El Nido, Palawan Getaway

El Nido, Palawan Getaway | Summary and Expenses

My wallet had a pleasant surprise for me when I opened it after my El Nido trip — money! I had always thought that El Nido was an expensive destination. My recent trip, however, proved that it is anything but expensive. In fact, it is one of the cheapest four-day vacations I have had.

Bacuit Bay during low tide

The only expensive thing about El Nido, Palawan is the cost of direct flights getting there but no one is forcing anyone to take direct flights. Taking a flight to Puerto Princesa and then catching a bus or shuttle to El Nido proves to be much more pocket-friendly although it demands more time. Hence, taking the Puerto Princesa-El Nido route takes more effort as far as preparations are concerned.

Planning a Trip to El Nido via Puerto Princesa

Booking a flight should be on top of your list if you’re planning to visit El Nido via Puerto Princesa. Airphil Express offers some of the lowest fares to the Palawan capital. We booked the 7:30am flight to Puerto Princesa so we’d have more time to explore El Nido when we get there. Remember, El Nido is five to six hours away. Also, there are no shuttle services to El Nido or back at night.

That’s the thing about El Nido — it’s playing hard-to-get. But it’s the kind of destination you’d want to marry. When you’re in this paradise, you will never want to leave. El Nido is pure beauty.

Airphil Express flies to Puerto Princesa from Manila, Clark, and Cebu! Visit www.airphilexpress.com to book tickets!

Cliffside Cottages, where we spent the first night, and Garnet Hotel, where half of our group stayed for the rest of the trip

The next challenge is to find a place to stay in El Nido. The town has a long stretch of hostels and inns parallel to the beach that are very, very affordable. You will find rooms that you can rent for as low as P300 per night but most of the rooms this cheap do not have air conditioners. You will find a dense concentration of hotels along the shore. If you can’t find a beachfront hotel, don’t worry  because they can never be too far from the beach.

Preparing an El Nido itinerary is easy. The local Tourism Office of El Nido standardizes the rates and destinations of every tour. You just need to choose among El Nido’s four major tours — A, B, C, or D. However, you may ask any travel agency to help guide you if you wish to go off the beaten track.

Read more about this in detail here: Preparing a trip to El Nido | Creating an Itinerary, Booking Flights, Finding Hotels, and Booking Tours

Day 1: On the Road to El Nido

Once we arrived in Puerto Princesa, we immediately booked tickets to El Nido at the Fortwally Shuttle Services Office. A couple of hours later, the shuttle picked us up at a restaurant in the city proper. It was a full six-hour drive with one stop-over at an eatery in Roxas, Palawan. We left at 11am and hit the El Nido terminal at 5pm. We took a trike to our hostel, watched the sunset at Bacuit Bay, and grabbed dinner and some booze.

Day 2: Tour C – The Beaches of Matinloc Island and Helicopter Island

We were supposed to take Tour A that day but our boatmen noticed that the weather was pleasant and suggested that we prioritize Tour C because it’s farther. After all, we can do Tour A even when the weather isn’t as favorable but not Tour C. Usually, it costs P900 per person but since we were a group of 7, they cut off a good chunk of the cost to only P650 inclusive of lunch. All seven of us had the entire boat for ourselves.

Helicopter Island

Tour C is all about beaches. Basically, we should have explored three islands — Matinloc Island, Shimizu Island, and Helicopter Island but we had to skip Shimizu because of time constraints. Here are the specific places we visited as part of this tour.

We moved to another hotel, El Nido Waterfront Hotel, after the tour for a change of scenery (and because some of us really wanted beachfront accommodations.) Once everything was settled and upon seeing recommendations online, we had dinner at El Nido Corner Restaurant that evening and went to a bar afterwards for a round of beer.

Day 3: Tour A – The Lagoons of  Miniloc Island and the 7 Commando Beach

The gorgeous and rocky Miniloc Island took the spotlight on our third day in El Nido. Miniloc Island is home to several lagoons and some of them are difficult to access.

The beach near the Secret Lagoon of Miniloc Island

Tourists kayaking from Small Lagoon to Big Lagoon

It was a much easier tour than Tour C primarily because Miniloc is nearer than Matinloc and the waves at the lagoons are hardly there. Haha.

After the tour, we chose to spend the night at the lobby of Garnet Hotel, where half of our group were staying, and just watch TV. We were just so exhausted after two days of island-hopping. We also ditched the initial idea of drinking and getting wasted that night since Fortwally would be picking us up at 4:30 am in front of our hotel. That was too early. But we needed to catch the 2pm flight the next day.

Day 4: Back to Puerto Princesa to Manila

Our last day in El Nido started as early as 3am. We had a cup of coffee by the beach after packing and at 4am, we were along the road waiting for Fortwally to pick us up. They arrived on time and in the next 6 hours I was asleep in the van. I woke up past 10:30 and we were already in Puerto Princesa. After a quick brunch at Balinsasayaw Restaurant, we headed over to the airport and checked in early to catch our flight back to Manila.

Budget and Expenses

As mentioned before, this has been one of my cheapest 4-day/3-night getaways. Here’s the breakdown of the expenses.

• P353 – Airphil Express roundtrip fare to Puerto Princesa (P100 SALE)
• P1,200 – Fortwally Shuttle roundtrip fare
• P300 – Cliffside Cottages (P600 per room/2 pax)
• P1,000 – El Nido Waterfront Hotel (2 nights at P2000 per night/4 pax; air-conditioned)
• P600 - Total food expenses
• P200 – Eco-Tourism Development Fee (ETDF)
• P550 – Tour A (El Nido Corner, with group discount)
• P650 – Tour C (El Nido Corner, with group discount)
• P240 – Terminal fees (Manila and PPS)
• P100 - Incidentals (water, trike rides, snacks)
  P 5,193 – TOTAL EXPENSES

I brought P7000 in this trip for pocket money (with the airfare being paid way before the trip) and I was pleasantly shocked that I still had so much left. I guess it pays to bring snacks with me, too. And for breakfast, just buy a pack of pandesal from any of the bakeries there and divide the cost among the group.