El Nido in Photos

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to explore far-flung islands and experience life as a castaway or something like it. My fantasies became reality when I discovered Tao, an organization in the Philippines offering adventures to the remote islands scattered from El Nido to Coron. I signed up for the 5 day, 4 night open expedition on a 72 ft bangka boat. My days consisted of eating fresh fish and fruit, drinking coconut water, exploring hidden caves and deserted or sparsely inhabited islands, snorkeling and pretty much living life like a castaway would (except the boat would return to take me and other members of the crew to additional islands). The best part of the experience was discovering how people lived in this part of the world — through the eyes of island villagers. And taking showers with buckets of cold water. I won’t forget that! I learned much about myself and all I take for granted during this trip and I highly recommend a voyage with Tao to anyone wanting a Robinson Crusoe-esque experience.

El Nido, Palawan, Philippines: A close friend of mine, a surfer dude, once told me, “You can always tell where you are in the world by the color of the ocean.” In the Philippines, the waters are a deep, aquamarine. So clear, you can see all the way to the bottom. We packed our own lunch and spent a day kayaking. We were all alone on this island - I wanted to put a flag in it and claim it as mine!

Either a seven-hour van ride from Sabang, or a short air-conditioned flight from Manila will bring you to El Nido, the perfect place to spend a few days decompressing, topping up the tan and island hopping. Organize a day of island hopping for about $10, and let your captain drop you on deserted island after deserted island. Work up an appetite walking on your own private beach, or swimming in the clearest turquoise water you’ve ever seen. Then watch as your lunch of freshly caught grilled fish, and sweet, ripe mangoes is prepared. Island life is so good! It will be hard to move on to your next destination after this treat!

Tours A, B, C & D are the different daily options that would take you to the different islands scattered around El Nido’s stunning Bacuit Bay. We were taken to gorgeous beaches, breathtaking limestone formations, unique topographies and sumptuous food. With a number of unique beaches with some aptly named as Secret & Hidden, the total experience was out of this world. My all-time favorite tour would be the one to Secret Beach (pictured), considered as the inspiration of Alex Garland’s book, The Beach. We swam through a small opening beneath the towering karst formations encircling the secluded beach. This was the place where I uttered that if it was only possible to cancel the rest of the day’s itinerary and just stayed on this beach, I would have done so. It was a dream come true for me in 2012 when I visited El Nido which is located at the northern part of what is dubbed as the Philippines’ last frontier, Palawan.

We spent days in El Nido snorkeling in secret lagoons, laying on white sand beaches, and playing in these beautiful blue-green waters.

As I know, everybody was ok after visiting this place :) Creative and delicious cusine!