Yesterday we went on a tour of the islands in Tour B. A lot of time has passed since we went on our first excursion, because... The weather was bad for the next tour all the time... First there was a 4-day typhoon, and then the weather improved, but there were still strong waves, and this is dangerous for boat trips. And yesterday, finally, the weather was just right! But it was still scary to swim... the waves were very large, we were constantly doused with water and rocked. At first I was very scared, but then I thought that if it was dangerous, they wouldn’t have taken us here, and I calmed down. And as soon as I calmed down, I immediately began to enjoy swimming through the waves and being refreshed by the spray of the sea!

Tour B costs 800 pesos per person (lunch included). If masks are needed, then an additional 100 pesos per person. In general, this excursion places more emphasis on just swimming, exploring beautiful places and caves, rather than snorkeling, unlike tours A and C.

Tour B includes visits to the following places:

— Snake Island
— Cudognon Cave
— Cathedral Cave (on Pinasil Island)
— View from the cool Lagen Resort
— Pinagbuyutan Island

Also, when there are no strong waves, this excursion includes a visit to Pangulasian Island, but in the summer there are always waves here.

Here we are leaving our resort. This is the view from the boat. By the way, we started at 10 am.



The beach of our hotel from the side.

It's him.

And also him.

When the waves became a little smaller and the spray stopped flying at us, I was able to take a few shots.





We are approaching the first point from Tour B - this is Snake Island, i.e. Snake Island. There is nothing to see here with a mask, but you can swim wonderfully and enjoy the views. The island is named this way because it has a snake-shaped spit. But now it was high tide, so this snake spit could only be seen from the hill, where we went after swimming.

The water here is wonderful! Very, very clean, transparent and beautiful color. But there was only one drawback: there were a lot of tourists here. We are already so used to being alone everywhere... By the way, last time, this time we went on an excursion only the three of us, although before we always (in China, Turkey) had excursions with a crowd of people.




By the way, the water here is salty, salty, just the splashes along the way left these salt crystals on your hand.

And so we climbed the hill in about 5 minutes.




Snake Island in all its glory. But I think it looks more impressive when there is no strong tide. But now the water has risen to a level as tall as a person and even higher.













By the way, this is the path to this hill.

View from the other side.


Then we swam to the Cudognon Cave and along the way there were, as always, beautiful views. It’s a pity, it’s difficult to convey this in photographs... In real life it’s all much more beautiful and impressive!


We are approaching the cave. Here, like Snake Island, there were also tourists.

And here is the cave itself. You had to climb there either head first or feet first. It's easier with your feet.

Our guide laid out a vest for us so that we could crawl through more smoothly.

Inside the cave. There are two compartments, one with water just below the knee, the second without water.





Our dude took pictures of us in the largest holes in the cave.



We also had lunch here. They “cooked” bananas, an apple and red watermelon for me, and squid, octopus and grilled chicken for the girls (fried right there). By the way, while they were preparing lunch, we snorkeled here - the underwater world is so-so.

Nearby was the next cave - Cathedral Cave. Here in this island called Pinasil.

This cave is very beautiful, but you can’t swim here, because... there are very large and sharp stones inside. So you can only admire it from the outside.






Today the individual islands belonging to El Nido were very clearly visible. Let me remind you that El Nido is 45 islands, most of which are uninhabited. It's so cool to sail on a boat among these many islands, they are everywhere, and it is so beautiful!




Next on the plan is an expensive resort called Lagen Resort. We were shocked by the prices... A night's stay in this hotel costs 37,000 pesos!!! Our boatman Larry (aka tricycle driver) repeated this several times. And he also said that this does not include food, only accommodation.

Yes, this is probably a very cool place, but still the price is too inadequate.





And the last place we visited in Tour B was Pinagbuyutan Island. Here he is from afar.



There is a beautiful snow-white beach and a calm, clear sea, without the slightest waves. This beach is good for swimming, not snorkeling, because... There is nothing to see under the water - just sand, only a few gray fish swam by.


