Friday 27 March El Nido

Leaving Busuanga Bay and 2XS we continued our Philippine trip setting our heading south west, destination El Nido on Palawan island. Lonely Planet cites this as one of the top spots to visit in the country, the gateway to the Bacuit archipelago with secluded beaches and pristine lagoons. The topography is very similar to the limestone islands of Phang Nga in Thailand – sheer limestone cliffs dropping in to the sea, sometimes literally dropping after a heavy rainfall, with the occasional white sandy beach and with a plague of bangka boats, the ones that look like locusts skitting across the water, taking visitors on day trips around the hot spots.

bangkas at El Nido beach

tricycle taxis

El Nido town proper in on the north shore of an isthmus and the anchorage is shallow and uncomfortable in the NE monsoon season. On the other side of the isthmus is the more protected, and quieter, bay of Corong Corong. As we came around the headland we spotted three yachts and three catamarans already here. Having seen so few cruising yachts in the last few weeks this counted as crowded. Still plenty of room for us to drop the hook at the front of the pack with wind protection from south west through north to south east. And there was a beach to land the dinghy and a line of restaurants along the beach. What more could we want?

We'd leave our dinghy in front of a small hotel when we went ashore and walked through their grounds to pick up a tricycle to take us the short hop into El Nido. El Nido is dominated by the tourist, hotels, tour operators, dive shops, souvenir shops and places to eat. Away from the centre we found the laundry, a couple of small

supermarkets and a decent bakery. A yachties needs are quite mundane.

in the islands

We'd ate ashore in Corong Corong every night. Why eat in when the food is tasty and good value? It saves David having to do washing up too. At Penguin bar the welcome was warm and the portions generous. At Greenview we had live music, a warm welcome, generous portions and the biggest geckos I've ever seen.

hornbill

We took a few days to explore the islands finding some beautiful anchorages where we relaxed and enjoyed watching hornbills in the trees.

In the end we spent a week in the El Nido area before setting sail once more destination Puerto Princesa around the top and down the east coast of Palawan.