Exploring El Nido, in the world's most beautiful island

Palawan has been voted by Conde Nast readers as the world's number 1 island. On this note, this post would look into the nothern part of Palawan, El Nido.

This is a recall for our family trip last December 2014.

El Nido is a municipality in the norhern tip of Palawan island. It's about six hour by land transportation from the province's capital of Puerto Princesa.

How to get there:

There are frequent flight in and out of Manila and Cebu to Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Major carriers, Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and AirAsia bring tourists to Palawan. For those able to jet set and would want less of a hassle, there are flights from Manila and Cebu direct to El Nido, although take note that these flights would set you back a hefty amount of money, last time I checked it was 7 thousand Pesos for a one-way trip(148USD) on AirSwift. But that price tag saves you 6 hours of precious time which would typically be on a van, which I think would be much uncomfortable for our tall westerner friends, since leg room on these transports are quite close to nil.

El Nido

So what makes El Nido, noteworthy? Hm, I think would be the BEAUTY.

Boracay, that beach on Posters inviting you to the Philippines.

Cheap seats on sales gets you going, well for me, it does. On march of 2015, Cebu Pacific, a local carrier, sold airline seats for as low as 100 PHP, excluding taxes, to any domestic destination in the Philippines. With the price, I couldn't resist. In my mind, I said, even if there would be a typhoon on the day i booked the flight it wouldn't matter. Hint: get a prepaid bank card if you don't have a credit card, it'll work well in purchasing those online cheap seats.

Destination: Boracay Island, Aklan, Philippines
Attraction: WHITE BEACH, famous to the world or at least to the Filipinos.

How to Get there:

There are two gateways to Boracay Island, (1) Caticlan and (2) Kalibo. Caticlan is the nearest airport gateway to the amazing white beach of Boracay. This is where you can just hail a trike from the airport to the jetty port and in less than an hour your in Boracay. One can opt to take a flight usually a turboprop plane from Manila or Cebu direct to Caticlan. A word of caution though, since tourist would want to get to their destination quick, the quickest way to Boracay is somewhat also with the most hefty price tag. Seats for flight in and out of Caticlan are not usually sold on sales, that's one of the reasons we opted for the Kalibo Route.

An hour and half drive from Caticlan is Kalibo. The municipality has an International Airport with flights from Korea, Hong Kong and as well as Manila and Cebu. The pro for this route is that it is almost always included on domestic seat sales. A con on the other hand, the route would make you take a bus or van ride that would cost an hour and a half of your time. but don't be dismayed, bus or van rides to and from Kalibo aren't bad at all. There are lots of service providers that offer superb transfer services to those who would want to make Boracay there destination.The transfers are seamless, from Kalibo Airport they'll bring you to your Hotel with all the fees included in the package. You can even book the transfers online. TIP: You can book seamless transfers with Cebu Pacific, they have partnered with Southwest tours, a service provider. The price for the transfer is 50 PHP less than when you buy transfers on board your Cebu Pac flight and is way cheaper than getting transfers directly from Southwest.

Fun Activities:

One of the popular activities that most tourist do in Boracay is go touring around the area by bancas and just hop from the main island to a few beaches and within the locality, a go-to island would be Crystal cove. In between islands the tour group would be lead to snorkling spots and take note, some of these spots have beautiful underwater scenery. The island hopping tours usually comes with lunch to refuel the adventurists in you. For a day's worth of island hopping, it would probable cost you about 800PHP (17USD)

Boracay is a tourist spot that been marketed to a lot of people, thereby giving in to modern developments that you don't really see in some other places. With this, some businesses have openly offered modern activities as well. There's a reverse bungee ride in the island and parasailing in Boracay is the cheapest you can get in the PH.  There's even a helmet diving experience that you can do. This would let you experience the beauty of the world under the sea without any SCUBA licenses and training, a sight you won't forget. The island lets you experience the sky and sea in one place. Parasailing would cost you 800PHP (17USD), while helmet diving would cost you about 500PHP (10USD)

Island Hopping (Crystal Cove)

Helmet Diving

Other activities would include Chopper tours of the island, for those who can shell out more than the usually tourist as well as segway trips on beach. There are even ATV trips to the island's highes point, Mt. Luho.

Boracay isn't called the Philippine's 24 hour island for nothing. Boracay boasts of nightlife fit for any party goers. Travellers with a wild side can let themselves out in this island.

Where to stay:

Accomodations in the island isn't really a problem. With the rise of tourist arrivals, both local and foreign travellers can have the comforts of a hotel room for the least expense. although there are world class hotel chains as well, like the Shangri la Boracay, this hotel would give you luxury experience in Boracay. To get competitive and affordable rates on hotels and accomodations, search online booking sites like, Agoda.com, Booking.com and the like.

Isn't that Cerulean water calling you?