I cannot boast enough about the Philippines. Over 7,000 islands with white sand beaches, world class scuba diving, waterfalls, hidden lagoons, you name it. I spent 5 action packed weeks there and I feel like I barely scratched the surface. In this blog I’ll give some tips about how to get to El Nido, island hopping and what to expect once you’re there.
When To Go
The best time to go to the Philippines is November-May, which is the dry season. April and May are the hottest (and most humid) months of the year so it’s nice to go in December/January when the heat is more bearable. June-October is rainy season.
Getting to El Nido
El Nido is part of the Palawan province, which is made up of more than 1,700 tropical islands. Theres 3 options to get here: flight to El Nido, flight to Puerto Pricesa or 4 hour fast boat from Coron.
In Southeast Asia, you can usually book a last minute flight the day before and it will probably be under $100. It is not like this in the Philippines. Prices go up the closer it gets to the date, and once a flight is filled up they won’t add another one. You can get stuck on an island for days until another flight opens up.
If you’re like me, you don’t know how long you want to stay on an island so it was hard for me to plan ahead. Unfortunately, I booked my flight late and there were zero flights to El Nido from Boracay. Luckily, I was able to book a seat on a small sea plane to Puerto Princesa with Air Juan. The sea plane ended up being a cool experience with only about 9 seats and a beautiful view (it cost about $130 USD). From Puerto Princesa I took a tuk tuk to the bus terminal and a 6 hour van to El Nido (about $10 USD). This was pretty much a full day of travel so needless to say, it’s better to book your flights in advance.
If you’re coming from Coron you can fly, take an 8 hour boat or a 4 hour boat.
Van from Puerto Princesa to El Nido
-The vans don’t leave at specific times, they leave when they’re full. You could be waiting a few minutes or over an hour.
-They typically overfill these vans so expect to be squashed against other people. 
-If you have a big backpack or luggage, they will charge you for an extra seat since your bag is taking up room.
-They advertise the vans as having AC but that doesn’t mean it works.
-There is only 1 bathroom break in the 6 hour drive so plan ahead.
Tour C island hopping/snorkeling
I did a 2 day snorkel and camping trip with El Nido Paradise. With all companies in El Nido there are 4 options of snorkel tours: Tour A, B, C or D. I heard Tours A and C were the best so that’s what I did and I was not disappointed. The 1st day we did Tour C which was Helicopter island, Tapuitan island, Mantiloc island, Miniloc island, Cadlao island and Secret Beach which was my favorite of the day. All the beaches were great but secret beach is completely hidden behind rocks. We had to dock the boat and walk around the rocks to get to it.
Camping on a secluded island
I booked a 2 day island hopping/camping trip with el Nido Paradise because they are the only company with permission to camp on Paradise Island (private island). After a full day of snorkeling we arrived
on the secluded white sand beach right before sunset. Our tents were already set up for us and they included a sleeping pad and pillow. We watched the sunset we were called to a family style dinner around a picnic table with all you can drink rum and coke.
After dinner, our guides played guitar songs around the campfire, we watched shooting stars on the beach and bioluminescence in the water! This was such a magical experience.
Tour A island hopping/snorkeling 
The 2nd day we went to big lagoon, small lagoon, secret lagoon, Shimizu beach and 7 Commandos beach. Small lagoon was my favorite- bright green clear water and beautiful rock formations. I rented a sea kayak and kayaked through a small hole in the rocks that opened up into a lagoon in the other side. Secret lagoon was another favorite- we crawled through a small hole in a rock that opened up into a hidden lagoon.
If you have the time you should do all of the tours and scuba diving. I’ll definitely be coming back to scuba dive since I ran out of time.
This 2 day island hopping tour with camping was $70USD ($30/day snorkeling plus $10 camping). What a bargain!
Fav Restaurants
– Art Cafe: great drinks and food from an organic farm, live music and ocean view.
–Gusto coffee and crepes: good coffee is hard to find in the Philippines and this place was delicious.
General Tips
-If you have a few people in your group, do a private island hopping tour vs a group tour- it’s definitely worth it. All of the 
group tours go to the same sights around the same time, so it’s very busy. A private tour goes in reverse order so you have the place to yourself and you can choose which islands/beaches you want to go to.
-Wifi does not work- even if there are full bars it simply does’t work anywhere.
-Be prepared for power outages- in El Nido there were multiple power outages every day.
-Most accommodations charge an additional price for AC and hot water showers. In my opinion, it’s not worth the extra money with the power constantly going out. Most rooms will include a fan and that’s good enough.
Also, it’s so hot in the Philippines that most times I wanted a cold shower to cool off from the heat. A lot of times the water in the shower was warm anyways, from the sun warming the water pipes.
-Bring cash with you, not every place accepts credit cards. Theres only 2 ATMs in El Nido and they run out of money frequently.
-Don’t miss a sunset (on Caalan beach), they are spectacular here!
-Be prepared for heaps of stray dogs.
-At restaurants, they won’t bring you the bill when you’re finished eating because they don’t want to rush you. You’ll have to ask for it.
-Transportation does not leave on time.
Accommodation
There is everything from budget options, mid range and luxury.
Spin Designer Hostel- best hostel in el Nido! Chill vibe, nice lounge area, clean and a decent bathroom.
Our Melting Pot Hostel- good location, close to everything
Luxury- Miniloc Island Resort. I don’t know how much it costs to stay here, but I saw over water bungalows here and it looked amazing!
Summary of Costs:
Transport–
$170 flight there (cheaper if you book early)
$56 – flight out
$10 van there plus $10 back- van from Puerto Princessa to el Nido (if you fly straight to el Nido this doesn’t apply)
Accommodation–
$18/night average for private room
Food–
$10/day average
Excursions–
$70 island hopping tour
The Palawan area is truly breathtaking! If you’re wanting to explore more of Southeast Asia or the Palawan area, check out my post on Coron. Thanks for reading and please email me if you have any questions. 🙂
Heres a video of my trip to the Philippines. I went to El Nido, Coron, Malapascua, Moalboal and Boracay.