s the closer one they had it first. But I cannot forget the swing. I got a good gopro video there💕☺️
After that, we headed to the famous Big Lagoon! 😍
Look at the entrance of Big Lagoon! Epic right? 😍💕
Big Lagoon is such a beauty! I admire its clear water and pretty rock formations. We had a great time taking photos there as you could see above. 😅
We went kayaking inside the lagoon despite the low tide because there was an unexpected moment of Russell (his embarrassing moment with me he said) and I didnt want to write it here because he might kill me for that. 😂✌🏻😘
Then we went for lunch by the beach at Shimzu Island.
Shimzu Island is also beautiful. So many pretty rock formations. I was thinking how old they were already??hmmm 🤔
The lunch was good. A lot of fruits and grilled foods. We loved them or we’re just hungry 😂.
After lunch we head to Secret Lagoon.
Look how active we are haha!
In Secret Lagoon there’s a crawling in that you have to do. You need to be careful of your head and body to not to hit on the limestones. But it was fun! One of a kind experience. Since our boats couldn’t go near, we have to swin or walk up to the lagoon.
I see why it’s called Secret Lagoon then. As what I’ve noticed the water inside the lagoon is a bit muddy and you have to be careful of your steps because creatures in that island are sensitive. They are keeping their habitat safe as what our guide told us.
Then next stop is the nearby beach, the Secret Beach. Yeah it goes with its name. I regret i didnt take a snap from the coconut trees view. That was the El Nido mark view. 😢 but atleast we’ve captured these:
Amazing view right?!😍 awww I’ve fallen in love with El Nido.
And the last stop is at Small Lagoon. We didnt go inside because we will be renting kayak again and the water there is deep and someone didn’t feel like going to the water. 😂✌🏻
We just stayed in the boat and enjoyed the view. That was around 3:30 pm and the sun is like a 3pm sun if you get me. Hahaha There are also a lot of people who stayed in their boat. Some have music and they were like partying. We bought ice cream! There’s one man who was in a kayak selling ice cream. That was a good business right there haha
There you go! That was a very good experience. All the Islands we’ve visited are awesome and definitely worth coming back for. ❤️
If we’ll get a chance to visit again, we’ll try Tour C. As what others suggested to us Tour A & C are the best.
So this is the end of Part 1–please check out Part 2 of our adventure in ElNido. We went hiking at Taraw Cliff, Nacpan beach and more discovery of the seaside. ❤️
You can also check our budget trip details in Part 2.
Thank you so much for reading and visiting our page. Hope you like it and keep reading more! 😍❤️
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