Mr & Mrs Wanderlust travel to El Nido, Palawan, Philippines DIY trip

El Nido, Palawan

11/30/2019

Where: Miniloc, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
Who: Mr & Mrs Wanderlust
When: December 2019
What: A quick island getaway at a beautiful resort in El Nido

Palawan, a pristine paradise that has always been beautiful not well known before social media, but now due to the internet and social media photos of this very beautiful beach are on almost every list of the best beaches in the world. And it truly is, with the development of more resorts, flights, town airport, etc the tourism industry in the province of Palawan is now packed with tourists from all over the world wanting to experience a piece of paradise.

How To Get There:

Going to El Nido now is a lot easier than we remember 6 years ago we went here via plane from the province's capital city then a 6 hour land travel to El Nido.

Now there are daily accessible flights and a better airport in El Nido. So MNL - El Nido for an hour flight then a 20-ish minute boat ride from the town's port to the island destination, Miniloc.

Where To Stay:

As mentioned above, we have booked in a luxury resort in an island away from El Nido town, although there are also a lot of resorts/hotels and inns to stay in the town we opted to try a recent promo that the resort had thanks to a buddy of mine who gave us info about it (Thanks Rab!)

Mr & Mrs Wanderlust's Review

Miniloc, El Nido Resorts

+ Beautiful resort in the beautiful island in Palawan.
+ Staff were all helpful and go extra mile
+ Clean, nice and cozy room, comfortable bed
+ Bathroom was clean and no leaks
+ Breakfast was lovely, so many choices and all are delicious
+ WiFi was working great and reliable
+ Infinity pool was nice and had a great view of the beach and landscape
+ Has a bar and pool table and
+ Complimentary activities will make sure you enjoy everything about El Nido.
+ Special mention to all the staff who made our stay better by making sure all the guests are taken care of and go extra mile to make sure they feel like VIP

- Reservations did not send us info on paid boat tours so we wernt able to reserve on our preferred day as it was sold out and had to book on our last day.

***Rating:

Price: $$$$ $400 / night for a room
Service: 5 Star - Honestly the staff were the ones who made our stay better
Facilities & Amenities: 5 star - Lovely cottages and overwater bungalow
Restaurant (foods): 5 star -lovely food, many choices
Bar: 5 star - Bar with pool table and nice view of the sea
________________________________
Overall: 5 /5 really lovely stay and staff made sure we felt like VIP. Rooms were romantic and so is the island

What To Do:

Island Hopping to Entalula Island

Entalula island, famously known with that huge mushroom shaped rock and we totally remember it last time we were here 6 years ago and nothing much has changed (good!) maybe except for more tourists/boats. Also in this island is a private part, leased by El Nido Resorts is a small beach club exclusive for guests checked in from their resorts.

Look at that panoramic shot very beautiful

Talakitok (Jackfish) Feeding

What we saw here was huge Jackfish which is a special type who are colored black. They grow as big and around 50 kilos. They are really fast swimmers and is fascinating to watch while they are being fed by the resort staff and you can even swim with them.

Small Lagoon

The famous lagoon is one of El Nido's famed tourist spots, we were lucky not much people were in there as opposed to peak season. Also the lagoon is really near the resort so we were able to get there in just a few minutes boat ride.

Shimizu Snorkeling Area

The island is a very beautiful place to snorkel around and see the beautiful diverse creatures, corals and so much more hard to describe by words but best to seewith your own eyes with goggles of course.

As we always heard from tour guides, named after a Japanese diver (who is studying the island IIRC) who got trapped in a storm and died here makes a good story to stay safe.

Lunch at Lagen Island

Part of the resorts' complimentary activities during the day is having lunch at Lagen Island. Also another property owned by El Nido Resorts placed on the quiet island of Lagen. We were welcomed and treated like VIPs (thanks to kuya Andy, and Rab!)

Lunch was also great and so many choices, it was also fun to see a giant iguana casually walking along with the guests while they are taking photos and not being shy.

The resort also features a walking forest trail going up the steep part of the island around 15-20minute walk depending on your pace, then get rewarded by a beach on the other side of the island, and the best part, all to ourselves! See the photos on the next slideshow

Snake Island

A sand bar forming at the right time of the day due to tides. Experience waves coming at you from both sides as the clear white sand is just in the middle and better because we did it early so we had the island all to ourselves again.

Cudugnon Cave

On to the next island from the sandbar, we go next to another beach, but this time it is actually part of the main island of Palawan. There is a cave hidden among the rocks in the beach itself, guides will assist you as it might be hard to enter as you have to lie down and roll to get to the other side of the hole which is a huge cave once you get inside.

Magnificent structures, hopefully tourists would avoid defacing the formations by writing on it or vandalizing it, and guides should be more strict regarding these matters.

Dibuluan Beach

The island also has a beach club owned by El Nido Resorts. This island not only boasts of its beautiful white sand beach and crystal clear waters perfect for snorkeling, it also has a trail going up to a view point hiked to the top. Again we are lucky to have the island by ourselves, and of course a few guards/caretaker in the quiet beach club.

Lounge at the Pool!

Swimming time. Time to chill on the resorts' pool and maybe watch the sunset while reading a book and sippin a cool drink.

There are lots of wildlife animals to be spotted, matter of fact the resort even provides a checklist with illustration and description of the animals.