Palawan Island, Philippines

A 1-week trip to El Nido town on Palawan island, Philippines.

Getting there

To get to El Nido from Penang (Malaysia), there are 2 main options:

  • fly: Penang -> Kuala Lumpur -> Manila (1 day layover) -> El Nido;
  • fly: Penang -> Kuala Lumpur -> Manila (1 day layover) -> Puerto Princesa; and then bus to El Nido.

The second option takes longer, but it’s a bit cheaper, more complicated, and you probably get to see a bit more of the island during the bus ride. So I took the second option.

Flying to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines
Flying to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines

Overnight layover in Manila.

Impressions:

  • armed security personnel guarding grocery stores? With AK rifles!? Huh. Guess they have a severe shoplifting problem here.
  • slept in a capsule-hotel for the first time. Felt like a privileged hobo. Interesting.
  • despite the fact the airport was only 5 minutes away from the hotel, I managed to almost miss my flight. Thanks to the nice airport people, I was escorted from the check-in, past the security gate, and straight to the boarding gate in less than 5 minutes, just like a priority pregnant damsel, and got to board the flight to Puerto Princesa.

Puerto Princesa 

First impression: disappointing, no princess awaiting at the airport.

From Puerto Princesa to El Nido is a bumpy 6-hour bus ride, but the views are pretty nice. Buses and minivans leave straight from the airport every 30 minutes or so.

El Nido

A laid-back town, with a nice and looong beach. Part of it is very touristic, but part of it is very rural & authentic. Pretty cool.

Working from El Nido

The hotels’ Wifi was horrible (I stayed in 2 different places), the mobile internet was bad as well, and worked needed to be done.

However, I found a tip about a small coffee-house that supposedly had great internet, coffee and food. And indeed it had, and I strongly recommended it: Delinido Coffeehouse. Great staff as well.

Kayaking from El Nido to Cadlao Island

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but whenever I see an island I have to put my foot on it; even if I already am on a beautiful island. So here’s a few photos from Cadlao Island: Paradise Beach, Pasandigan Cove, and a few others.

 

Next —  I’m going for 1 week on Boracay Island, Philippines.