Visiting El Nido and Puerto Princesa, Palawan During The Rainy Season

El Nido is a Philippine municipality on Palawan island. It’s known for white-sand beaches, coral reefs and as the gateway to the Bacuit archipelago, a group of islands with steep karst cliffs.

Last 2016, I and my husband visited the place during our annual vacation which was scheduled on the month of October, which is, unfortunately, a rainy season. Considering we are Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), we don’t have much choice on when we can take our vacation. So, we just need to make the most out of it!

Therefore we have chosen to tick off Palawan from our Bucket List as our first travel together. Luckily, I have a friend working for a Travel Agency and offered as a budget-friendly package.

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The package was for 4 DAYS & 3 NIGHTS which includes:

• Return flight tickets from Manila to Palawan
• 2 Nights El Nido Accommodation at a 3-star Hotel
• 1 Night Puerto Princesa Accommodation at a 3-star Hotel
• Roundtrip van transfer back and forth from Puerto Princesa to El Nido
• Island Hopping with Buffet Lunch
• Underground River Adventure with Buffet Lunch
• Daily Breakfast at the hotel
• Boat Transfers
• Bath towel and Snorkeling gears for the island hopping
• Environmental and entrance fees
• Permits and tour guide agent

And the proposed itinerary was:

Day 1: Arrival at Puerto Princesa Airport, then proceed to El Nido via shared Van Transfer (overnight in El Nido)
Day 2: El Nido Island Hopping Day
Day 3: Transfer back to Puerto Princesa, Underground River Tour
Day 4: Free time until trasfer to airport

However, due to the acts of nature, some part of the itinerary didn’t go well as planned. And here’s why:

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Day 1: Arrival at Puerto Princesa Airport, Van Transfer to El Nido

Our flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa airport only took about one and half hour. It’s quite short that you won’t notice that you’ve already arrived in Palawan.

From the airport, we were picked up by the tour guide and rode a van sharing with 4 or 5 others. So, here’s where the adventure starts…

The transfer from Puerto Princesa to El Nido is quite a long drive, which would be around 6 hours. You will feel really exhausted especially when you’re not used to it. But don’t worry, in the middle of the drive, and if my memory serves me right, I think that was 3 hours after we started the drive, we came to a stop into a Local Restaurant to eat some lunch. Afterwards, we proceeded to our trip.

We arrived at El Nido around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and it was raining heavily. Even if we were exhausted from the long drive, I and my husband decided to still make the most out of it.

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We walked through the streets and checked out the local shops and see what the villagers were into in this beautiful paradise. Finally, we found a food cart selling our all-time-favorite siomai and we ate some snacks.

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Then, we proceeded to the souvenir shops and checked what we can purchase for ourselves and as “pasalubong” to our loved ones.

Next, we looked for a seafood restaurant where we can spend our dinner. It wasn’t hard to find one since there are lots of them flocked near the beach side. We paid not more than Php 500 for this meal. 🙂

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Our first day ended with a night-walk together alongside the beach watching tourists drink their beverages and restaurants grill their seafood meals.

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Day 2: An Unexpected Detour To Nacpan and Las Cabanas Beach

According to our scheduled itinerary, this was the day for our Island Hopping, unfortunately, it rained so heavy that the coastal guards prohibited any activities by the sea. That means… NO Island Hopping, NO snorkeling, just nothing. 🙁

So, we were dismayed by the news. Imagine, it was our first time in the island, we know nothing and got nowhere to go.

After few hours of thinking, I’ve finally decided to speak with the hotel concierge/ admin if there are anything we can do so as not to waste the whole day just lying in our bed. So, she introduced me to a tricycle driver who offered us to bring to two known beaches – The Nacpan and Las Cabanas Beach, for a fee of Php 1,500. Then of course, we agreed at least.

The Nacpan Beach, El Nido, Palawan

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Before, we’ve arrived in this windy yet scenic spot, first we’ve encountered some challenges. Since it was raining, our tricycle wasn’t able to reach the Nacpan Beach due to the muddy road. It was so muddy that no small vehicle can pass through. So, we walked through the mud-spattered road for about half-kilometre and rode on a pickup truck waiting for us on the other side.

