El Nido | Marimegmeg and Nacpan Beach

I've met a few foreign backpackers on the road. Whenever I asked them what are their top places to see in the Philippines, they would consistently include El Nido, Palawan and Batad, Banaue in their list.

Of course Im not surprised. Those 2 places are really so awesome and surely worth visiting, despite the effort of getting there. I promised myself I'll visit El Nido someday, or soon.

now tell me who doesn't want to spend time in this hanging lounge

Last November 1-4 (thank you 4-day long weekend!), Remay and I finally reached and experienced the beauty of El Nido. Since there are no more direct flights to this paradise island (yes naman kunyare afford namin ang direct flight to El Nido if ever there is), we took the morning flight from Manila to Puerto Prinsesa. From the airport, vans are readily available to take the tourists to El Nido. Reservations are needed though. Anyway, there's also an option to go to the terminal and catch the buses and vans to El Nido. It's cheaper if you take the van directly from here.

hello paradise of Palawan!

Since we still had excess time on our first day, we initially planned to visit the world-renowned Underground River. Unfortunately, due to some unavailable permits needed, we decided to just go directly to El Nido instead. (sa totoong buhay, di kasi kami convinced magbayad ng P1,500 per person para sa underground river tour. ang mahal naman.)

So off we go to El Nido via a private Lexus van for P700 each. Not bad specially we had leg room and uninterrupted journey. Together with some online acquaintances (nice meeting you GT'ers Matet and Charisse), our group endured the 5.5-hr long and bumpy ride.

kuya driver in uniform and his Lexus van

Day 1 - El Nido Adventure Starts Here
First impression of El Nido: it's a bit crowded for such a quiet little town. Since I also have in mind that El Nido is an expensive and luxurious place for a vacation, I didn't expect to see simple and wooden pension houses and eateries. Alright, now Im enlightened. El Nido can really be done on a budget.

There are 2 beaches that I really wanted to see in El Nido: Marimegmeg and the famous Nacpan beach. I just dont know how to squeeze them on our limited time. Going to Nacpan beach would take a consuming 2-hour back and forth travel time. Going to Marimegmeg, on the other hand, is a short 15-min ride from town. Since the sun still looks so perfect for a beach trip,  my housemate and I immediately rented a tricycle to bring us there.

overlooking El Nido town

Luckily, I came across this beach as I was browsing tripadvisor. The beach looks serene and private. There's also not much people when we get there. Maybe not everyone knows about this beach.

El Nido's Marimegmeg Beach

i always love a calm beach

The long shore has fine and white. The water is clear and inviting. Plus factor is the stunning limestone rocks as the backdrop of this calm and serene beach. Simply lovely.

excited magpapicture sa El Nido

We're lucky to have a glimpse of this beach on a sunny weather. We appreciated that it doesn't require much effort to reach this beach. Next time we'll go to El Nido, we'll surely spend more time in Marimegmeg.

Moving on, we stayed in a beachfront resort in Corong-Corong. It's a 5min ride from the main town. The room has an air-condition unit, electric fan, and a private bathroom for P900 per night. Electricity in El Nido shuts off from 6am-6pm. Luckily, this resort brings back electricity every 2pm. Great!

telesfora beach front cottages

our airconditioned room with that kulambo

pang prinsesa ^_^

As a bonus, we think this spot has the best sunset view in El Nido.

getting ready for the sunset

sunset at Corong-Corong

simply magnificent

Day 2: Best Time to be Lazy and Nacpan Beach
At exactly 6am, the electricity automatically shutoff. It's a sign we needed to rise and prepare for the day.

complimentary breakfast at the resort

And so we thought Corong-Corong just had a perfect sunset view, we realized we're wrong. Look at our view every morning.

good morning El Nido (corong-corong side)

the view is breathtaking

The weather is perfect for some island hopping. But unlike most tourists, we chose to stay lazy and spent the whole morning just enjoying the beachfront view. We went to The Alternative, take one of their awesome lounge, ordered some shakes, and we just had the best time in El Nido.

best thing to do in El Nido is to simply do nothing!

now who needs island hopping when we got this view

we didn't regret giving up the island hopping tour for this pagpetix activity

the art of doing nothing - best part of this El Nido trip

At lunchtime, we decided to go to Nacpan beach. This is really the main reason why we scrapped off our island hopping plan for that day. A lot of travel blogger friends said this beach tops their list. I can't miss to see it myself.

Going to Nacpan takes 2 hours, back and forth while an island hopping activity takes place between 9am-4pm. Hhmm, since there's not enough time to visit both on the same day, Remay and I agreed to visit this beach first and just have a combination island hopping tour on the next day. Our hopes are high it wont rain on the next day, else we're doomed!

tricycle to Nacpan beach

ate Neriza 0939.902.22.16

(Northern Hope Island Hopping Tour operator and tricycle owner)

Anyway, we negotiated with a tricycle driver and luckily the owner gave us a very good price! The usual day tour rate to Nacpan beach costs P800-P1,000 but since we knew ate Neriza 0939.902.22.16 (Northern Hope Island Hopping tour operator and also the tricycle owner), she let us use her tricycle and we just paid for the driver and fuel gas for only P450! (anyway, Brenna joined us so the 3 of us paid only P150 each)

quick and yummy lunch before the beach adventure

Finally, we reached the famous Nacpan beach. Our first reaction: none. ^_^ (ang harsh!)

twin beaches of Nacpan and Calitang

This beach has a 1km long shore. I can say that the sand is really fine and white. It's a beautiful beach, no doubt about that. But forgive me, uhm it's not my kind of beach.

Nacpan Beach

I seriously didn't set any expectations, really. But having waves that continuously splashes thru the shore is not part of my criteria to make it to my best beaches list.

This beach is nice and is definitely above any other beaches in the country, but I dont know why it has no wow factor for me. Maybe because Ive been to better beaches before.

not sure what island is across Nacpan beach

Though the weather is perfect, the water is not too tempting enough to make us swim. We just did what we do best: do nothing! ^_^

Calitang beach on the other side

Nonetheless, this beach is worth visiting. It's nice to spend a lazy afternoon in the shore specially not many tourists flock here, compared to the beach in town.

to each his own. this couple surely enjoyed Nacpan beach.

To each his own. That's the beauty of traveling. You see the place in your own way, and you dont have to agree with other people who went there before you. What's spectacular to me may not be outstanding to you. Or what's average to you is just so perfect for me.

So that's one of the reasons why I travel: I have to see and and I need to experience it first hand.

up next: El Nido Island Hopping | Combination Tour A and C