Puerto Princesa and El Nido

T'was the time of the year to again explore some beautiful islands of the Philippines. I usually head back to Philippines anytime of the year but these past two years, I've been lucky enough to spend Christmas holidays with my family and Vlad.

This year, we wanted to go back to the amazing Coron but instead chose Puerto Princesa and El Nido for a change which is btw, also in Palawan island. Of course, all air and land arrangements were settled upon our arrival and we basically spent 3 days in Puerto Princesa and 2 days in El Nido.

Touchdown PPS!

The moment we landed Puerto Princesa, we just dropped our luggage, ate lunch and then went out for a city tour. Quite honestly, there really isn't that much to see in the city. Puerto Princesa seems to look just like Manila, quieter but in a more industrial way. From what I recall, we've been sent to some uninteresting places where we felt obligated to either pay fees, donate some cash, or buy stuff we don't really like or need. Despite this experience, we tried to make the most out of this city trip. We just hoped that the underground river trip the next day will change our views over Puerto Princesa.

Happy terno!

Xioms somewhere in the PPS city proper

Croco Xioms!

We were told that subterranean river in Puerto Princesa is amazing and spectacular. It was even labeled to be one of the seven wonders of nature, sooo exciting! With much anticipation, we woke up early and was picked up by a mini van to go to the range station. When we arrived, we were supposed to ride a motorized boat to Sabang, an entry point to the underground river, but was told that waves aren't friendly at the moment. As we are about to raise our eyebrows, our tour guide came back and told us that there is another route but by foot and it's a 5-km long jungle trail -- this brightened up our mood and we thought that this is even better! Apparently, we need to leave Xioms behind and she's cool with it. Besides, she's been there just a few months ago. And oh, we were told that during trekking time, whenever we see monkeys, we can smile but we have to avoid showing our teeth. Why? Well apparently, these wild monkeys seem to find humans smiling widely as a threat. Plus, we shouldn't be bringing any plastic bags and we need to leave any shining stuff we have, unless we would want to be robbed by these freaking monkeys! Hahaha... and so the trekking begins!

At range station

Road to the jungle

Road to the jungle

Vlad at some cave during the trek

The jungle is quite impressive! The sound of our feet walking past the slippery trail, winds blowing, and some unusual birds and other animals are kind of refreshing to ears. When we reached the end of the trek, we were welcomed by those huge lizards who act so cool as if they own the place and of course, loads of nasty yet funny looking monkeys. Then off we go in a canoe trip to the underground river. The canoe trip lasted for an hour of chills and darkness. So what can I say? Hmmm... I wasn't impressed. Sure, it's one of the places you would tick off of your bucket list but I don't have plans on returning. To be blunt, I DID NOT enjoy the underground canoe trip. What I surely enjoyed (and I can speak for Vlad as well) is the hiking and trekking to and from this underground river. That, I would definitely do over and over again.

All sweaty but super happy!

Hello there!

Why so serious?

Beautiful rock formation, isn't it?

The small boat that takes visitors to the underground river

Yep, after the entry point, my phone is totally useless

So we went back to the hotel (kinda disappointed) and just positively pondered on the next day's Honda Bay tour. In our minds, this should never go wrong as this is an island to island tour. Palawan is known to have breathtaking islands and pristine beaches. The next day came and oh my, we were never wrong! We spent the whole day swimming and snorkeling around Luli island, Starfish island, and Cowrie island. The only downside is that it is very crowded but hey, it's super peak season so what else to expect but we definitely enjoyed it!

The jam-packed Cowrie

Docking out Luli Island

The night on the same day of our Honda Bay tour was a bit tiring because we went for a 6-hour land travel to El Nido. Funny fact: we spent our Christmas eve inside a van either sleeping or munching chips for noche buena. So lame! Haha!

We reached El Nido past two in the morning yet the streets are still fully awake with drunken tourists walking and hanging out in some nearby small bars. We decided to put Xioms to sleep while the two of us went for a night cap in front of the beach. Yes, our resort is right in front of the beach and the best part aside from the cool sea breeze and the splashing sound of the wave crashing onto the shore is that... there are hammocks :) Vlad and I literally just sat there, gulped our beers, and grinned at each other. Such an amazing feeling. The next day...

Early morning relaxation while my man and kiddo are still on bed and zzzzzz...

...is another island hopping day and this time, at El Nido!

Yep, that's our boat ride

We've seen different types of lagoons and beaches. We went to both small and big lagoons, Shimizu island, and Seven Commandos beach. Similar to Coron, we were again awestruck with those stunning limestone cliffs and turquoise-green waters. Ahhhh... must have been nice to wake up every morning seeing that beauty.

Rock formation

Small lagoon

Big lagoon

Seven Commandos

So there you go, our almost a week adventure in Palawan. Call me biased but Philippine islands are definitely impressive and beautiful! Okay, enough of the bragging, till next time, ciao!