Aaaah The Philippines … ! Its paradisiac beaches of white sand and turquoise waters. After everything we heard about El Nido for 3 years, it was the time to go! I won’t lie: the trip was quite an effort but the reward was here, no regret at all!

El Nido – Downtown area

After a long trip from Hong Kong to Puerto Princessa and a minivan trip of 5/6 hours, we dropped our luggage to our lovely CED Villa hotel and went to El Nido downtown area. The centre is not super big and at the end of your stay, you’ll know almost all the streets. One part of the centre is quickly changing to a #hipster area. There, you can find many nice restaurants with terraces or sea view and chilling coffee shops. Our first lunch was with our feet on the sand at Cafe Athena for an invigorating burger. After a stroll in town and a quick trip to our hotel, we came back for dinner on the sea from to Onsight Seafront, one of the numerous restaurants facing the sea. There, we chose our fish to grill and enjoy our first night at El Nido.

Las Cabanas

During our trip, our goal was to discover and compare the highest number of beaches we could. First on the list: Las Cabanas! Very popular area with many beach clubs to choose from. Chilling vibes all along the seafront, nice water temperature and good sun: it was perfect. If you’re looking for big thrills, try the zip line over the sea (be aware the slope to access it is very very steep and that it closes around 5 pm, so you should start the climb well in advance). You’ll have the choice between sitting or facing down the #void.

To end the day perfectly, walk along the beach towards the further point and enjoy a drink while watching the sunset. Pet cute stray dogs, try hammocks, and make friends with your apero’s neighbours.

Boat day

Another specific activity of the place is to go for a boat day and choose between several tours (A, B, C, D, etc.). We chose the “tour A” and it was great! We discovered many islands, took a canoe to go see a lagoon, had a nice lunch, and met many people. Don’t forget to take your sunscreen and you’ll also have the possibility to rent shoes to go into the water on the boat (recommended for urchins). After a long day outside, we simply went for Thaï in a small restaurant located on the main street.

Lio Beach

Quite far and quite sceptical about it, we still went to explore Lio beach on the third day. And was a pleasant surprise! Very few people, nice beach with stand-up paddles to rent, nice restaurants and coffees to hang out during lunch time. In a nutshell: our favourite beach! We went to Tisa steaks and Chops for our first day there and to Pair-A-Dice Burger Bar on the second day – a very nice place on the first floor with jazz music and mozzarella sticks. A small airport is located nearby, so you may see planes landing just behind the beach’s trees from time to time but it is not disturbing at all.

Nacpan beach

Another day, another beach. During our 4^th day, we went to NacPan beach located North of El Nido. Compared to the other beaches, there were many people. Nice beach but not my favourite at all, too far, too crowded. We had lunch at a place call Sava, a beach club but not very close to the seafront, which was correct but not exceptional.

Scuba diving

El Nido may be a poor place, but you will not be bored for a second! Last day, I finally try scuba diving – I tried before but only once and I didn’t really like. Well… this time neither! But after the first dive, it got better. The tricky part is to not be afraid of breathing, especially breathing in the oxygen. For some reasons, I couldn’t get used to it the first time, and had some synchronisation problem… But on the second dive, I started to enjoy the beautiful seabed and 10000 Nemo swimming around us.

The instructors were cool, patient, and fun. The day was completed by Al Trove restaurant, an Italian gem in the middle of nowhere, where people queue for 1 hour or more to eat their pizzas. We waited 30 minutes and could try the Italian delicacies, very good indeed when you want comfort food!

Puerto Princessa

As we remembered the trip in the van, we decided to cut the trip in 2 and spend the last night in Puerto Princessa before taking the plane back to Hong Kong. We stayed in a really nice hotel called The Hue Hotel which features a nice swimming pool, good restaurant and spa. After the environment of El Nido, this was quite recomforting to go back to a place with comfortable facilities. I definitely recommend you do the same if you have a long trip back.

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Don’t expect superb comfort if you’re travelling to El Nido. Beaches are wonderful but it remains a poor city with limited facilities. Beyond this, this trip was one of my favourite as it was very relaxing and you feel disconnected from the rest of the world… nice feeling sometimes! Definitely in love with The Philippines after this trip and our trips to Cebu!