This beach is located on such a side of the island that after lunch it is not illuminated by the sun - it is hidden behind the rocks.




Boat Tours on the most beautiful islands, bays, beaches and lagoons (Island Hopping Tours) of the Bacuit archipelago - one of the main entertainments in. It is for these tours that tourists overcome the difficult journey to El Nido from Puerto Princesa Airport by bus or minivan or by boat from Busanga (Corona). I described in detail how to get to El Nido.

Excursion boats swim along four routes, which for convenience are designated by letters A, B, C And D. Since the fall of 2013, boat tours to El Nido have increased quite a lot in price, but despite this, those wishing to see the beauty of the Bacuit archipelago, the famous black rocks of El Nido, enjoy the clear turquoise sea and good snorkeling are growing every day.


The beauty of El Nido

Description and prices for boat tours in El Nido

Tour A– Lagoon tour, cost 1200 pesos per person. Tour A includes

  • Small Lagoon - Miniloc Island
  • Big Lagoon - Miniloc Island
  • Secret Lagoon - Miniloc Island
  • Shimizu Island – according to reviews, it’s the best place the best place for snorkeling
  • Seven Commando Beach beautiful beach on the island of Palawan, not far from the village of El Nido, if you look at the sea to the left. You can kayak from El Nido Bay.

Tour B– costs 1300 pesos per person and includes visits to the following places

  • Pangulasian Island - snorkeling near the shore, but the island itself is not landed on the shore; it is a private area with an expensive hotel
  • Snake Island (beach and viewpoint)
  • Cudognon Cave (cave on the beach on the island of Palawan)
  • Cathedral Cave
  • Lagen Resort on the island of the same name Lagen – we sail past, they don’t disembark
  • Pinagbuyutan Island (very beautiful beach with magnificent palm trees and good snorkeling)






Tour C– tour to the outermost islands, costing 1400 pesos per person, includes

  • Hidden Beach - hidden beach
  • Matinloc Shrine Matinloc Island – church on Matinloc Island
  • Secret Beach - secret beach
  • Star beach on Tapiutan island
  • Dilumacad Island, also called Helicopter Island

Tour C to El Nido

Tour C to El Nido Matinloc Shrine
Tour C to El Nido Tapiutan

Tour D– beach tour costs 1200 pesos per person. Includes visits to the following sites

  • Cadlao Lagoon
  • Pasandigan Beach
  • Paradise Beach
  • Nat-Nat Beach
  • Bukal Island

This is how these tours are shown schematically on the map The list of places to visit may vary slightly due to weather conditions or if some islands and bays are closed (this happened when the film “The Bourne Evolution” was filmed on one of the islands), the order of visiting may also change. A good boatman tries to drive in such a way that there is no strong overlap with other boats.

Prices for tours are indicated per person without discounts, you can try to bargain and reduce the cost of the tour by 100-300 pesos. Additionally, you pay an eco-fee of 200 pesos once, you will be given a ticket, do not lose it, during tours on the islands they sometimes check the payment of the fee. The ticket is valid for 10 days.

Prices are for group tours; the excursion will take place when the group consists of 4 people or more. If suddenly there are not four people, you may be offered to either pay for an individual tour or change to another tour.

In addition to group tours in El Nido, at each hotel you can rent an individual boat and combine several tours in one day (usually tours A+B and C+D are combined). The cost of an individual boat is from 5,000 pesos per day. Although I heard that people managed to rent a boat for 3500 - 4000 pesos, the main thing is to know how to bargain! We don't know how 😥

What is always included in the tour price

  • Travel by boat between islands and snorkeling spots
  • Lunch on one of the islands (if you are a vegetarian or raw foodist, discuss the lunch menu in advance - usually we were asked when purchasing tickets what we eat and what we don’t)

What else may be included in the tour price (must be discussed in advance)

  • Mask with snorkel (this option was included in our price)
  • Fins (in our case, fins were provided for an additional fee of 50 pesos)
  • Drinking water
  • Towels
  • Kayaks

All tours start at 9 am and end at 4-5 pm (except for tour D, which is shorter, only half a day). Boats start from the central bay of El Nido.


