In my previous blog, I was talking about mainly the island of Darocotan you can check this link from here if you haven’t read my article about this wonderful island. Now, I want to write about the Best of El Nido Palawan and things to do, and where to stay. We were here for only a week and I know there are still a lot of things to do and places to visit and restaurants to try, but in this blog, I am talking about mainly our experience and recommendations of things to do and restaurants to try.
Table of Contents
Things to do in El Nido Palawan
Recommendation of things to do and where to book
Back in the day, El Nido wasn’t popular as how it is today. When I arrive on the mainland I was really surprised at how modern it is with all the new establishments and businesses in the area. Anyhow, there are tons of activities in El Nido it’s either do zipline, hike, go for a boat tour, rent a motor, etc. There is also more inland tour which we actually did most of the time when we were staying downtown. On the mainland, you’ll see a lot of travel agencies that organize different activities in El Nido. I compared most of the prices and they are mostly the same.
I recommend you to check Klook I find it really convenient to book any kind of activities wherever locations you are in. The good thing also about using Klook is you can pay directly online and in places like El Nido you will probably need cash to pay in some places and it might some bank cards didn’t work. I recommend you to register in Klook to have less worry experience on your trip.
We wanted to do the boat tour but the weather was so bad that they can’t allow us to do it because of the big waves. This is probably one of the things that I must do, but I have been left with no choice it’s better to be safe than sorry and we actually enjoyed our inland tour just chilling in a bar and having coconut juice, a beer, and cocktails.
Accommodation
My first requirement of places to stay is that the place must be in front of the beach. I know choosing this specific requirement can be costly but I found a perfect place that I think is affordable for some people.
Rosanna’s Pension
We stayed in Rosanna’s Pension in the mainland El Nido as you can see in the picture below, our room is literally in front of this amazing landscape with a terrace where you can watch the sunrise and sunset. The best part of this place is when you sleep at night the only noise you can hear is the sound of the waves which will make your trip even more special.
Coffee shops
Hama Coffee El Nido
This coffee shop is just below Rosanna’s Pension the accommodation that I recommend above belong in the same building. I’m not quite sure if they are from the same owner, but as you can see from the pictures below you will have this beautiful view the same as the room we booked from Rosanna’s Pension.
The interior of this coffee shop is really nice and modern and the coffee was superb. It’s really a perfect spot and you can walk by the beach even with your coffee.
Taste
We also tried this cute coffee shop as you can see El Nido is surrounded by these new modern businesses. This place serves really good coffee! I don’t know about the food I believe it’s a vegan restaurant place.
Restaurants
Maa’s Grill
In downtown El Nido we only went to one restaurant and we repeat it again as we are Filipino and we want to just eat really nice Filipino food. We found this place better for the quality of the food and the price. Although for me, I can say this kind of food is supposed to be cheaper but in El Nido even a simple Filipino dish is expensive. That’s what happened when a place become a tourist place fairly it’s cheaper but for local people this is pricey.
For breakfast, we went back to the Maa’s Grill and we tried the typical Filipino breakfast.
Gusto Gelato + Bistro
For dessert, I recommend going to this ice cream shop.
Midtown El Nido Bakery
There’s no croissant here it’s a typical Filipino bakery. Usually, local people eat pandesal for breakfast together with their coffee. I recommend buying their hot pandesal if not they have also other baked goods that you can try.
Places to go
Las Cabañas Beach
For the inland tour, we just did it on our own and we decided to go to Las Cabañas Beach. It’s a really nice place to chill for a day. There are few restaurants around and places to stay also they have a small shopping center near the tricycle terminal.
We stayed here for a day just chilling and swimming on the beach. Some restaurants allow you to stay in their beach bed with a minimum amount of orders which is a good deal.
The Location
Accommodation
There are so many accommodations you can book near Las Cabanas Beach that you might be interested to check these places.
Nacpan Beach
In the beginning, we intend to stay at Nacpan beach and we actually book a place there. But in the end, we changed our plan as we already stay in Las Cabanas beach, and in our last days we will stay in Corong Corong beach we decided not to go to Nacpan.
I still have accommodation of places to recommend in this area. The good thing about reserving accommodation through booking is you can choose with free cancellation so if anything happens or you decided to change your plan you will not lose money.
Nacpan beach is a bit farther from the mainland and you will need to take a tricycle. The place is pretty similar to Las Cabanas beach and there are also a few restaurants there if you fancy eating a nice lunch and dinner.
The Location
Accommodations
There are so many accommodations you can book near Las Cabanas Beach that you might be interested to check these places.
Cabanas de Nacpan Camping Resort
Mad Monkey Hostel Nacpan Beach
Corong Corong Beach
We changed our plan so instead of us staying more days in the downtown area we stayed more days on the remote island. In the last days of our stay in El Nido, we stayed at Corong Corong beach.
We stayed in this beachfront accommodation name Corong Beach Resort and it was a super nice experience. They have their own restaurant and you can order food there and eat on your balcony. The place is really modern, clean and comfortable.
The Location
Accommodations
Here are some places that you can check out if you are interested in staying in Corong Corong Beach
Last Frontier Beach Resort-Adults Only
Restaurant
There are many restaurants in Corong Corong beach and you will never be hungry. For us, we went only to one restaurant as we have food that we bought from the supermarket. Also, the fact we were not so hungry most of the time and we have a restaurant in our accommodation as well. We went to this beautiful restaurant and some of their grilled dishes Karl’s BBQ El-Nido.
Kayaking from Corong Corong Beach
The last day was actually nice as we decided to do kayaking with my friends. So, instead of us paying for a group tour we just went on our own from Corong Corong beach we rent a kayak and decided to kayak somewhere without a plan.
We went to some nice little private islands during our kayak stop over and I was like why we didn’t do it before? Imagine instead of paying a bunch for a tour you could just kayak it, I mean some islands from the tour are difficult to reach but for instance, seven commando beach was actually just easy to kayak. I will tell you the experience was amazing this was one of the best moments of our trip. If I will ever go back to El Nido, I will do this almost every day and I highly recommend you do the same if you like kayaking of course.
This is our Kayak that we rent like 400php for one kayak and you can go to these little private islands all for yourself.
The landscape is really beautiful and the water is crystal clear.
We really enjoyed a lot this hidden gems, I highly recommend this if you ever go to El Nido.
I hope you like this blog and let me know if you happen to try some of my recommendations. If you like my content don’t hesitate to share my blog and give and you can follow my official Instagram account @barcelonafoodhunters if you want to see my latest food blog and adventure.