Visiting Puerto Prinsesa for a half day City tour was almost enough for me and my husband but the best thing has yet to come because we have not reached El Nido which was our dream vacation ever since. Check the story of our Puerto Prinsesa City Tour. We had been dreaming and longing for it for years and now we can't believe we are living that dream already.

El Nido Islands from the watch point of Snake Island

We always had that thought that going there was expensive. But we are really glad that we made it possible to get a good ticket sale and planned this trip with a budgeted amount for the entire four day vacation. And again, it is possible to travel here with less than 10k on hand. Yes we did it and because it has been a wonderful experience for the both of us to be able to breathe in the same air which the Palawaneos are breathing and capture these wonders the Almighty above had created for mankind to see and enjoy. It was a great pleasure to embrace El Nido.

A great view facing Seven Commandos Island

I don't intend to make my introduction long so let me show you the beauty which made El Nido the best island in the world.

We traveled in the evening after the Puerto Princesa City tour and got to sleep in the bus because the land trip would take 6-7hours from the terminal of Puerto Prinsesa to El Nido. We are used to the land travel since we always travel 3-4hours to my husband's town. We arrived in the early morning and rested in the super affordable inn by Kuya Digoy of Tatay Milo's Inn but we were a bit unlucky because it was already fully booked although we had reservations beforehand. But God is good because He gave us a better room. They let us stay in a friend's building which was a few walks away from the other inn.

Amazed with this view first in the morning.

Look at those cliffs...aren't they a beauty?

We woke up around six in the morning and I was amazed by what was surrounding us. Since it was still dark when we arrived, we didn't see this view but look at how beautiful these rock mountains view which I later known as Taraw.

It was so beautiful and I was mesmerized that I had to jump on my feet and take the camera immediately.

Here's just so magnificent and I never thought we had conquered that Taraw too. Story about how we conquered Taraw will be posted later on.

Our booked island hopping tour starts at 9am so we still had time to move around the little town. Yes El Nido's main town is just like our local market where in you can walk around and see stores in every corner. It has souvenir shops all over the place and also tour packages are offered everywhere but the locals are not aggressive and they give you freedom of choice.

Here's our Tour guide pushing the boat away from the shore.

By 9am, we were already in the big boat which will take us from island to island. Our tour guide was a good man who became our photographer too.

One of the nice cliffs we got to see first when arriving Small Lagoon

These cliffs are definitely beautiful

Small lagoon

We were inside the small lagoon and here's my husband smiling at the camera.

Can't help but appreciate how beautiful these rock mountains around us. There are lots of these in El Nido even in Puerto Prinsesa.

While most of the tourists rented kayaks, James and I swim all the time and we had taken lots of videos. It was fun! We were taking lots of videos we forgot that it was the first stop and there were more islands to be visited.

Big lagoon


We were advised not to swim here because of sea snakes and the water was also a bit deep. This is the spot where most photos of Palawan are taken and displayed online. The opening which is really nice although there was a bigger boat in front of us.

Secret lagoon


So you might have noticed that there are lots of lagoons in El Nido. Here's another one which is called secret lagoon because it is covered by rocks and the only way to go inside is through the small rock opening. We have to do some ninja moves to get in.


There's nothing much to do inside the secret lagoon though because the waters were shallow but one can have photos taken here.

We had lunch in the secret lagoon island. While we were busy swimming from here and there our boat captain and the tour guide were busy cooking our food.

Here are some of our lunch prepared by our tour guide and the boat captain.


We were lucky to be able to join a group of Bisayas too who were very cheerful and entertaining within the whole trip. They were group of friends and they sang a song for us when they learned that we were celebrating our 7th anniversary.

Cadugnon Point and Cave

So even if it was too dark inside, we still took a photo of ourselves. Alright, we were really not visible here. That was a funny photo.

The next stop was a cave which we didn't really enjoy that much because there's nothing much to do there. The cave though was smelling like the bats' dirt. It was a bit challenging to go inside because the opening was just a small one in the rocks. We didn't spend much time there but we had fun outside where my husband and I did some jump shots.

Since we can just stay here for a few minutes, we tried to take jumpshots but my husband can't get to take a good shot of my jumpshot. However, I was able to get a good one for him.
Snake island
That island's name scared us thinking it might have lots of snakes in that island but it was called that way because it has a sand bar which looked like a snake connecting both islands.
The beauty of El Nido. I just can't get enough of it. Everywhere you look, it is just picture perfect. The mastermind of all of these beauty is really wonderful and powerful.

My husband has to take a photo with the background. It's an amazing experience to be there.

There's a watch point on top of the island hill which gives the tourists a great view of the El Nido islands. It's just super magnificent. We had to hold on to a dead branch to get a good photograph with the background. It was very beautiful that I can just stare at it for hours if I can do so.

Cathedral



The island is called such because it looked like a cathedral opening. But swimming is not allowed because there are lots of sea snakes here. There was an incident where a tourist got bitten and died. So yeah we just stayed outside.

The island has a cathedral-like cavern accessible by dinghy and kayak. Its cool interior is lit at certain times of the day by sunlight coming through an opening at its peak. This one of important sites for the busyadors or the birds' nest gatherers.

And again selfie time.

Pinagbuyutan Island

We were approaching the island. The shape is really nice and beautiful. I wonder how it looks like from the bird's eye view.

We got to see a high end resort while on our way to the island. It does look like an expensive one.

This is where we had soo much snorkeling. At first my husband was not at all interested in snorkeling since he had too much snorkeling the whole day and the sun was still shining so bright at that time of the day. But I was not afraid of the sun and of whatever it may affect to my skin so I just jumped into the water and started looking down to see what's in there.

I always adore nature and that when I am with nature, I feel like I belong to it and it is wonderful. We are stewards of nature and we should protect them. While being on the top of the mountain or in the middle of the forest is cool, watching the species and the living things under the waters gives me the best feeling. Although the hassle of getting water in your mouth or nose is possible if you have a defective googles but getting there and witnessing them dancing with the waves is just amazing.

I would really recommend you guys try snorkeling in some nice beaches specially in those areas where the coral reefs is healthy. I bet you'll definitely get interested and will find more opportunities to snorkel.

While I was under the waters and filming the fishes, my husband seemed to be jealous because I was not going out of the water for awhile and then I just noticed someone grabbed the camera and then I learned it was him.

Seven Commandos Island

Can't wait to get a photo with the mountains and the huts.

The last island which we hopped into was the best one for me actually. I never thought it would be this beautiful but as soon as I got a glimpse of the view while facing it and while facing the view afar from it, it is still stunning.

The island is called as such because of the story behind it.  Here are some of our funny photos while in Seven Commandos Island. Credits to our Tour Guide slash photographer.

Of course a selfie with my husband is necessary while in Seven Commandos Island

Very laid back and beautiful beach, calm waves which is very nice for snorkeling and swimming . Hammocks and seating areas are available in the island. Halo-halo and buko juice are available in the island, one of my favorite stops during our stay in El Nido!!

This one here is empty because the visitors were swimming

We were unfortunate that the boat machine wouldn't start when we were on our way back to Bacuit Bay but then that was just a blessing in disguise because we got to witness a romantic sunset in Seven Commandos Island.

Check this video to summarize our El Nido Island Hopping Tour:

Also check our other adventures:

• Guiwanon Cold Spring
• Moalboal Beach Body
• Obong Spring
• Summer at El Salvador
• Puerto Princesa City Tour