My Ultimate Dream Destination

April 4, 2009 

El Nido is my ultimate dream destination so when Owen Ferrer of DIYCoron invited me to join his holy week trip in El Nido I immediately agreed to join the tour.  I chose the PPC-El Nido-PPC route because I am a bit afraid of long boat ride (6 hours) from Coron to El Nido and vice versa. We booked a flight few months before the trip and since its holy week I am not expecting for a promo fare from any airline. 

I arrived at the airport 3 hours before my scheduled time. Since its holy week a lot of travelers are already at the airport waiting for their time to board. As expected my flight via Cebu Pacific was delayed for 45 minutes. We arrived at the Puerto Princesa terminal at 530pm. 

Our guide, Kuya Danny, was already at the airport when our plane landed. He told us that Kuya Julius will be the one who will tour us because he has another guest to attend to. My friends and I agreed because I just confirmed few days before our trip. We just left our bag at Sonne’s Gasthaus and left immediately for our city tour. 

Since its already late we just went to Baker’s Hill, Puerto Princesa’s Baywalk and Cathedral. 

We had our dinner at Ka Luis and we’re lucky enough because there’s a slot for us even we’re just walk-in clients (they prefer reservation because there are a lot of tourist who like to dine at their restaurants). 

We also went to Lola Itang’s Lodging to ask if there’s available room but there are already fully booked so we head back to our lodging to sleep and take our early rest for another long trip. Yey, El Nido na!

  

April 5, 2009

We woke up early and left the lodging at 5:30am. We also attended their Palm Sunday Mass at Puerto Princesa Cathedral. 

After attending mass we head to Fort Wally Terminal at San Jose, Puerto Princesa, Palawan. From the cathedral we travelled for 30 minutes until we reached fort wally terminal. 

There are 2 bus stopovers at Roxas, Palawan where we had our lunch at a chao long restaurant before we reached El Nido. 

It’s already 2:40pm when we reached El Nido. We paid 600 pesos fare from PPC to El Nido. We also rode a tricycle from fort wally terminal to Marina Beach Resort. 

We reserved Marina Beach Resort’s Cottage 2. I liked their location because its beachfront and there’s a hammock near our cottage.  I paid 1100 pesos for my 4 nights stay there. I also paid 1600 for the tour that we will be having for the next 2 days.

 
April 6, 2009

For our first day tour we visited

Small lagoon

big lagoon

and

 Entalula island

We had our lunch at Entalula island and upon reaching the island we noticed that there are a lot of jelly fish at the shore. So our guide decided that we will dock at the other side of the island where there are no jelly fishes nearby.

After having our lunch at Entalula Island we also went to

snake island 

and

  Codugnon cave.

We passed by Miniloc and Lagen Resort but since we’re not their guest we can’t go near their resort. We also passed by Pinagbuyatan island as we travelled back to El Nido town. 

April 7, 2009

We started our tour at 7am and our first stop is Nagbatang Island.

We didn’t dock at the shore we just swam and snorkel few meters away from the island. I love the corals at Nagbatang Island.


 

Then we went to Secret Beach. We have to cross the opening so that we could reach the secret beach and since I am not an expert swimmer Kuya Efren, our guide helped me cross and reach the secret beach. There are a lot of small jelly fishes there but it’s as itchy as the other jelly fishes that I encountered.

Then we went to Matinloc Island and had our lunch there. This is one of my favorite island in El Nido.

After the photo-ops and lunch at Matinloc island we went back to our boat and head to Matinloc shrine

Then to helicopter island which is also one of my favorite island in El Nido. Ganda kasi ng view dito.

Then we went to Cadlao Island. My fellow travelers told me that there are a lot of fishes here. Maybe I was just tired that time so I didn’t explore the place just like my co-travelers. 

cadlao island.

 April 8, 2009

I woke up early for our next trip and this time I’ll try cliff climbing at Taraw Cliff. Before our hike our guide had a briefing on what to do and what to expect in our cliff climbing. Our guide told us to be careful because the lime stones are really sharp. After the briefing I wanted to backed out but andyan na eh di go na rin ako. 

And our guides were not really joking when they said that we have to be careful in climbing. Gosh one mistake and I am dead, bangin ba naman nasa likod ko so super hawak ako. Iyong cliff na aakyatin 70-80 degrees paakyat. Awww

Before I reached the top of the cliff I had a minor accident. I had one wrong step and I didn’t noticed that I’m stepping on a wood. Lucky me few inches under that wood is a lime stone so di ako nahulog ng bonggang bongga. I just had a 3-4 inches cut above my ankle. Oks lang malayo sa bituka…

 
After applying some betadine on my bruised legs and assuring my travel friends that I’m ok we continued to climb to the top and after few minutes we reached the top of the cliff. I’m glad I finished this cliff climbing because I saw one of the most breath taking view I’ve ever seen in my life. Ang ganda sa taas, sobra. 

  
After the photo ops and appreciating the view of El Nido town and Bacuit Bay it’s time trek back and go back to El Nido town for another trip. 

