El Nido - Island Hopping Tour A

El Nido is a municipality and managed resource protected area in the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is about 420 kilometres (260 mi) south-west of Manila, and about 238 kilometres (148 mi) north-east of Puerto Princesa, Palawan’s capital. It is known for its white-sand beaches, coral reefs, limestone cliffs and as the gateway to the Bacuit archipelago.
As a part of our accommodation deal at Arkitel we were booked on Tour A. This is arguably the most popular island hopping tour in El Nido. It took us into a small and big lagoon, Shimzu Island for lunch and some extraordinary snorkeling. And finally to 7 Commando Beach.  The crew of our boat were so friendly and helpful. It really was a pleasure to spend the day with them.

The view from our b&b. 

Heading out on our tour.

The town of El Nido.

First stop of the day...small lagoon.

We rented a kayak, but it's not really necessary. The lagoon was small enough to explore as a swimmer.

Big lagoon. Here we loved having the kayak, because the lagoon was really large and we were able to paddle all around it and explore.

Rehydrating with giant coconuts after our swim/kayak. 

Beautiful 7 Commando Beach.

Fun on the rope swing.

Storm was rolling in, but we were lucky and only started to reason when we were leaving.

El Nido - Marimegmeg Beach

October 9, 2016

The drive to El Nido is an adventure in itself. It took us about 6.5 hours, including pick up of all the other passengers in Puerto Princessa (we were the first pick up). A couple bathroom breaks, a lunch stop, and two car sick kids later, we arrived in El Nido at the Arkitel Bed and Breakfast. We had been warned by friends about the  drive, which was pretty much one switchback after another for the entire drive. I strongly recommend, if you ever do this drive, that you pack some gravol...just in case. We already stopped to pick up a supply for the drive back...so fingers crossed, we'll be good.

Beautiful views on the drive.

Palawan countryside.

After a long day of travel we decided to spend the rest of the day at Marimegmeg Beach. It is just 4km from El Nido town...so very easy to get to. 

Beautiful beach. We were here at low tide so not ideal for swimming, but it was breathtaking.

Lounging on the beach.

Cool swings provide seating at the bar.

We LOVE the beach!

Always a beautiful sunset on the beach. 

Waiting for our drinks. The kids didn't want to leave so we decided to sit and relax, even though our walk back along the beach would be in the dark. There was only one place where we could get a cyclo back to town.

My fav pic of the day!