An El Nido Virgin

Okay, so I had to make sure I had enough meal before I write about this trip as this is by far the best beach-slash-island escapade I ever had while my Banaue/ Sagada trip last year remains the best mountain adventure so far. I wished I could say everything that's in my heart about this trip as this blog had somehow become a personal diary of mine, but given the fact this is publicly accessed too, it looks like some restraints are a must! :-D I will try to be objective as much as possible. 

Since there is only one airline that flies to El Nido (ITIAIR) with routes Manila-El Nido and El Nido-Manila only, we decided to take the Cebu-Puerto Princessa route. And since we wanted to experience the Undergroud River Cruise, we decided to spend one night in Puerto Princessa before driving to El Nido. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to do so as we arrived late! So then we ended up walking around the city and spending the rest of the afternoon at the city's bay walk---a famous waterfront spot in the city where locals and tourists can go for a walk, for a meal, for some simple convos, or for a dose of that Palawanese sunset.

My buddy coined the term "Palawanese Sunset" as we waited for the sun to go down at the bay walk. Isn't that spectacular?

My Pano shot of the bay!

Someone's trying to get the best shot possible. 

We took the Fort Wally transport services from Puerto Princessa to El Nido. I booked us two seats at least weeks prior to the trip. The van picked us from our hotel, Deep Forest Garden Resort, and the drive took six long hours. We were quite tired, but the journey was fun too because of the sites we saw along the way. Fort Wally also has a small cafeteria somewhere three hours from the city. It was where we stopped over and had lunch! Fort Wally, +639172762875

When we arrived at the terminal, we were supposed to be picked up by the resort's tricycle, but I think they forgot we were arriving so we ended up taking the public ride. 

Since big vehicles couldn't take the narrow road going to our hotel, we ended up walking about a kilometer or so and witnessed this view along the way.

The sky was a bit cloudy as we headed to our hotel and as we did so, we prayed it would be sunny later and the day after for the much-awaited island tour. 

After checking in, we walked towards our room and savored this view from our veranda while trying to de-stress ourselves from the long ride and long walk.

Since Golden Monkey Beach Resort only cooks breakfast for their guests, we ended up walking towards the main coast to check for beachfront restaurants for dinner and as we headed there, we walked past this dinner set-up from a nearby resort. 

If you've been following me, you know I'm in love with four-poster beds, but I'm also as in love with canopied beds. This may not be it, but it looks like one with that see-through thing serving as protection from mosquitoes.

The master photographer lounging at the veranda while enjoying that million-dollar view in front of him. :-D

Golden Monkey Beach Resorts serves breakfast at your most convenient time. Every morning, the staff usually prepares coffee and tea at your veranda so when you wake up, everything's ready for mixing. You can also pre-order your breakfast the night before and set a time when the food will be served. I must say the staff was really friendly, but I wished I had experienced seeing the grumpy British owner of the place as other sites mentioned. :-D You may also arrange the island hopping tour with them. In our case, we chose Tour B, which includes stop in the following islands---Pangulasian Island, Snake Island, Cudugnon Cave, Cathedral Cave, and Pinagbuyutan Island. If it were just the two of us, we would have paid Php 4,200 for the whole trip package with lunch. Luckily, the Japanese guests in the room next to ours were convinced by the boatman to for Tour B after they had Tour A the day prior. For the tour, there were six of us, including the boatman, and a tour guide! We were supposed to go for Tour C, but were not allowed by coast guards due to the wind. Though the day was literally sunny. (GOLDEN MONKEY WEBSITE)

This first island stop was Pangulasian Island. The beach you can see from here is said to be owned by the Ayalas so we only stayed on the part where I took this photo which is a spectacular as what you can see. 

My best snorkeling experience so far, not because of this photo of mine that was perfectly taken by my buddy, but because the water was not so deep and I basically got what I wanted to see already though my snorkeling gear was a bit broken. The beach was perfect too.  

Second stop was Snake Island. There were no snakes there, but the sand bar looks like a snake from an aerial view. It wasn't low tide when we were there so the sand bar was a little but submerged in water.

The in yellow shirt was our tour guide and I forgot what his name was. 

The Japanese couple we shared our boat with.

View of other islands from the Snake Island viewpoint. 

Our lunch included fried chicken, grilled fish, vegetable salad, and fruits---mango, pineapple, banana, and some kind of a variety of melon. 

The official resident of Snake Island who stole the banana from the table of the other group. :-D

Third stop was Cudugnon Cave. It is believed that many years ago, a fisherman became rich after he found gold bars inside the cave.

The entrance to the cave was so narrow then people should get in one at a time. But once you're inside, you will right away witness the grandeur of this natural structure. You may need to use your camera flash as necessary.  

This is the Cathedral Cave, called as such as it resembles the structure of a cathedral. Nobody's allowed to get in so we just stopped for a bit for photos and moved to our last island stop.

The last island stop is Pinagbuyutan. From afar, while I was still on the boat, this natural wonder reminded of a South African resort which is as grandiose. I wished I was able to take photos while I was on the boat but my phone died when we stopped at Cathedral Cave. I just took this one using my buddy's cam.

To make your trip more memorable and worthwhile, hang out and mingle with locals. Here's one local for you! Hahaha :-D

El Nido is the spanish for "The Nest" according to Google translate. Indeed, the place is a nest for anything---for friends, family, lovers, name it! It depends on you on how you describe the nest specific to your own experience. For me, it's a top secret. :-D You can see it somewhere around this blogtry. One thing's for sure though, I will remember this for the rest of my life, every bit of it!

I'd like to credit @AlexanderTravels of Instagram for some of the photos. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram @LifeOfRedEye (August 2014)

XoXo,

Red Eye ;-)