Around El Nido town

Snorkeling Trip: Tour C in El Nido

I was really surprised about the lack of tourists in El Nido. Ofcourse it's not really on the typical backpack trail AND it requires a flight from Manila then a 6-7 hour bus from Puerto Princesa to El Nido. I am stoked that this little paradise is a bit cut-off from tourists.

Just about the only touristy things you see around town are ads for boats to Coron and snorkeling tours A-D. We decided to hop on board Tour C and were more than happy with our decision! For about $32 (includes a national park fee) we visited 5 spots such as snorkeling on Helicopter Island and visiting Secret Beach and Hidden Beach, the most beautiful sneaky beaches which are hidden behind those magnificent limestone cliffs! 

Around mid-day, the boat found a private beach and the captain and co-captain whipped up a lunch of fresh grilled tuna, steam crab, salad, fruit and BBQ pork. And it was beyond delicious.

At $32 for a full day of island-hopping, snorkelling and lunch on a private beach, it was worth every penny!

{See the seasnake?}

Another country, another motorbike! Well...dirtbike...

Christian just about had motorbiking down to a fine art. Then the motorbike shop in El Nido said they only had a semi-automatic dirtbike to rent out to us. Small obstacle...small obstacle, Christian thought. Can't be TOO much more difficult than what we've been on before.

I hopped on the back as per usual...and just as we left town the first sight we see is a tourist who had just fallen off his...semi-automatic dirtbike. Sweet.

Fortunately I've got the best motorbiking, dirtbiking, scoot-scootin' husband in town! We bounced all over the roads between El Nido and Nacpan Beach and made it there (and back!) in one piece. We also ended up on the local road...more like a local footpath. Before we knew it, we had missed the turn but a local told us to follow him, then after a few kilometers, he pointed to a trail in the jungle, yelled 'Nacpan!' and disappeared. So that was our trail. A 1 meter wide pathway/tunnel of trees apparently leading to a beach that we couldn't even see.

And we made it :). Christian rolled the dirtbike onto the sand, we hopped in for a dip and rode down to the main part of the beach...where all of the non-lost people end up. Fortunately we were pleased to see that they had plates of grilled shrimp for $5...and an actual road back to town.

Filipino Paradise! Palawan

A few quick snaps from our most excellent 10 days in Palawan...

I always dreamed of going to Palawan. The water, the palm trees, the boats...ugghhh I had to go there one day! However the Philippines were completely vetoed from our SE Asia route almost from the beginning. Then Christian became a beach guy, our plans shifted and a perfect little pocket of time opened up for Palawan. And ofcourse it helped a bit when my sister sent us a list of the best beaches in the world and Palawan made the cut ;) ;)...thanks Twinnie.

It was just as amazing in person as it was in the photos. People were very friendly. El Nido felt completely away from the tourist trail...actually it felt like we were *nearly* cut off from the rest of the world during our time there.

More on Palawan later...but this beautiful place just became one of our favorite destinations so far.