**I would be inserting our ‘muddy shots’ here where we were thriving to pass through the slimy muddy road because our vehicle couldn’t. That was really unforgettable, as I slipped down several times and got some bruises. It felt really adventurous though. I’m still searching for those images, will be sharing here once available.** 🙂

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After, almost two hours of escapade, we were able to spend some time and enjoy the picturesque view.

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The time we’ve spent here was very limited due to the storm. And since we have another beach to go to, we left after at least half an hour and moved along to our next stop.

The Las Cabanas Beach, El Nido, Palawan

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From Nacpan, we’ve transferred to Las Cabanas Beach, again by sharing the transportation with a pickup truck, then via our tricycle, and then, we’ve reached the latter after at least an hour.

As we’ve reached, the beauty is scenic packed with tourists who were trying to make the most out of that stormy day. It was windy and the waves were higher than usual (as what our tricycle driver have said).

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At that moment, all you could do is just sit back, relax, enjoy the view of the sea, and most importantly, have a sip of your beer!

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Despite of the cancellation of “that day’s” tour, we are still glad to at least enjoy and appreciate other beaches in El Nido that weren’t really part of our schedule. We’ve just hoped that next day will be a better day that will allow us to do the tours as planned.

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Day 3: Island Hopping… Thank goodness it was a sunny day!

Basically, there are 4 different Island Hopping Packages which I believe are the same amongst all travel agencies.

Tour A ▪ Small Lagoon ▪ Big Lagoon ▪ Secret Lagoon ▪ Shimizu Island ▪ 7 Commando Beach	Tour C ▪ Helicopter Island ▪ Matinloc Shrine ▪ Secret Beach ▪ Star Beach ▪ Hidden Beach
Tour B ▪ Snake Island ▪ Pinagbuyutan Island ▪ Entalula Beach ▪ Cudunon Cave ▪ Snorkeling Site	Tour D ▪ Ipil Beach ▪ Cadlao Lagoon ▪ Paradise Beach ▪ Pasandigan Beach ▪ Natnat, Bukal Beach

The irony is that I was unaware of the presence of these tour packages until we were already in Palawan. I just saw some local travel agencies there showing these lists of tour with the names of beaches on it. So, based on what we have visited during our tour, we probably got the Tour A.

Consequently, we were instructed to meet our tour guide by the seaside where we were doing our nightly walks, so there we’ve waited with excitement on our faces, because finally, the sun is shining brightly and the rain had finally came to a stop.

On the other hand, we went for Tour A but without going to the Secret Lagoon as our guide said that the waves there were huge and the water current was strong due to the presence of nearby storm. So, for our own safety, we didn’t pursue going there, instead, we stopped by the rest of the beaches included on the tour package.

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1st Stop: The 7 Commando Beach

It was called the “7 Commando Beach” because according to a legend, during the World War II, 7 soldiers got stranded on this beach. Another legend several years later said implicated that when the island was re-discovered, the locals found a carving saying “Seven Commando” which is believed to be the name of the fishing boat. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?

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The beach was amazingly serene though there were lots of activities everywhere. Some tourists enjoyed swimming in the cold clear water just like us, some played beach volleyball, rode the swing, others enjoy taking wonderful photographs.

We’ve spent some time in this island for at least an hour or two and went back to our boat to eat our lunch. As we walk back, you could smell the smoke made by our guides while grilling the seafood. It was mouth watering and made us starving.

The buffet lunch was included in the package. It was amazingly delicious and everything was served fresh and juicy, even the fruits.

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They served us lunch including the main dish – plain rice, grilled bangus (milkfish), grilled pork, steamed tahong (mussles), ensaladang talong (eggplant salad) – with beautifully designed appetizer – ensaladang mangga (mango salad), cucumber – on the side. Drinking water is there too, but if you would like to have some cold and fresh coconut juice or beer, you may buy it from the local sellers carrying and selling their products along the beach.

After eating, we were given few minutes to take a rest and get ready for our next stop.

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2nd Stop: The Small Lagoon

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Miniloc Island’s Small Lagoon is just one of the many unbelievably beautiful lagoons in El Nido, Palawan. It has quaint green-water lagoons surrounded by towering cliffs & lush forests. Once you’ve reached the location, you will be offered with kayak rentals, which I believe was around Php 200 or 300 that time.

