The Heart Pounding Sails – El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

“Music saves the soul.” Play it first. . 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, I still recommend tourists to go and visit El Nido in Palawan so they can be stunned with what Philippines has to offer them. It’s just we went to El Nido in December when the rain showers slightly spoiled our family trip. There’s nothing really greater thing to do in El Nido but to island hop and enjoy the beaches, but the waves that time were just so scary to death that my mom had a sudden trauma riding small boats. I guess the safest season to plan all island hopping in the Philippines, regardless which province or region, is only during summer to avoid the treacherous waves and gray sky weather. The journey was too harsh for us, but the islands were still jaw droppers as expected underneath the dark clouds. The photogenic views of the islands, the unbelievable clear turquoise water and picturesque limestone cliffs are indeed worth all the screams and silent prayers on our way.

on a clear sunny day, the islands beyond that shoreline should be visible. The stubborn heavy clouds had covered them. . brr. .

El Nido is approximately 5 hours rough-road drive from Puerto Princesa. We left Puerto Princesa after dinner and arrived El Nido around midnight. We booked an island hopping package tour that starts around 7 in the morning the next day. Because of the heavy rains and strong waves, we were not able to maximize the package tour for the day. We’re still thankful we saw some of the best attractions considering a very unpleasant weather. The trip going to the island was really disquieting. It was raining, the roof of the boat was removed as it actually put us more in danger, the salt water splashed on our faces and everywhere. We were wet and worried even before we see the first beach. The first stop was at Talisayen beach where we had our lunch. We waited for the rain gods to spare us while our bones and flesh were literally shaking as the cold wind blew to our uncovered bodies. Life vests had become our temporary jackets. It took a long while before a teenie weenie sunlight peeped at us so this is where we stayed the longest among all the attractions.

right before the boat engine started, we knew the trip’s gonna be rough. .

Philippine Navy ship. . I felt cool somehow when I saw this in the middle of our trip. In my mind, if our small boat broke down, at least we are visible to the heroes of the seas and are likely gonna be saved. . 🙂

i hope you agree, it’s still beautiful even on a bad weather.

all smiles. . we managed to make fun of the strong waves splashing unto the rocks. .

because mom was feeling cold, we covered her legs with lots of sand. . haha. . and daddy was supportive. .

aww. . with the non-stop rain showers, we can’t decide whether to smile or frown. .

thumbs up to the boatmen/tour guides for preparing a very nice lunch. For half an hour, I’ve forgotten the frustrations brought by the sun’s no-show. . I knew they were feeling cold too and worried, but they still managed to slice the tomatoes beautifully and grilled the fish just right. . hehe. .

When little miss sunshine peeked a little, we decided to sail off the Talisayen beach and continue the tour. Our optimistic hearts prayed for the rain to go away, I guess mother nature heard us. It was not really sunny kind of day, but at least the wrathful wind and waves had calm down. A not-so-frequent weak rains didn’t exasperate us at all, or at least me. Hehe.

We went to the Secret Lagoon next. We had to go through a small hole of a cliff before we saw the lagoon, hence the name. The fact that it is hidden makes it interesting. It is beautiful but I think it doesn’t have the same wow factor as other islands we saw.

yup, that’s the point of entry/exit to Secret Lagoon. Sharp rocks awaits outside. This photo is taken inside the lagoon.

don’t worry, he’s not scolding us. . haha. .

After the Secret Lagoon, we went to the Big Lagoon. . Seeing the Big Lagoon is definitely worth all the screaming during our voyage. It was low tide so the boatmen had to maneuver the boat as slowly and carefully as possible. The scenic view around the Big Lagoon is priceless. I wished it wasn’t raining though so I could’ve taken more beautiful photos. . The halls of the lagoon are surrounded by high limestone cliffs beautifully created by God. My family has ebviously enjoyed this site the most as most of the photos in my camera were their selfies from this attraction.

aaaahhh. . this is just too beautiful. .

daddy isn’t really camera friendly. . he likes not to look most of the time when asked to take a photo of him. . hehe. .

Since honda bay tour, they really enjoyed snorkeling. .

don’t mind daddy. . just look at the limestone walls behind him. . it’s unbelievably perfect. . it looks more like a painting rather than real. . it’s just too good to be true. . hehe. .

the turquoise water still fascinates me. . i’ve never seen sea water as beautiful and clear as this. . truly amazing. .

Indeed El Nido is a paradise. I think Palawan as a whole is a paradise. The natural wonders are just extraordinary. The Philippines is blessed with so much beautiful works of God. Let’s continue to patronize and be proud of this gem while we help one another to preserve its beauty as well. Our family Palawan trip was a very memorable one. I dreamed of seeing Coron next time, still with my family too. . 🙂

The Restless Firefly

the world is my playground