El Nido, Palawan --- looking back after 10 years

~ Text & photos by Aireen Navarro ~

El Nido - a destination on its own in Palawan. It's been 10 years since my last visit and I've been wanting to go back....

It was while island-hopping with undergrad classmates (BS Tourism senior students) that I fell in love with snorkeling and exploring far-off islands in the Philippines. It was also on this trip that I got very interested in scuba diving - who won't after snorkeling in Palawan??? I got the chance to travel to Palawan and explore a small part of El Nido and its surrounding areas way back in Jan-Feb 1999. Wow!!! Time indeed flies -- it's now 2009!!!

We were a group of 8 students, thesis-mates working on a case study of El Nido as an eco-tourism destination and its sustainability. We focused and based our exploration in the town of El Nido, a small coastal poblacion located on the northwestern tip of Palawan's main island. The exclusive island resorts are just a few minutes' boat ride away. So for students / budget-travelers / backpackers, the El Nido poblacion and its beachfront cottages is the place to be!!!

We of course flew to Puerto Princesa first where we did some research. In and out of Puerto Princesa to/from El Nido was an adventure in itself! The roads from Puerto Princesa to Taytay, Palawan were not paved yet -- so it was a jarring 10-11 hours road travel passing remote towns and forest corridors on a jeepney. Then another 3 hours boat ride from Taytay to El Nido.

Our first glimpse of the islands was just amazing!!! We set off from a remote river in Taytay where we waited for the tides to come in before our boat finally left for El Nido. While waiting, we basked in the pristine beauty of its surrounding mangroves and birdlife!!! Colorful fishes and jellyfishes were clearly visible from our banca!!! A short stop-over at an island for lunch (forgot the name of this remote fishing village), then we're off to seeing lots of islands, rock-islands, limestone cliffs...

So what did we find out while in El Nido? Well, the El Nido Marine Reserve in Miniloc, El Nido, occupies an area of about 96,000 ha & is a popular nature spot boasting diverse ecosystems. We're talking about a mix of pristine rainforests, mangroves, white sand beaches, coral reefs & limestone cliffs. You can just imagine the range of activities one can do here!!! Manta rays/stingrays and sea cows or dugongs known as the world's rarest marine mammal, also abound. Unfortunately we didn't see any of these species but we saw sea turtles and tons of colorful reef fishes!!!



El Nido is now one of the country's premier destinations, blessed with amazing natural scenery, and considered a sanctuary for various forms of wildlife. The area is also home to a few exclusive island resorts, one of which we visited to conduct an ocular inspection & interview to assess how the exclusive resort was able to sustainably develop the area, combining conservation with job-creation. We had lunch at El Nido - Lagen Island Resort. Now, this is a resort to be!!!


The rest of our stay's filled with more adventures --- island-hopping for 2 days, heading out to small & big lagoons.....

.......passing by Pangalusian Island to get to Snake Island (Vigan Island), Simizu Island which is close to Turtle Island (sanctuary for turtles where only researchers are allowed) and other islands (forgot its names....).

We also explored other areas of El Nido, talking to locals on how they harvest the edible nests of the swiftlets usually found in the sharp crevices of El Nido's limestone cliffs. The swiftlets' nests are the main ingredient of the 'nido soup' and fetch a high price, so a lot of the locals brave the high cliffs to harvest nests.


Then, too soon, the adventure ended. We headed back to Puerto Princesa, another jarring ride back to the city, did more research and spent a day snorkeling/island-hopping in Honda Bay before flying back to Manila - submit our case study and finally graduate :)

Someday, I'll go back to El Nido.....