On our 4th and supposedly last day of our vacation, our group, again, woke up early. It’s actually more accurate to say we stayed up until 3 am in the morning. Since it was our last day, we wanted to make the most out of it – of course, while wide-awake. Mind you, our flight back to Manila was scheduled at around 5 pm. There was no need to hurry. BUT, of course we just had to decide to take a side trip to Sabang and explore the Underground River / Cave. We were already IN Palawan; it would be a shame if we didn’t visit one of the wonders of the world.

We talked this over with Kuya Neil, our trusty driver and pseudo tour guide, and verified the ‘feasibility’ of “the plan”. Note that our scheduled flight was at 5 PM; we had to be in the airport an hour before that. And if you can remember from the Day 1 post, the trip from Puerto Princesa to El Nido was roughly around 6 hours. When the clock struck 4 am that day, our tight schedule began. So here’s how our schedule went…

04:30 AM – 11:00 AM
We departed El Nido town proper at approximately 4:30 AM in the morning. It was hello to rough roads again. I’m amazed that I actually slept through it all.

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
We finally arrived at Sabang. This is where we hired a boat to take us to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park (located in another island) where the Underground River/Cave is. Unlike the informal island tour setup we had in El Nido, arranging the Underground River/Cave tour was more systematic. You go to this government office, pay the necessary fees, go the boat rental and hire a boat. [Entrance/Environmental Fee: P150/head, Boat: P700/boat]

Sabang Port

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Boat ride to Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park.

12:00 PM – 12:10 PM
Once we got to the island, we still had to walk our way to the entrance of the Underground River/Cave ‘port’ location (I’m not sure if that’s how it’s called). It’s the place where you get the necessary equipment (hard hat and life vests) and hop on a small bangka. One bangka can fit in around 8 people that includes the tour guide.

Entrance to the Park

During our walk to the ‘port’, a cute golden retriever walked with us. He’ll stop walking when we stop walking. Cute!

Our guard & guide dog during our walk to the underwater river bank

12:15 PM – 01:00 PM
The Underground River Cave tour. If you’re not used to dark enclosed places, I suggest you condition yourself before going in. Once you go deeper into the underground river cave, the only light source you can depend on are the flashlights provided. The tour guide, who was also paddling and navigating the boat, gave an interesting and entertaining spin of the cave’s history. He was also able to engage our imagination as he pointed out rock formations resembling vegetables like carrots, eggplant and cabbage, holy figures like Mother Mary, the holy family, and Jesus’ face and animal figures like a horse and a cow.

getting ready to enter the underwater cave!

Our only source of light

the Holy Family

The seahorse

Rock formations

it's the end of the tour!

obligatory picture!

01:00 PM – 01:15 PM
Boat ride back to Sabang Beach

01:15 PM – 03:00 PM
Another two hours travel time to Puerto Princesa Airport.

03:00 PM – 04:00 PM
At around 3:00 PM we arrived at Puerto Princesa, and with time to spare for ‘pasalubong’ shopping. Good job, Kuya Neil!

04:00 PM
We arrived at Puerto Princesa Airport. And this was where the universe conspired to let us stay in Palawan for another day…

waiting for our plane

someone's hungry!

05:00 PM
Cebu Pacific announced the our flight was delayed. We waited and waited and waited…

06:00 PM
Cebu Pacific announced that our flight was cancelled. Chaos ensued. “Where do we stay?”, “Do we sleep in this airport?”, “I don’t have money left!!” were some of the things that ran through my head.

in line to get our checked-in luggage back

After we got our checked-in luggage back and rebooked our cancelled flight to tomorrow, we called on several hotels near the area if they still have rooms. One of our friends, who were also vacationing in Puerto Princesa, suggested a place to stay, De Loro Inn and Restaurant. De Loro has a barkada room package for 8-10 people. When we called, lucky for us, they still had a room available. We immediately confirmed and waited for their van to transfer us to the hotel.

De Loro Inn

Once we were in De Loro, we immediately checked their barkada room and flopped on the beds. I, for one, didn’t want to think about anything. We were stuck in Puerto Princesa with few cash left. Unfortunately for me, most of the establishments here don’t accept credit card. Good thing though, we didn’t really plan on moving or doing any activities for tonight – aside from eating – and for tomorrow.

