Five Days in El Nido: A Journal from the Most Beautiful Mess in the Philippines
El Nido is the most beautiful town in Palawan with the worst infrastructure I've ever visited. And that's not a complaint — it's the entire charm.
Day 1: Arrival and the Tricycle Gauntlet
Flew into El Nido Airport (ENI) on a 19-seat prop plane from Manila. The flight is 80 minutes and costs 4,000-7,000 PHP ($70-123) one way on AirSWIFT — the only airline serving this tiny runway. The alternative: fly to Puerto Princesa (PPS) on Cebu Pacific (much cheaper, 2,000-3,500 PHP / $35-62) and take a 5-6 hour van ride north (700-1,000 PHP / $12-18).
I took the van. In hindsight, the extra $40-80 for the direct flight would've saved my spine. The road is partly paved, partly under construction, and entirely dependent on the driver's belief in an afterlife.
El Nido town is small. One main road (Calle Hama), one beach (the town beach, which is fine for watching sunsets but not great for swimming), and a cluster of restaurants, dive shops, and tour operators.
My hotel — a concrete room two blocks from the beach — cost 1,200 PHP ($21) per night with AC. The AC worked intermittently, which is standard. El Nido's power grid is... aspirational.
First dinner: grilled tuna belly at Trattoria Altrove, an Italian-Filipino fusion place on the main road. The tuna was caught that morning. The belly cut was thick, charred on the outside, pink in the middle, served with garlic rice. 350 PHP ($6.17). The best piece of fish I ate in the Philippines.
Day 2: Tour A — The Lagoons
The bangka (traditional outrigger boat) left from the town beach at 8:30AM with 15 other tourists. Tour A is the iconic one — Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Shimizu Island, and a Secret Lagoon.
Big Lagoon first. The boat nosed into a narrow channel between limestone cliffs maybe 100 meters tall. The water changed color — from deep blue outside to bright turquoise inside to green near the cliff bases. I rented a kayak (200 PHP / $3.50) and paddled into the lagoon.
The water clarity is the thing nobody prepares you for. I could see fish below me, see my paddle's shadow on the white sand bottom, see the color of individual rocks 5 meters down. The lagoon is enclosed by cliffs on all sides, creating a natural amphitheater of water and stone.
Small Lagoon requires swimming through a low gap in the rock — you have to duck your head underwater for about a second. On the other side: a smaller lagoon, even more enclosed, with mangrove roots at the edges and fish circling in the shallows. Two other kayakers. Nobody talking.
Secret Lagoon at the last stop involved swimming through a tiny hole in the cliff into a pool about the size of a living room. Inside, the rock walls are covered in ferns. The pool is waist-deep. It's literally a secret room inside a cliff.
Tour A cost: 1,400 PHP ($25) including boat, lunch (grilled chicken and rice on a beach), and snorkeling stops. Environmental fee: 200 PHP ($3.50), valid for 10 days.
Day 3: Nacpan Beach — The Antidote
After the tour boat crowd, I needed empty space. Rented a motorbike (500 PHP / $8.80 per day) and rode 30 minutes north to Nacpan Beach.
Nacpan is 4km of golden sand. Not white — golden, like the color of late afternoon light. The sand squeaks under your feet. The water is warm, shallow, and calm. On a Tuesday morning in March, I counted maybe 20 people on the entire beach.
There are a few beach bars — Nacpan Beach Glamping has bean bags and cold San Miguel for 70 PHP ($1.23). I spent five hours there. Read a book. Swam. Ate a grilled fish from a beach vendor (150 PHP / $2.64). Napped in a hammock.
No temples. No cultural experiences. No personal growth narratives. Just a very good beach and a very cold beer.
Day 4: Tour C — The Hidden Beach
Tour C goes to different islands than Tour A: Helicopter Island (named for its shape), Matinloc Shrine (an abandoned Catholic shrine on a cliff face), and Hidden Beach.
Hidden Beach. You swim through a gap between rocks — maybe 3 meters wide — and emerge on a beach enclosed by cliff walls on three sides. It's maybe 30 meters long. The sand is white. The water is clear. The only sound is waves breaking against the outer rock face.
I sat there for 20 minutes before the rest of the tour group swam in. Those 20 minutes were probably the most beautiful solitude I've experienced.
Matinloc Shrine is eerie — a concrete Catholic shrine built on a cliff face by a German businessman in the 1980s, now abandoned. The structure is deteriorating, vines growing through the concrete. The altar faces the Bacuit Bay. Someone had left fresh flowers.
Tour C: 1,600 PHP ($28). Less popular than Tour A, so the boats are smaller and the stops less crowded.
Day 5: Taraw Cliff and Goodbye
Last morning. Hired a guide (500 PHP / $8.80) for the Taraw Cliff climb. This is not a trail — it's a scramble up sharp limestone with fixed ropes. Gloves are essential (the rock cuts skin). The climb takes 30-45 minutes depending on your comfort with heights.
At the top: El Nido town below, Bacuit Bay spreading to the horizon, limestone islands dotting the water, a fishing boat trailing a white wake. I could see the Big Lagoon entrance from up here — a dark line in the cliff face.
The guide sat on a rock and scrolled his phone while I took photos. He does this climb three times a week. For him, it's a commute.
Descent was harder — going down sharp limestone with gravity pulling you is more nerve-wracking than going up. Made it down with two small cuts on my palms and a profound respect for fixed ropes.
Afternoon: the van to Puerto Princesa. Six hours of thinking about going back.
Would I Go Back?
In a heartbeat. But with caveats.
El Nido's infrastructure can't keep up with its beauty. The power goes out regularly. The water pressure in most hotels is weak. The town's waste management is overwhelmed — you'll see plastic on some beaches, though community clean-ups are frequent.
The tourism volume is straining the environment. When I kayaked the Big Lagoon, there were 12 other boats. In peak season (December-January), that number doubles. The secret lagoons aren't secret when 50 people are swimming in them.
But here's the thing: even with the crowds, even with the infrastructure gaps, even with the power outages — El Nido's natural beauty is so aggressive that it overwhelms the inconveniences. The limestone formations, the water clarity, the hidden beaches — these aren't things that human carelessness can diminish. Not yet.
Go now. Go in shoulder season (March-May or September-October). Stay five nights. Do the tours, but also rent a motorbike and find the beaches that aren't on the tour routes.
And bring a headlamp for when the power goes out. If island hopping is your thing, Langkawi and Koh Samui offer easier infrastructure with similar tropical beauty.
Total budget for 5 days: approximately 12,000-15,000 PHP ($211-264). That's accommodation, food, three tour days, motorbike rental, and the cliff climb. For the most beautiful place I've ever seen, that's a price I'd pay twice.
