Our day began with a minivan pickup from our accommodations. It was packed when it arrived. We had to close the back quickly to avoid bags falling out, and Nick and I had to sit up front with the driver. The drive to El Nido took almost a full day, with many stops. We found it amusing that even if there were two lanes everyone drove in the left lane. To pass each other, people would drive into oncoming traffic rather than drive in the right lane. There were many ocean and jungle views. Nick and I shared pork belly and noodles for lunch at a canteen. I saw our hotel was coming up on the drive, about 10 minutes before the bus station so we got off early to avoid a long walk back.

Our first evening in El Nido we walked along Corong-Corong beach for sunset, which turned out to be the best sunset we saw all week. We enjoyed some pizza for dinner and then found the best soft serve ice cream place ever. The flavors were avocado, ube, mango, ube/mango twist, Hershey’s chocolate, or vanilla. My go to was mango and Nick of course got vanilla. It was along a road called Pops District, which we ended up visiting frequently.

The first full day in El Nido was a day at Las Cabañas Beach from morning until dark. The beach was stunning and we were able to walk for over an hour along it. We spent the day laying out on the sand, swimming, then repeated. The restaurants on the beach were all pretty expensive so we walked further up the road to the McDonalds. The McDonalds served fried chicken and spaghetti, which was fun to see. We then split a tuna tostada and shrimp tacos for dinner on the beach itself for sunset.

Just like Puerto Princesa, one of the main things to do here is island hopping. Nick and I booked the A&C combo private tour. I had arranged this ahead of time, and although we were hoping for a group tour we were told that they only took private tours. Hilariously if we had just waited and booked upon arrival there are about 50 places at least that would have made us a group booking in person. It ended up being worth it, though, as our trip was super flexible based on what places we liked the most. We went to 7 stops in total: Big Lagoon, Shimizu Island, Bulalacao Island, Hidden Beach, Helicopter Island, Pasandegan, and 7 Commando Beach.

First stop on the list was the Big Lagoon, which is one of the most popular stops on the tour lists. After anchoring our boat, our guide hopped in a kayak and Nick and I got into our own. We paddled to the opening of the lagoon and over the shallow area. The water was clear and the sand was white, with sharp cliffs all around. Inside there was an area with deeper turquoise water and small crevices we paddled through. Nick even saw a baby shark. There were also two extremely tall dive platforms that were installed for a Red Bull competition.

The best snorkeling stop was next at Shimizu Island. There were so many small colorful Christmas Tree Worms, with more colors and patterns than we’d seen before. There were also at least 4 unique sea anemones with many small clown fish inside. Many of the corals were unfortunately in rough shape, though. One area also had a patch of about 50 sea urchins. Our guide said they are best to eat when it’s a full moon.

Our lunch stop was an island not on the tour list, but that our guide recommended called Bulalacao Island. The island itself was small but it was nice not having to share it with other tours.

The view was beautiful, but the best part was lunch, which was spring rolls, noodles, rice, shrimp, pork, chicken, vegetables, and bananas.

Fourth stop on the list was Hidden Beach, which turned out to be our favorite of the day. The beach had white sand with palm trees, and the water was ombre from clear to turquoise to dark navy blue. There were gorgeous rock formations framing the entrance to the beach as well.

We snorkeled, took photos, and explored the different areas here. The best part was that we had it all to ourselves, surprisingly.

Fifth was Helicopter Island, which gets its name from the silhouette from far away. This island also had palm trees, and clear water. It didn’t feel particularly special compared to some of the other stops. We snorkeled from one end of the swim zone to the other fairly quickly as there was not much coral or fish. The view from the beach was stunning, though, much like the other islands.

Our sixth stop was actually from Tour D, but our guide liked it. It was Pasandegan (ship wreck). After attaching our boat to the one that was attached to the mooring ball first, it was time to jump in. The water there was so deep we could not see the bottom. There was the remains of a wreck with many small fish swimming around. Nick even saw a small barracuda eat a fish. I did not last long as there were way too many jellyfish, which freaked me out. These ones were supposedly the ones that don’t sting, but we were in the Philippines during the season where the stinging ones are around so I was on high alert.

The final stop was the busy 7 Commando Beach. There was a boat traffic jam as boats could only go to shore to drop off and pick up people. We relaxed on the beach, took pictures with the palm trees, and had a quick swim here. The beach was long and beautiful. Our guide offered to take us to a beach where no one was instead, but I really wanted to see this one. It was an amazing day.

Nick and I had a day where we walked to El Nido beach which was about 40 minutes away from us. El Nido beach is in front of the downtown area and has many restaurants and shops nearby. We walked the length of the beach, then continued to another one. The highlight was finding a smash burger place that was drool inducing.

One of the more adventurous things we did was rent a motorbike/scooter for the day. I was nervous at first, but luckily Nick was an excellent driver, the roads were in great condition, and there was very little traffic. We drove about 1 hour past jungle, fields, cows, water buffalo, and small villages with only one wrong turn that was resolved in 10 minutes. The wrong turn did take us down a road absolutely full of butterflies, open fields, and mountains in the background. Nick described it as magical, but soon it became a butterfly death zone as they crashed into our helmets and faces.

Our final destination was Duli Beach. Here we rented a surf board for the day and alternated giving it a try. Turns out it’s not like riding a bike and took hours to get back into something that could be remotely described as a groove. We both ended up catching and properly riding a wave to shore only once each in 5 hours. This beach was stunning, the best near El Nido by far. There was just sand, lots of palm trees, and incredible water. I did have one shark sighting, which ended my surf turn early. We drove our scooter back to return it before sunset.