We leave for the excursion from El Nido Bay around 9 am
We return back to El Nido at 4-5 pm

Boats can be either small (for 4-6 people) or large (for 16-20 people, such large ones are usually from ArtCafe).


Our small boat

It is up to you to decide which boat to choose for boat tours in El Nido, big or small. In a large boat there is less seasickness, but we found it more pleasant to sail in small boats; they are more agile, they can swim closer to rocks and caves, and enter almost any, even the smallest, bay.

The first time, on tour C, there were six of us in the boat: us, a couple of Filipinos (with whom we were traveling in a minivan from) and two guys from Iran. And the second time, for tour B, there were four of us - us and a man (as it later turned out - Russian-speaking, but lives in Israel) with a Filipina. Almost individual tours it turned out 😎


The boatman gave me wicker birds and fish :)

What to take with you on boat tours in El Nido

  • Sunscreen
  • Headdress
  • Shoes for walking on coral (you can swim in flip-flops)
  • A scarf to protect yourself from the wind and sun
  • Raincoat in case of rain
  • Waterproof package
  • Underwater camera
  • Motion sickness tablets (if you get motion sickness)

Which of the proposed tours should you choose?

If possible, I advise you to attend all tours. We had four full days to explore El Nido on our itinerary. I planned that we would sail for three tours: A, B and C, and devote one day to exploring the surrounding area on a bike and go to Nacpan beach. But as practice has shown, it was difficult for us to sail boats every day, so we sailed only for two rounds C and B.

I advise you to start with tour C, it goes through the islands farthest from El Nido and is held only in good weather, so if the weather is good and there is no rough sea, take advantage of this and go to tour C, and then visit tour A or B. Another very important point: it is very important to explore El Nido in clear weather, because when the sky and sea are gray , special beauties and not visible.

Tours can be purchased at any hotel or agency on the streets of El Nido. We bought tours from an agency near the restaurant “The corner” (the very first one in El Nido Bay if you walk from our hotel Kalinga Beach Resort).


We bought tours from an agency - in the photo near the kayaks stacked on the shore

In the following articles I will tell you in more detail about our impressions from tours C and B - there will be a lot of photos and few words 😎

If you also want to get to El Nido and see all this beauty with your own eyes, just buy a plane ticket and book a hotel 😎

One of the most beautiful and eventful trips of my life. For just one and a half thousand pesos, you will see views that are just asking to become postcards, have plenty of snorkeling, see the underwater world, dance on a boat while drinking rum and cola and, most importantly, make friends with cool Filipinos.

Where is: Boats depart from the pier, near the city of El Nida. If you stay at the Eco Hotel, as we did, then this place will be right under your windows.
How to get there: From Puerto Princesa Airport to El Nido it takes about 5 hours. A minibus travels and costs about 500 pesos (660 rubles) per person.
How much does the tour cost: 1400 pesos (about 1800 rubles) per person
How long will it take: almost the whole day - we set sail at 10 am and returned around 17:30, already at dusk
What to take with you: a wet bag to put all your valuables, a camera (preferably go pro), a bottle of water, swimwear - a must, sun cream, preferably - shoes for snorkeling, as you will visit a lot of coral reefs.

What is the excursion: There are several different El Nido lagoon tours, they are called A, B, C and so on. The difference is in the places you visit. Some come and live in El Nido for a week, go out every day new tour. We took the combined A+C, which was quite enough for us.
We were put on a huge boat (21 passengers and 9 Filipino crew members). A boat with a powerful motor and structures that prevent it from capsizing (similar in shape to a water strider). We basically swam all day, periodically mooring at different beaches on small islands. During the break between stops on the boat it was very fun: the Filipinos brought a huge speaker, turned on music, we all danced, chatted, and poured rum and cola and beer for those who wanted. During the day we made about 7-8 stops, I’ll tell you about some in a nutshell.



