What to do in El Nido Palawan, not everything is about Island Hopping
Four different boat tours and then….what?
The main activity and the reason why most of the people come here is El Nido island hopping, but is it worth to stay longer or should we move on to the next? I will try to answer this question and give you some ideas on what to do in El Nido.
Let’s face it, the first impression when you arrive at El Nido, especially if you come from such quiet places as Port Barton or Corón is not the best one. Everything seems overcrowded, chaotic, and touristic, as this is one of the top travel destinations in the Philippines.
Your minivan will drop you off outside the village itself, in a place named Corong-Corong. As soon as you take your backpack, plenty of tricycle drivers will try to take you to the center. But before taking that ride let me explain you briefly the options you have to sleep.
Where to stay?
There are basically 2 options: Corong-Corong & El Nido. While prices in Corong-Corong seem lower, the facilities and the distance from all the interesting spots can be a little bit annoying. Renting a bike or taking tricycle everytime you wanna move to El Nido will be your only choices.
Getting a good price for a hostel in El Nido center can take you longer than expected. But at the end, you will find a cheap room in one of the several local guesthouses “near” the beach main street. This is where all restaurants, bars, pubs, shops and travel agencies are located. The choice is pretty clear to me.
TIP: El Nido center is not very far away from the transport stop, so you can walk the road for 10-15 minutes to get there and save some pesos.
As you can see in the pictures below, Corong-Corong and the entrance to El Nido can let you down a little bit because of the busy road and the overcrowded streets once you arrive there.
Keep Calm, and let it flow.
Don’t let this first impression overwhelm you. It’s true that it’s much more busy than other places in Palawan. But once you get used to it, you’ll realize that it’s only the main road where the chaos is. And there are so many activities and beautiful places to enjoy, that you will soon forget about this initial inconvenience.
The beach is beautiful, but you need to move to the right side of it to get rid of the many boats used in the tours. Don’t worry anyway, there are much better options as you will see.
You can also enjoy the daily local life in the streets and meet really friendly Filipinos. Just let yourself go, as usual. That’s why we travel, right?
For those party-heads, you will also find many interesting places in the beach side. Lots of bars to dance, drink and have lots of fun with a mix of tourist and local people, where you can even enjoy some live bands music every night.
So, what are the top places to go around El Nido besides the island-hopping?
What to do in El Nido: Nacpan beach
You simply don’t wanna miss this insane beach, located about 45 minutes north from El Nido.
TIP: Rent a motorbike to get there, the price is 600PhP for a day It’s much cheaper than hiring a tricycle, which can cost you from 1000 to 1500PhP. Take also into account that in the case of a typhoon or any other weather condition, boat tours may be canceled, so you should try to rent the motorbike as soon as possible. El Nido is not that big!
If you still can’t have enough, you can also spend one day in this other piece of paradise…
What to do in El Nido: Las Cabañas
Las Cabañas is the next beach leaving Corong-Corong. Just take a 10-minute ride tricycle from El Nido (you can get it for 100PhP). I highly recommend you to stay there until the sun goes down and enjoy one of the most incredible sunsets in the Philippines.
TIP: If you want to enjoy one of the best views of this mind-blowing sunset, go to Republica Sunset Bar in Corong-Corong. Dídac and his crew will make you feel like at home while listening to chill music taking a cocktail.
And don’t forget to follow our advices to choose the best boat tour for El Nido island hopping.
