Our Palawan Trip 2015 – Day 2

April 19, 2016

Palawan Trip 2015 Day 2 – El Nido, Palawan (5 November 2015)

Second day of the trip — we were asked to be ready by 8:30-9:00 am for the island hopping activity. On time and quite excited for the whole day ahead, we were fetched from Caera Place in Corong Corong and went to Kaptain’s Diner where we ate breakfast.

Breakfast at Kaptain’s Diner – El Nido

The food was mid-priced and okay — nothing out of the ordinary. Here’s their menu (updated):

Courtesy of TripAdvisor

We then head to the beach front area where the other tourists were waiting for the tour to get started. We went with Tour C Package which includes Boat Transfers, Buffet Lunch and drinks, Life Vest and Water Safety Equipment, Licensed English Speaking Tour Guide, Life Guard and water guide.

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El Nido beach front in Palawan

El Nido – Tour C Package

1) Helicopter Island 🚁
— called Helicopter Island because of its limestone cliffs that look like a helicopter (without the rotor blades) when viewed from a distance. Well, more like half-submerged fried chicken leg in gravy if you ask me! LOL

🌬 💦 Trip Tip #1

Bring a waterproof bag.

It’s close to impossible for your things to not get wet or moist during the trip if you don’t have something to protect it from the water. Who would want a soaked phone after the island hopping tour/water activity, right? The sea mist or sometimes the water would splash towards boat passengers as the boat surges through the waves going from one island to another. Our clothes and towels were soaked or at least moist most of the time. I recommend that you invest on a durable waterproof dry bag to keep your things and valuable dry when doing water activities. There are lots of affordable dry bags that can be bought online already. I got mine (a red Rackley 5L waterproof dry bag) from Lazada.

2) Hidden Beach 🙈
— true to its name, the beach is hidden between 2 rock formations. A small strip of white sand beach with shallow waters and rocky background.

💁 Trip Tip #2

Walk slowly to come out unscathed.

Going there wasn’t so easy for us because we had to walk through rocks (hidden underwater) and light-to-mild waves. Some of the tourists got back to the boat with rock/reef cuts and scratches on their feet or legs. I would highly suggest that you wear aqua shoes to protect your feet from rock/reef cuts or scratches.

3) Star Beach 🏝
— rich in marine life which provides opportunities for snorkelling. The tour guides prepared the sumptuous lunch on the boat while we check out the coral reefs and fishes below. We fed the fishes with cooked rice and they loved it! 🐠 🐟
4) Secret Beach 😎
— located in Matinloc Island, the longest slim island in El Nido. A white sand beach which is not accessible by boat and enclosed by rock walls. You must swim underwater through a narrow crevice in a rock wall to reach it. Our tour guide took a special photo of us from inside a very small cave. He had to crawl inside a small opening while we were outside posing. 😂
5) Matinloc Island
— the island where the Matinloc Shrine is also located. The shrine is also known as Shrine of Our Lady of Matinloc and Shrine of the Blessed Virgin, a sacred monument built in 1982 to honor the blessed virgin Mary. It was eventually abandoned because there were issues with how the infrastructures were built. Locals say that the rock formations were damaged and other natural resources around the island were illegally used when the shrine was being built.

Dinner:

Marber’s Restobar 🇩🇪 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
— we ended up eating dinner at a German/Filipino owned restaurant located just in front of El Nido Beach because most of the restaurants near the entrance/exit to the beach is jam packed already. They have big food servings here so you may want to consider each order as good for two. We were not able to finish our food — we ordered too much. We requested it to be packed so we can eat it for breakfast the following day. The place can definitely be where you want to go for a drink and just chill. They have a very laid-back ambiance. The owner sometimes would go around and check out how the customers are doing and ask comments on the food served. The service was very slow… good thing the waitress was very polite and accommodating. Overall, I’d rate them 3 out of 5 stars.