Everyone gathered at the bow of the boat and watched

The first memorable stop was at Secret Beach. We were given masks with snorkels and vests, and we all went down into the water near a large rock. The point is that there is a small hole in the rock through which you could swim and get to a small beach surrounded by rocks with white sand and turquoise water. This is not so easy to do on your own, since there is a risk that you will be hit by a wave against the rocks, but the Filipinos lined up one after another and took turns giving us a hand, thus crossing and supporting us.



Rocky islands around El Nido

The next stop was ideal for snorkeling - we swam in a crowd with masks and snorkels, looked at the coral reefs and fish, and the Filipinos, who master the art of free diving at a very high level (they were the best pearl divers in ancient times), dived deep into the depths and pulled out There are various interesting things for us - beautiful shells and starfish. We also saw an aquatic turtle, large iridescent fish, and many more sea wonders that I don’t even know what to call. In general, the underwater world of Hurghada is not close to the Philippines.



The Filipinos got us a starfish

One time we swam up to fishermen who were standing by the rocks in small yellow boats, and our Filipinos bought fish and octopuses from them. We all rushed to touch the living octopuses - what an unusual and pleasant feeling it is when it sticks to your fingers with its tentacles!



A fisherman on a yellow boat pulled out a live octopus

While we were riding and having fun, some of the Filipinos were busy preparing lunch. They set up a grill right at the stern of the boat and baked fish and chicken in foil. Around two o'clock in the afternoon we landed on one of the islands to have lunch. Our crew surprisingly quickly pulled plastic tables ashore and set them up. It was a real feast! Baked sweet potato, fish, chicken, pineapple, watermelon, rice. There you could also buy coconuts and beer from local merchants.



A Filipino grills chicken and fish right on the boat

At another cool stop, we were offered kayak rentals. They are not the same here as we are used to seeing at home - in which you are hermetically sealed. The plastic Philippine kayak is more like a SUP, only without a fin. You could swim on them or explore the underwater world again with a mask and snorkel, or climb onto a ten-meter cliff and jump from it into the water.



Kayaks in the lagoons of El Nido

Our last stop was very close to home, where we watched the sunset. I have never seen sunsets anywhere better than in El Nido. Especially if islands and silhouettes of boats are visible on the horizon. Having docked, we stopped by home to change clothes and went to our new Filipino friends - in addition to organizing tours, they also run a cafe - they prepared for dinner the same octopus that had just recently grabbed our fingers.



Sunset on one of the islands

Other posts about the Philippines:

Tour A in El Nido is considered the most popular tour of the 4 offered - A, B, C, D. All tours take place in Bacuit Bay on many different small islands adjacent to El Nido. Initially, we planned to go to 3 out of 4 tours, so it didn’t really matter to us which tour to start with. The locals said that the most popular is tour A, so we decided to start with it.

The price for tour A is usually 1300-1400 pesos, but you can bargain as the tour can be bought anywhere in El Nido, even from a local passerby on the street. We bought all the tours at our hotel Residencia Katrina Bed and Breakfast, as we managed to get a good deal. We bought Tour A for 1,100 pesos per person, saying that we would definitely buy the rest of the tours from them. You will also need to pay 200 pesos per person for an environmental fee, which is valid for 10 days and is paid only once. You should be given a piece of paper confirming that you have paid this fee. I advise you to take this piece of paper with you everywhere, in case you are suddenly forced to pay this fee again. By the way, they didn’t give us any paper, but they didn’t ask for it, I think this was because we bought all the tours from one person.

The price for tour A may or may not include the price for fins and masks. Always check before purchasing tours. Our tour A did not include fins; we paid an extra 150 pesos per person for them separately. Masks are usually included in the price of tours.