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Kayaks differ in sizes, depends on passenger capacity and once you were able to rent one, then you may use it to explore the whole small lagoon. Just be ready ’cause you’ll need a lot of energy here! 🙂

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Drizzling suddenly came to a stop for a while so we did get a chance to proceed to our next stop which is…

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3rd Stop: The Big Lagoon

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The Big Lagoon is truly an incredible sight from the air, from your kayak and underwater. It has it all. Just like any other lagoons in Palawan, Big Lagoon is dotted with dark limestone cliffs. The entrance to the lagoon has shallow water, but the emerald color of the water indicates the deeper areas.

You’ll definitely enjoy the picturesque view here!

However, it was a bit cloudy and windy when we’ve arrived. The waves are stronger too. So I and my husband, decided to just stay on our boat and swim nearby instead of going inside the lagoon with other tourists. I know, it’s frustrating to here, but we’ve chosen to be on the safe side of the situation. Nonetheless, going inside the lagoon at that time is still doable, though you just need to get use of the huge waves and avoid having motion sickness. 🙂

Just like in the small lagoon, you can also rent kayaks here to explore the big lagoon.

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While waiting for other tourists who went to explore the lagoon, we’ve enjoyed taking lots of pictures (some of those are above).

Despite of the weather situation, I’m really hoping to visit here again and this time, during the summer season and personally see the bright side of beaches and lagoons. Also, hoping to try other tour packages, as now we’ve figured that Palawan, really, has a lot to offer.

The tour ended around 5 in the afternoon. We were really exhausted yet the experience was quite fascination and memorable. We missed going to the Shimizu Island as our guides told that the waves on the way there were getting stronger.

But this is not where our day ended. Because of the storm that came yesterday, our “Island Hopping” tour that was scheduled for Day 2 was adjusted and rescheduled for today which is now Day 3, and Day 3 was also scheduled for our transfer back to Puerto Princesa as well as the Underground River tour.

So during Day 3, we drove back to Puerto Princesa which took around 6 to 7 hours, doubling our exhaustion, that’s why when we’ve reached our hotel in the evening, we’ve just lied down and fell asleep quickly.

Hence, we were instructed by our guide that the Underground River tour will be rescheduled to our 4th and last day. 🙂

Day 4: Visiting One of The 7 Wonders of The World

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The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area of the Philippines. The park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the western coast of the island of Palawan, about 80 kilometres north of the city centre of Puerto Princesa, and contains the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River.

It’s worth noting that the Underground River is actually located in Sabang, more than an hour’s drive from Puerto Princesa City on winding, tiresome roads. After an hour drive, you’ll have to wait with other tourists at small port.

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From this small port, you will ride a boat sharing with other tourists going to the island where the Underground River is located. If my memory serves me right, it took us more than 30 minutes to get there.

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After finally reaching the island, you’ll be guided inside to register, walk on a short trail, and eventually, reaching the river.

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Expect that there will be a queue of tourist waiting for their turn, but don’t worry it will not take much of your time! While waiting, you will be given safety gears such as helmet, which is meant to protect you from falling debris and bat poop, life vest and a Walkman with earphones which will be used to narrate what’s going on the whole tour.

As you would know, no camera flashes are allowed inside to avoid frightening the bats, as well as loud talking, that’s why they use earphones to convey information about the whole tour.

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Our Day 4 “Underground River” tour started in the morning and finished at noon. We’ve had a buffet lunch, which was included on our package, at a local restaurant near the port.

Then after lunch, we went back to our hotel picked up our luggage and proceeded to the airport for our flight back to Manila.

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Here’s What We’ve Learned From Our Travel, Hope These Tips Help!

Don’t Forget:

• Sea snakes and sea turtles are usually spotted swimming in the shallow waters of the lagoon’s entrance. Sea urchins are present too. Wear aqua shoes or any protective footwear if you have.
• During low tide, it is not easy to access the lagoon, so others rent kayaks.
• Bring lots of water. Check with your tour operator if drinking water is included in the package.
• Follow the rules at all times. Practice caution. Wear your life vest, especially if you are not a seasoned swimmer.
• Charge your gadgets and/or bring battery packs.
• Keep the place clean. Practice proper garbage disposal. Leave nothing but footprints.

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