El Nido -Tips & Tricks & Island Hopping Tours

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The most popular spot of the whole Philippine island Palawan – EL NIDO – is most famous for its unique island hopping excursions. I spent in this town 5 nights & 5 days and took some of the tours, therefore, this article will focus on island hopping and everything you need to know about it.

Firstly, you will be offered at least 5 different tours. Tour A, B, C & D + inland tour. There is also a possibility to combine tours, for example A + C together, but you won´t be able to see everything. It is generally known that the best excursions are tours A & C what I can personally confirm. 🙂

TOUR A

Itinerary: 5 different places starting with 7 Commando beach, continuing with kayaking in Small Lagoon, then snorkelling at Shimizu Island (lunch served), afterwards Secret Lagoon and the last stop Big Lagoon

Price – 1200 pesos (20 euro)

Extra: rent of kayak for 400 pesos (if you are 2, amount can be split) + aqua shoes for 100 pesos

My highlights & observations: kayaking at Small lagoon was my highlight where water had amazing colour – tour was very relaxed with many beautiful spots to observe – 7 Commando beach offered great swing directly on the beach

Beauty of Big Lagoon
Swing at 7 Commando Beach
Kayaking at Small Lagoon

TOUR B

Itinerary: Snake Island, Entalula beach, Pinagbuyutan Island, Cudugnon cave & Cathedral cave

Price: 1300 pesos (22 euro)

TOUR C

Itinerary: Helicopter Island, Hidden beach, Narrow Island, Secret beach & Matinloc shrine

Price: 1400 pesos (23,60 euro)

Extra:  aqua shoes for 100 pesos

My highlights & observations: for me personally this was the BEST tour –  I got to see baby shark while amazing snorkelling around Helicopter island – Matinloc shrine offered breath-taking views – Secret beach offered adrenaline as the entrance was pretty rough – make sure you are good swimmers at this tour 😉

Views from Matinloc Shrine

TOUR D

Itinerary: Cadlao lagoon, Nat-Nat beach, Paradise beach, Bukal Island & Pasandigan beach   

Price: 1200 pesos (20 euro)

IN-LAND TOURS

El Nido offers variety of beautiful beaches and adventure activities which can be reached by land, not only by boat as the above mentioned excursions. I, personally, visited & tried:

– remote but naturally breath-taking Nacpan beach where you can get either by motorcycle or by renting a tricycle for around 1500 pesos – road is pretty rough and it wasn´t easy to get there – be careful about sand flies – they can be pretty annoying and might be terribly itchy afterwards

Nacpan beach

Las Cabanas beach where you can get also by tricycle for 100 pesos or by your own motorbike – road was easily accessible – sunset at this beach was stunning!

Sunset at Las Cavanas Beach

– To the adrenaline activities you may try in El Nido belong zip-line (which I haven´t tried as I did it already in Sabang few days before) & canopy walk which I highly recommend if you want to explore beauty of whole El Nido from the top view point. Price for canopy walk is 400 pesos.

Canopy walk in El Nido

At the end I would like to mention that  there are many travel agencies & companies which will book your excursions with pleasure. I had everything organized though local agency Northern Hope Tours which was more than great. Their service was excellent and I never had any problems or matters to complain. My guide Lito was very professional and paid me a lot of attention. Highly recommended.

EXTRA TIPS & TRICKS for EL NIDO

El Nido is almost double more expensive than Puerto Princesa. Your wallets should be prepared for that.

→I stayed in OMP (Our Melting Pot) accommodation. Price per night per bed in 9 dorm room was 550 pesos including nice breakfast. Use booking.com to make reservation and receive $15 as a reward!! 😉

→Internet in El Nido isn´t the best. However, if you visit ice-cream shop Gusto and sit upstairs, you find perfect wifi where you can work (or just chit-chat for hours). 😉

→Amazing place to hang out at night is Pukka bar (reagge style) & Sava bar (modern style).

To sum up, I personally experienced tour A & C and went to Nacpan & Las Cavanas beach. Moreover, I tried canopy walk and got to see whole El Nido from the top. My favourite has been tour C. And I truly recommend you Northern Hope Tours agency as I was very happy with their service.

Do you have more questions about island hopping tours in El Nido? Feel free to ask. I don´t bite. 😉

If you are also heading to Puerto Princesa, check my Ultimate Guide for Puerto Princesa or Reasons why to visit Puerto Princesa. And I truly recommend islands Coron & Busuanga.

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