The price indicated above for the tour assumes a collective tour of 14-18 people on a boat; usually the locals try to put Europeans in one boat, sort them, so to speak. 🙂 In our boat there were 6 Americans, 2 Englishmen, a couple of local Filipinos and a couple more people from Europe; there were no Russians except the two of us with my husband. Tour times are from 9 am to 5 pm.

Good hotels in El Nido on Booking:

Description of tour A to El Nido

Tour A includes a boat trip to the following locations:

  • Small Lagoon - Miniloc Island
  • Big Lagoon - Miniloc Island
  • Secret Lagoon ( Secret Lagoon) - Miniloc Island
  • Shimizu Island – snorkeling and lunch on the island
  • Seven Commando Beach - relaxation on the beach, located very close to El Nido Bay, you can get here on your own by kayak.

All tours begin at El Nido's main beach/cove.

They usually come here at 9 am and we, for example, waited for our boat and only sailed at 10 am. I think it was because of this that we also sailed back not at 5 pm, but at 6.

Travel time to the first stop is 40 minutes. I recommend that you take extra cash with you, since they will offer kayak rides around the bays, a kayak for two costs 300 pesos, and also on the way, mini-bars on the water will float up to you and offer drinks, fruits, and snacks.

So, the first stop is Malaya Bay.

This is where it is best for you to take a kayak, since the entrance to the bay is very small, you can either swim there yourself or by kayak.

Boats do not always dock at the entrance to the bay; ours, for example, docked so far from the bay that for a long time I thought that we had arrived at the beach, which was visible nearby :)

The entrance to the bay itself is so small that it was very interesting for us to go there by kayak. The water is clear, in some places you can see huge stones under the water, after one bay you find yourself in another. I liked this one so much independent walk kayaking, that I wouldn’t mind staying here for another hour.

There are not very many people, some came here without a kayak, although the distance is not small at all, and the bottom is not sandy. It’s very beautiful inside, we swam along the tall cliffs, and even swam right under the rock. I really, really liked this place!

Next stop is the Great Lagoon.

We have already sailed along it on a large boat, but here they also offer kayaking. Many people here are simply swimming around their boats, but we didn’t stop and sailed back and forth across the bay.

The riot of green colors here is simply off the scale - the water is a rich green color, as well as the greenery on the rocks, and in some places there is a lot of it, also a very rich emerald color. Pleasing to the eyes!

The next stop, in theory, was supposed to be the Secret Lagoon, but I don’t remember at all that we stopped there, perhaps we didn’t have such a stop, since the ship’s commanders 🙂 decide exactly where we will stop based on the weather. Here, the sun was shining and it was raining.

Next stop is Shimzu Island - a great place for snorkeling and where we had lunch. Lunch is included in the tour price.

You can also relax on the beach here if you don't want to snorkel.

We happily swam to the nearest mini-island and swam around it!!! It was unforgettable, the corals delighted us. 🙂

After that, a delicious lunch awaited us, everyone was hungry and the table quickly emptied.

After most of the boats started leaving the island, there was an opportunity to take a photo without people. The island is surrounded by beautiful rocks. And here we took a lot of beautiful, memorable shots.

After that, we swam to the last point of our tour A - 7 Commandos beach.

We were here for about an hour. There is a bar on the beach, although the prices are very high.

We walked around the entire beach, swam to our hearts' content, and relaxed.

And I went bungee riding 2 times! It was very, very fun.

El Nido is a natural protected area surrounded by 45 islands. While exploring the islands of the Bacuit archipelago, you will certainly be amazed by the lagoons, ancient caves with mysterious stone figures, and huge limestone cliffs that are 250 million years old. This region is an excellent place for snorkeling and diving.

Considering that El Nido is one of the main places representing the country's biological diversity, the authorities assigned the status of nature protection zone. El Nido is especially famous for its richness of flora and fauna.

The first thing that will catch your eye while walking around the city is the huge number of small kiosks offering tours. In El Nido, everyone skates in 4 rounds - A, B, C, D.

