El Nido

 

El Nido is know for the very scenic and protected islands off shore and thus the reason they get a large amount of non-native tourists from all around the world. Indeed we did see more non-natives from around the world on this day than I would see the entire rest of my trip but since we were visiting during the rainy season, it wasn't nearly as bad as it can be. YouTube videos of the harbor beach where people catch boats to ride out to the various islands typically show thousands of tourists. On this particular sunny day during rainy season, there was maybe a couple dozen when we got there.

We met our guide on the beach and a French couple from Australia that would be joining our group of nine for the day and waded out to our boat. After rules were introduced and we had a discussion of where we would like to stop since we only had time for maybe five stops out of maybe two dozen places we could go, we set off for the first stop.

There is a large lagoon and a small lagoon that are the most popular stops for the tours so we opted to go to the small lagoon first and were rewarded with having it to ourselves. Above you can see a hold at the waterline through the lava rock that we would have to paddle kayaks through to see the actual lagoon.

Here is a view from inside the small lagoon where we were totally surrounded by cliffs. We paddled around and explored a bit before our time was up and we had to head back to the boat. Later on in the trip we would boat by the bay for the most popular large lagoon and there were dozens of boats parked there so we didn't stop.

Our second stop for the day was just an all around beautiful beach where we could snorkel just offshore. 

Or watch the boats go by.

Fun fact about me, but when I was younger I had tubes put in my ears multiple times due to ear infections. I don't think they do that any longer but that was standard procedure back then. Then in my late teens while jumping off a high diving board, I ruptured one of my ear drums and had several surgeries to repair it but none successful. So to this day, I can't swim underwater without getting water into my inner ear and causing intense vertigo and later pain. So while the others were snorkeling, I found a shady corner of beach and just enjoyed life.

I walked across the very large beach to the back and found it was fenced off. Our guide told me later that the island was privately owned and it was fenced off to keep tourists from traipsing about their property which I understood.

Although no one was around, I discovered the reason for the boat full of coconuts that was moored just off the beach when we arrived. 

A sign warning tourists not to pick the leaves off. 

For our third stop of the day, we headed to another find beach for lunch. On the far end of the beach was a house that evidently belonged to one of the rich people of the Philippines. They told me the surname which made an impression to my wife and BIL but meant nothing to me.

Part of the boat tour package was an included lunch and our guide and boat driver soon had a feast pulled out from the coolers and ready for our consumption.

Above is my plate with some rice, pancit (noodles), shrimp, adobo (pork in a vinegary sauce) and veggies.

After lunch we set off past the previously mentioned big lagoon and went to another beach where there was some snorkeling to be found again. I was told by the others that the snorkeling wasn't very good because during Covid the locals deprived of tourist money they have come to depend on, bombed the reefs to increase their catch of fish to sell. Sadly most of the corals we visited were dead or dying.

On our way to the last stop of the day for some of the better snorkeling that remains, our engine conked out. The hatch was lifted and the two boat drivers diagnosed the issue as an oil line that had come undone. After twenty minutes or so they got the oil line reattached and some more oil poured into the engine and with a puff of smoke, we were able to set off again.

From our last snorkeling spot, I took a picture looking back at El Nido bay where we began our day and where when we pulled up anchor, we would end our day.

After saying goodbye to the boat and walking back to the town center, we bought some food from a nearby restaurant to take back to our resort for supper. Since we had to rent a van driver to get from the resort to El Nido in the morning, rather than wait on him again, we hired three tricycles (motorcycles with sidecars) to haul the nine of us back to the resort. We ended up paying 300 pesos per tricycle or about $4.87. As you can see in the above picture, it was raining which is typical of early evenings during rainy season.