After we settled in our rooms, we went out to look for a restaurant that was still open at this time. We found one, which I forget the name. We were their only customers, probably because it was late already. Their food was great. I would definitely recommend this place if only I remember the name. =P When we got back, the owners of De Loro of saw us and invited us for a few drinks. After a few rounds of drinks and chitchatting with the owners, one by one, our sleepy bodies gave up. I believe only 3 of them were left to finish off the drinks. Haha =P

FOOD for hungry stranded people

stranded people

Day 5
We were just literally bumming around. We didn’t have to wake up early this time so most of us slept until around 9 am. We had our breakfast and proceeded to use De Loro’s videoke room. Around 2pm, we checked out and went to the airport.

bumming around

another obligatory group picture

So here we go again. We waited and waited.

picture taking while waiting...

Until finally, we were boarding the plane!

yey! we're finally boarding!

Finally back in Manila!

finally back in Manila! waiting for our bags

And finally I finished this blog series. =P Till the next trip.

It’s our 3rd day in Palawan and our 2nd day in El Nido. Our day started early again. We had to wake up early because electricity goes off at 6 am. Around that time, we ate our breakfast c/o Marina Garden. Afterwards, we prepared for another day of island hopping. This time, we got the Package B tour. Our Package B destinations were Entalula Island, Snake Island, Codugnon Cave/Island, Cathedral Island Cave, Pinagbuyutan Island and Ipil Beach. (Package price is still P1800. Great job to the hagglers. =P)

Entalula Island
The main part of the Entalula Island is owned and maintained by a private resort. If you want to visit the whole island, you will have to ask permission from the resort. Good thing for us, there is a small part of the island that is open to the public. Check out the top-left picture below; that boat in the middle is where the private resort is located. Oh well, the other side – our side –  is also pretty. Nice place to snorkel and lounge around the beach area.

Entalula Island

I was extremely frustrated during our day 2 tour (especially when we were at the Small Lagoon) because I didn’t have an underwater camera with me. So, I came prepared for this day and bought my own underwater camera.

Underwater!

Snake Island
Make sure that you go here when it’s a low tide. The place is really pretty. It’s a great spot to take pictures. Aside from taking photos, you can also do a mini-trekking. Yes, apparently, you could go up the highest peek of the island. The view was breathtaking.

Snake Island El Nido

Photo shoot at Snake Island!

At the top of Snake Island

Codugnon Island
Also part of the deal was the Kuya boatmen would cook our food. We bought the raw fishes, squids, meat and all the ingredients needed. Kuya Boatman (We never really got his name. We just called him Kuya, which is the generic name for an older guy), then, cooked everything during our stop here in Codugnon Island.

Lunch at Codugnon Island

Codugnon Cave
After eating our lunch, we headed over to the Codugnon Cave. It’s just a few meters away from where we ate our lunch. To go in the cave, we had to enter through a small opening. Once inside, you’ll find yourself, well, in a cave. Honestly, if the place had more history it would’ve been more interesting. If you are a photographer, rock climber or a repeller, you will definitely enjoy this place. The light passing through the small openings above makes it a great place for photography, while the rock formations is, well as far as I believe, a great rock-climbing route.

Various ways of entering the Codugnon Cave

Group picture!

Cathedral Island Cave
It would’ve been cool if we were able to get inside the cave. Unfortunately, the opening was just enough for a small boat to fit in. Aside from that, Kuya happily informed us that were sharks in the area.

Cathedral Island Cave

Pinagbuyutan Island
This is probably one of the most memorable islands I’ve visited El Nido. Not because of its unique natural beauty, but because of our ridiculous attempt to snorkel in the so-called beach area. See the top most picture below? Well, that’s the so-called beach. And there’s us, giving up snorkeling.

The "beach". And us - trying to not injure ourselves.

But I have to give the place credit; It IS a nice place to take photos.

Go Emz! (Picture taken by Norman)

BTW, this is where Kuya Boatman borrowed my underwater camera and went crazy taking pictures of “Nemo” the clownfish. Yes, he was the only one who managed to the enjoy swimming and snorkeling in this area.

The Nemos (clownfish)

Ipil-Ipil Beach
By the time we reached Ipil-Ipil beach, we were already tired.  This is where we hang out for a bit, sat on the beach, and snorkeled.

Clare in El Nido '09

And that sums up our day 3 – El Nido tour.

Underwater Peace!

I’ll be posting our Day 4-5 soon! (Yeah, I’m really stretching out this blog series, aren’t I? lol)

Day 2: Road Trip and Island Hopping – Longest Day Ever!