  • Tour A is a tour of insanely beautiful lagoons, a kayak trip and lots of snorkeling. 1200 pesos (25.5 dollars)
  • Tour B – beautiful islands, 2 caves and snorkeling. 1300 pesos ($28)
  • Tour C – secret beaches and even more snorkeling. This tour is considered the coolest and the first to be canceled in case of bad weather. 1400 pesos (30 dollars)
  • Tour D - Cadlao Island beaches. 1200 pesos (25.5 dollars). Most often, tourists organize this tour for themselves on a kayak.

Any 2 tours from the above can be combined into a combo tour for 2000 pesos ($42.5) per person.

I found a map where you can clearly see where the tour takes place.

Each tour takes almost a day from 9-00 to 16-00. We were only on the first two, A and B. It is better to take tours directly from carriers (that is, from those who have boats and who take you on excursions), and not from resellers.

The price of each tour includes environmental fees (fees). They can be purchased either separately or when purchasing the first tour; they are simply already included in the price. They are valid for 10 days and cost 200 pesos per person. Locals take advantage of the fact that tourists don’t know this and sell you a new fii every time. This happens if you take tours from different carriers. If you choose the services of another carrier for a subsequent tour, you can ask to exclude from the price the fees that you already purchased along with the first tour or seek a refund of the paid fee from the first carrier. They pretend that they don’t understand what is needed, then they pretend that they don’t have something there. this moment, in general, they get out as best they can. If you insist on having your way, they will give them back anyway.

We were very lucky to meet great guys from the company Sulit Trip, who showed us all the beauties of the islands and told us a lot of interesting things. By the way, if you take a tour from them, you can negotiate a good discount on the next tours. I put in a good word. Their office is at the beginning of the “tour street” on the right side. Don't want to search? Then contact the beach cafe Coco Bar and say that you need to go to the Sulit Trip office. Nice girls will be happy to take you straight to the office.

Besides day tours, you can also book combined tours with an overnight stay on the island - Camping Tour. The price will include any 2 or 3 tours A, B or C to choose from. Cost of 2 day tour- 3000 pesos (64 dollars), 3-day - 3500 pesos (75 dollars) per person.

In El Nido, a GoPro camera rental service for the whole day is also common. Cost about 600 pesos. So if you haven’t purchased a camera yet, you can easily rent one and take great photos both in the water and on land. A camera is an indispensable assistant on island tours.

Every day a boat leaves from El Nido to Coron Island. Cost from 1450 pesos per person one way. The journey takes 6-8 hours, it all depends on the weather and waves. I was not completely interested in this issue; I found out the price from one of the travel agencies.

You can also keep yourself busy with a kayak ride by renting it for the whole day. About 600-700 pesos (13-15 dollars) for two. It is better to bring food, water and sunscreen with you.

Also diving, of course. Here, as in Boracay, you can get a PADI license.

For those interested active rest, you can climb the mountain that separates El Nido and Coron Coron. It takes about an hour to climb there, but the tourists who were there took about 40 minutes, and you have to climb. In general, you need at least some physical training and comfortable shoes. I saw that they even organize tours there for 400 pesos ($8.5) per person. Guys I knew climbed with local kids for a nominal price and ice cream)

I have already mentioned the zip line near Las Cabanas beach. Unlike the zipline in Boracay, you can ride here in two ways: sitting or in a superman position (as we flew). Zip line prices:

And here is the road to the neighboring island

You can rent a bike from 600 pesos ($13) per day. We didn't have many days to rent it. Mostly the bike is taken for a trip to Nacpan Beach. They advise you to choose a bike with wide tires; there is practically no road there, and if it rains, you can get stuck.

There are not many massage parlors, but they do exist. The price for an hour of body massage is 300-350 pesos. By the way, I never tried massage.

These are all the activities and excursions that I managed to find in El Nido. If you know anything else, I will be glad if you share information in the comments.

The dollar to peso exchange rate in December 2015 fluctuated between 46-47 pesos per 1 US dollar.