El Nido Palawan Boat Tour
We opted to explore El Nido by boat and chose the El Nido Boat Tour C with one of the local tour operators in El Nido town. Tour C had a mix of beaches, snorkelling spots and secret / Hidden coves!
We paid around 1,200PHP (£20) each and this included the boat, lunch for the day & use of snorkels + a San Mig Beer.
Meeting at the tour operator office at 8.30 AM we headed down onto the beach and waded into the sea to climb on board our boat for the day. We shared the boat with around 6 other tourists, so had a boat of around 11 people (one of the smaller boat numbers).
El Nido locals and businesses are really environmentally conscious when it comes to plastics. Make sure, if you are bringing a bottle of water on the boat, it’s not a single-use plastic bottle because they will take it off you.
Helicopter Island – Tour C
Helicopter Island – Tour C
The first stop on the El Nido Boat Tour C, Helicopter Island was a small island with a beautiful bay of white sand. Snorkelling was the main purpose of this stop.
The Philippines has some of the clearest and bluest water on this planet. Visibility in the sea was so clear and we could see so many different species of fish!
Matinloc Shrine – El Nido Bout Tour C
Mantinloc Shrine was the second spot on our tour. A rock face with a shrine at the bottom.
You can climb to the top to see some stunning views of one of the many small islands off the coast of El Nido. Or, opt to continue snorkelling where the boats dock and see the coral beds full of colour.
It was one of the snorkelling spots that didn’t have much sun bleach damage to the coral, which was pretty amazing to see.
El Nido’s Secret Beach
Two words: water shoes.
If I could give you any tip for doing El Nido Boat Tour C it would be that.
My God, trying to swim/ body crawl/ crouch shuffle to get to this beach was a struggle. There was a lot of rocks underfoot and the surrounding cliffs seemed to continue underwater.
So making it to land was an adventure in itself. We had a lot of fun here, our boat tour guide knew all the photo spots. The above picture was one of the successful pano’s we managed.
Others pictures involved us running from one end, behind the camera to then appear in the second half of the photo. I learnt some new pano photo tricks for sure.
We also had lunch here on this beach. The boat crew floated our dinner and table across the water to serve us a beautiful fresh fish lunch.
Hidden Beach
This Hidden beach was amazing! You had to swim through a rock face hole, letting the tide push you in or out of the hole.
Eventually, if you timed it right, you would be thrown into a circular cove with a small beach.
Slightly sad the whole bed was made up of coral, and with everyone visiting, it’s been ruined. Felt guilty for it, but the damage had been completed way before our visit.
El Nido Boat Tour C was a great day out. The price for what we got was in keeping with other Filipino Islands. I would love to of had the time to go back and do tour A, B and D. I guess this gives me an excuse to go back to El Nido and explore some more.