The following day, our group woke up at around 2 am to be able to leave Puerto Princesa and start our road trip to El Nido. Based from Kuya Neil’s estimation, the trip would take about 6-8 hours, depending on the road condition, traffic and of course, speed. Since we didn’t want to waste one day of our vacation to traveling alone, we computed for the best and latest time we could leave Puerto Princesa to arrive at El Nido by lunch time. Based on our computation, we should leave 3-4 am in the morning; thus the 2 am ‘call time’

We had our breakfast c/o Kookaburra. It was nice of them to accommodate our request to have our breakfast be ready by 2 am. From what I can remember, I got one of their Filipino Breakfast offerings. The food was good. I think it’s the earliest time I actually ate breakfast. Afterwards, we packed our things and left Kookaburra and then Puerto Princesa.

I don’t remember much about the first few hours of our road trip to El Nido. I slept through it. The ride was quite smooth and peaceful until a few hours after; we finally got to the end of the cemented road and start of the dirt road. Yes, the “highway” from Puerto Princesa to El Nido isn’t much of a highway. The smooth ride became a bumpy one. And then, we found ourselves literally in the middle of nowhere. The view around us was literally green all over and there were no signs of civilization. If we got stuck there, I don’t think anyone would find us. There were no cars coming from any direction and our cellphones weren’t getting any signal from any cell tower. Well, we did pass by several houses after several hours so it’s not like the place is devoid of people. But still, it’s just 9 people in the middle of a jungle. How freakishly alone.

By 10 am, we found ourselves ‘gliding’ smoothly on cemented pavement. The ride was smooth again. After a few more minutes, we found the sign, ‘Welcome to El Nido’. We’re here! We took a few photos and then went for another few minutes of driving to find Marina Garden Beach Resort. Upon arriving at El Nido town proper, we were greeted by an amazing view. The town is situated perfectly along the beach line overlooking several islands and a mountain made of limestone. The sight was breath-taking.

We finally got to Marina Garden Beach Resort. The place was not a typical resort that I’m used to seeing in more commercialized beaches. It’s a simple place, which is strategically situated near everything. But then, El Nido is a small town where everything is likely a walking distance away. Anyway, back to Marina Garden; it’s a beach front resort where you have a full view of the El Nido’s coast line. Not only that, it’s easier to access boatmen-slash-tour-guides who are offering island hopping tours. Well, good thing for us, Kuya Neil already knows one of the owners that handles the island hopping tour business. He was already able to get a package deal for us. By 11 am, we were off island hopping, the package A tour.

There’s no point going to El Nido if you won’t island hop. Besides, the electricity in El Nido town proper is scheduled; electricity is off from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm then on from 2:00 pm onwards. Aside from lounging around the beach area, touring the town and searching for souvenir shops, there’s really nothing to do for tourists but island hop or snorkel or other water activities. Island hopping is definitely a must when you visit El Nido. There are 3 standard island hopping packages; that’s package A, B, and C. Some guides offer packages D and E, but they vary depending on who you talk to. The standard price could go from P600-1000 per person. For us, Kuya Neil got us a nice deal of P1800 for the whole boat rental and Package A tour plus an additional P100 for each snorkels per person. That’s P1800 divided by 8 people plus P100 [P325 per person]. Nice deal huh?!

So back to the boat ride… the boat ride towards our first destination was absolutely breath taking. It’s not my first time to island hop – I’ve actually done this at Hundred Islands in Pangasinan – but the view of the islands was just incredible. Then, add the calm sea and fresh air… it’s just perfect. Pictures can only do much, you must be there to experience it. But at this point, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking.

Small Lagoon
Great place to snorkel. Make sure that you’re strong swimmer or you’re wearing a life vest before you go in. Water can be very deep especially the area inside the lagoon.

Simizu
This is where we ate lunch. Great place to swim and snorkel.

Big Lagoon
Great place to kayak. Too bad we were on a tight budget. Kayak rental costs about P800-1000 the whole day.

Stopping here. The boat can’t pass because it’s low tide. We had to go down the boat and ‘walk’.

We were already near the “inside” of the Blue Lagoon and the deeper part of the area when Kuya revealed that there were baby sharks there. (Uhm, okay thanks for telling us now, kuya.)

7 Commando
This is the last stop of Tour Package A. This is where we lounge around and drank buko juice.

At around 4pm, Kuya Boatman (Yes, I don’t know his name) told us that it’s time to go. It was getting dark anyway.  And this is where I’ll end my Day 2 El Nido experience. LONG DAY, huh? Day 3 to follow soon.

Picture credits: Mine, Bunny, Kat, Norman, and Ton