Going up the top of the cliff is really hard for me but it is 3x harder going down. Kung meron lang zipline pababa kahit mahal pa iyan inavail ko na. I’m so lucky that my guide Enyen was so patient and he always boosts my spirit to conquer my fear of heights and to finish this hike. I reached El Nido town after almost 2 ½ hours. Sa wakas, with matching palakpak pa mula sa mga kasama ko. Yehey!!!

Upon reaching Marina beach Resort I just fixed my things and joined my other friends who are waiting for me for another island hopping. We rented a boat for 2000 pesos and our travel buddy Jenny from Hongkong paid the boat rental and we just add 200 pesos each for the guide and boatman’s tip. 

We went back to big lagoon because we didn’t explore the place the first time we got there because it is low tide. Next stop is Simizu beach

Simizu beach. 

We had our lunch here and my other travel friends snorkeled and enjoyed the beach. As for me I just rest there because that time my body is already aching and I have no energy to swim.

Then we went to Seven Commandos Island. I also love this island because of its fine sand and its beautiful view.

 

There’s a store here in the island selling buko juice, soft drinks and beer. Tamang tama at uhaw na uhaw na ako =) My friend Mario bought buko juice for all of us. Thanks Mario, mwahh.

We came back at El Nido town at 5pm and we rest for a while then we roam around El Nido town.

We had a dinner party at Ric’s Restaurant because one of the joiners of our tour is having her birthday. And since it’s our last night at El Nido, we partied and enjoyed the night.

April 9, 2009

We left El Nido at 6am and we arrived at San Jose Puerto Princesa at 230pm. Kuya Julius  fetched us at San Jose Terminal and we asked him if he know a place where we can stay for 2 nights. First checked Aldo’s Pension house but we had a problem at their aircon so we decided to look for another place to stay. We went to Payuyo Lodging. We had no issues at the room they assigned to us so we immediately checked in. 

Since its already late and its holy Thursday and all of the restaurants we wanted to dine was already closed we had our dinner at Ima Gulay Bar and Restaurant. It’s a restaurant that caters vegetarian food. 

I ordered Jambalaya and veggie meat for my friend, we also tried their mango shake. My Jambalaya was just ok but I love their veggie meat. After we finished our dinner we went back to Payuyo and rest. 

April 10, 2009

We woke up early for our Hunda Bay Island hopping. We went to the market first for our lunch then went to Sta. Lourdes Wharf and wait for our travel friends to arrive. I also requested Eric Williams to be our guide. He was my guide the first time I visit Hunda bay. I really like how he handles his guests and he makes sure that we explored and enjoyed the tour. Luckily he was available to tour us.

After paying the fees and after we registered at the Sta. Lourdes wharf we started our island hopping. First stop

Pambato Reef. 

It is also known as little Tubattaha reef that’s why it’s called Pambato reef because it’s their pambato o panlaban or the Hunda Bay’s bet against other coral reefs. We paid 50 pesos per person for the entrance fee. Kuya Eric guide us around Pambato Reef and we also saw a Taklobo, giant clam, at the reef. 

Then we went to my favorite island, Snake Island.

Since its holiday, good Friday there are a lot of tourists here in the island. We even waited for our turn just to have a cottage for us. Our boatman cooked and prepared our lunch. We paid 120 pesos at the islands caretaker. 

While our boatman is busy preparing for our lunch Kuya Eric toured us and had our fish feeding. I really enjoyed this activity and really like to see so many fishes near me. Hmmm baka isda din ako nung past life ko kaya tuwang tuwa ako.. hehe

When we got tired we went back to the island. We also had our merienda there and bought halo-halo for only 30 pesos. 

pose kung pose sa snake island

bawal ang ibang kulay, blue lang dapat

kuya eric at ako

We passed by Pandan Island but my friends opt not go down and visit the island. Then we head back to Sta. Lourdes wharf. Kuya Julius, our guide/trike driver was already waiting for us when we reached the wharf. We also thank our guide and boatman for the island hopping tour we had. 

An and I ask Kuya Julius to drive us to Baker’s hill so we could buy some pasalubong. After we bought some pasalubong we went back to our lodging. 

We had our dinner at Balinsasayaw along Manalo St. I love their sinigang na maya maya and of course mango juice.

April 11, 2009

It’s time for us to leave Puerto Princesa so after we checked out at Payuyo we went to the airport for early check in. We arrived at the airport at 7am but the airport was still closed so we waited outside. When they already opened we went straight to the check-in counter of Cebu Pacific and still waited for the staff to attend to us.

When we already checked-in our baggage we went outside and rode a trike going to Tianggehan to buy another pasalubong and souvenir items. We also saw Kuya Julius outside Tianggehan so we rode at his trike going back to the airport. 

kuya julius at ako

At 9:45am we boarded the plane going back to Manila and we arrived at the airport earlier than the expected time. I also rode the shuttle service at terminal 3 since it’s cheaper than the taxi. 

It’s the longest trip I ever had and since I landed Manila I already missed the beauty of Palawan. 

Contact Numbers:

Marina Resort (El Nido) - 09196353936

Kuya Efren (guide sa el nido) - 09074972358

Payuyo Pensionne (Puerto Princesa) - 09095345373

Kuya Julius (trike sa Puerto Princesa) - 09269745604

also thanks to mario, an and alfred for the pictures