El Nido

Day 1 – Poor Relations

We got up at a fairly leisurely pace as we had to wait for our minibus transfer to El Nido, so we packed and then went down for breakfast.

The minibus duly picked us up at 10.30 and drove us about an hour to our next destination in Palawan Island, El Nido.  It was at this point we split up as Shell and I wanted a bit more budget accommodation and as Daryll was on two weeks holiday he had opted for a swanky hotel just down the road.  Our accommodation was a bit more traveller/basic being a Bamboo Chalet but we quite liked it and it had a nice common area/café/bar at the front where you could help yourself to Tea/Coffee’s and more importantly cold beers (although you had to pay for those!)

As we had all been together for a few days we decided to give Daryll and Rachael some space for the day and so we did our own thing.

Firstly we took a Tricycle Bike into town which was around 1km from our accommodation and addressed the cash situation by going to the ATM, still no cash (might help the budgeting though!), and then we went shopping in the local market.  Once again we went in search of some shorts for me without success but we did get a £ 2.00 watch for Shell as her previous one had died.

We then took a walk back towards our lodgings through the town and then along the beach which was close by.  Along the way we enquired about an Island hopping boat trip for the next day for all of us, negotiated a price for a private boat and then went to a nearby beach bar and text Daryll to find out if they were happy with the price of the trip whilst having a cheeky little G&T at the same time.

After our light refreshment we went back to our accommodation and sat in the common area for the rest of the afternoon catching up on computer stuff and trying to find out if we could cancel or change the flight to Bangkok which we had been forced to book on our way to the Philippines, after hours of searching the best we could do was send the airline an E-Mail so we will have to wait and see.

In the evening we thought we would check out our immediate surrounding for some food rather than go back into town and a short walk down the road we found a noodle bar that looked promising.

The food turned out to be bang average (food not quite as interesting as we thought it was going to be in the Philippines) but we got chatting to an older American couple I would say in their 60’s who were also travelling and funnily enough their daughter had just arrived to pay a visit whilst they were away.  So we spent the rest of the night swapping travel destinations/stories with them for an hour or so before heading back.

On returning to our accommodation we returned to the common area and liberated a few more Red Horse Beer’s, these beers however are pretty lethal at just over 7% and will guarantee you a good night’s sleep, but not so much of a good morning!!

Day 2 – Island Hopping

We had arranged to meet Daryll and Rachael at their hotel around 8.30 to go on the Island hopping tour.  Daryll had spoken with the same company and had upgraded us to a speedboat trip (Daryll paying the extra for his poor relations and in lieu of many Pearl beers) his thinking that we would see more islands this way (That or impress the new Girlfriend!!).  Either way it was appreciated.

So we had a quick coffee at our place and wandered down the road and met them just as they were tucking into their inclusive breakfast!!  Shortly after we were met and taken to the boat and we were on our way.

 

Pretty soon we were flying through the sea and after around half an hour we were mooring up at the first island (sorry can’t remember the name) which was uninhabited apart from one fisherman’s hut. It had a beautiful stretch of sand and covered it palm tree’s and we were given half an hour to look around and do a bit of snorkelling.  The snorkelling was quite nice with a few fish to see but there was a massive drop-off that made me a bit nervous (Not Daryll, Rachael or Shell) as I wondered what large creature could come up from the deep, so I stayed close to the reef/shallows.  I was quite pleased about this when Daryll got back and told us that he had seen a reasonable sized fish with unreasonably big fangs/teeth!!

 

Boarding the boat again we were whisked to the next Island, the sea now had a bit more chop and we were bouncing along catching air and getting covered in spray.  The next Island was Snake Island, which sounds pretty worrying but the name actually comes from a slither of golden sand which goes from one island to the next.  We moored up next to one of the islands where we climbed to the top to the viewpoint where you really had a good view of the ‘Snake’, after which we went back down and took a walk along the sand bar to the other side where a lot of ‘selfies’ were being taken (Mentioning no names!!).  It was pretty stunning stuff though – the Islands not the selfies!!

 

After spending an hour there we were back on board and heading to the next island which is where we were going to have an early lunch.

 

Once again the Island was stunning and had a few palm-thatched huts to eat at and a kitchen area for the crew to prepare our lunch.  Whilst they were doing this we were taken to explore a nearby cave, squeezing through a crevice we entered a small cavern with a number of bats flying around and a small opening where you could see the sea and a few of the other Islands.

 

Whilst Shell and I found the small bar they had there and had a couple of Red Horses, Daryll and Rachael checked out the snorkelling.  When they got back they told us it was the best spot so far, so Shell and I took the plunge and were not disappointed as there were lots of colourful reef fish to see, but also a few more in your face/aggressive small ones (obviously protecting their eggs/young) which was slightly disconcerting (I’m not coming across very brave in this blog am I???).

 

Lunch was then served which was a big grilled fish, chicken, Squid, Crabs (Only small ones Mum, you wouldn’t have been impressed) and a salad.  Again these boat crews know how to feed you!

Once lunch was taken care of we were back on the boat and heading for the next destination which was The Big Lagoon and when we got there it was stunning a perfect crystal blue lagoon surrounded by large limestone walls.  We took a slow cruise around this, its just a shame there were so many other boats there, before heading off again.

 

Next up it was the Small Lagoon which was just as spectacular, entering it through a small channel you found yourself in another stunning location.  It didn’t end there though we were taken to a small pontoon where you could hire Kayak’s which enabled you to paddle through a small gap in the limestone wall which took you through to the Small Lagoon itself again a deep crystal blue enclosed by limestone (I’m sure the pictures won’t do it justice).  So we paddled round that for about 30 minutes before slipping back through the gap and back onto our speed boat.

 

We were then onto our final destination of the day, an island with a large sandy bay (again I have forgotten the name)  where we were told we could stay and watch the sunset. The skipper had quite a hard time trying to moor up as it appeared that this was a hotspot for all the boat trips to finish as it had a large bar to cater for all the sun-downers.  Once moored we then spent the next couple of hours having cold beers whilst waiting for the sun to set. What was quite nice is because we had a private charter most of the boats had left before sunset and we were some of the only people left there to enjoy the sun go down.

 

Shortly after sunset we were then back on the boat and after another 20 minutes we arrived back at the beach where we started. It was a fabulous trip and we will bore you with all the photo’s when we get back.

 

Once back on shore we went our separate ways and Shell and I went to get freshened up before going out in the evening.  We decided to go back into town and get a meal at a restaurant on the beach and soon found ourselves in a Reggae bar that had a live band playing.  A couple more Red Horse’s and some really good food which included a brilliant beef rib and it was time to go home for the night.