February 24. It was a bright sunny day. After about an hour and a half, we have finally landed at the El Nido Lio Airport. My wife and I along with some travel blogger buddies have been waiting for this much needed weekend getaway to El Nido, located at the northwestern tip of Palawan.

We flew via Seair’s LET 410 which was suited for short-ranged travels and unpaved airstrips. This was my second or third time to fly in this plane. The El Nido airport runway was literally a strip of (dusty) land and could only accommodate small planes.

Since Seair flights to El Nido happen only twice a week, our group stayed in El Nido from Wednesday to Sunday. That’s 5 days and 4 nights of relaxation and strenuous but fun-filled island hopping activities. We stayed at the Marina Garden Beach Resort. There were three of us who shared a single air-conditioned room with 2 beds (and an extra mattress upon request). Although there were a few other cheaper alternative resorts, Marina was reasonably priced and the place is okay.

We spent P3,500 per head for 4 nights inclusive of breakfasts. There’s free WiFi at Marina too but in this part of Palawan, electricity is only available from 2pm – 6am so you’ll be forced to go out and explore. I did bring a laptop to answer any emergency work-related emails.

Marina Garden Beach Resort: For inquiries, please send us an email at marinagarden.elnido@gmail.com or call our front desk at +63-917-624-7722 or +63-908-884-3711.

El Nido is famous for its pristine beaches and majestic islands where people can go island hopping. All the trips and tours are already “packaged” so to speak (Tour A, Tour B, Tour C, or combination) and the locals are very friendly and hospitable. You just hire a boat that comes with 2 boatmen who’ll take care of cooking lunch for the group as well.

All throughout our stay, we tied our Tour A and Tour C. So that’s 2 days of snorkeling and island hopping. Some of the paces we got to experience were: Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Secret Beach, etc. There were a whole lot of other places and things to do in El Nido.

SEAIR resumes direct flights to El Nido

SEAIR resumes direct flights from Manila to scenic El Nido, Palawan on November 18, 2009. SEAIR flies Manila-El Nido-Manila every Wednesday and Sunday.

El Nido is located in the northernmost tip of Palawan and is part of the El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area, the largest marine sanctuary in the entire Philippines. This group of islands is a perfect destination for divers and snorkelers as well as beach and island-hoppers with over 30 dive sites and more than 50 beaches and hidden lagoons. Aside from its diverse fauna, El Nido also showcases a striking geological wonder: limestone cliffs that were carved extensively from thick layers of coralline deposits

“To celebrate another great year, I am giving away signed copies of Robert Alejandro’s book, The Sketching Backpacker: Southeast Asia and parts of China, Jetro B. Rafael’s Backpack Photos postcard book and the gift of flickr: a one year Flickr Pro account, which gives you unlimited uploads and unlimited sets and collections.”

Yup, those are nice prizes to win. I do love taking photos from sports to practically anything that’s worth taking a photo of. And since I’m starting this travel blog you’re reading, I’ll be taking lots of photos of the beautiful places we will go to. I really don’t have too many “best” photos yet, but among those shots I took from our Coron, Palawan trip, this one stood out. And here’s my official entry for Nina’s What’s Your Best Travel Photo Contest:

This photo is entitled Muni-muni. This was taken at the top of Mount Tapiyas in Coron, Palawan. Tapiyas is actually a hill with some sort of monument of a crucifix made of steel. Tourists go there to get a scenic view of Coron. It was a long and tough 20-minute climb to the top. But once you’re there, the view was breathtaking. Very picturesque. Very breezy too. And that’s why this photo was so memorable.

Why Muni-muni? Because the guy in the photo was nagmumuni-muni. So who’s that guy? Hmmm…

Flying to Busuanga Island Coron, Palawan

Do you ever get tired of the usual summer getaways like Boracay and Puerto Galera? If you’re after the party and beach babes, then go there. But if you want to experience a not too populated and commercialized vacation place, then you should try exploring the unblemished island of Busuanga in Coron, Palawan. Last week, my wife and I together with some travel blogger friends (Nina, Eric, Ferdz), went on an adventure trip to Busuanga Palawan.

Travel time from Manila to Palawan usually takes 1 hour and 20 minutes as you see them advertised in the websites. But thanks to SEAIR, we arrived at our destination in just 35 minutes! Aside from making the most out of the abs of celebrity endorser Marc Nelson, SEAIR is also known to have the fastest flights to its select destinations like Palawan. The sooner you get there simply means more fun and adventure time for you and your friends. Agree? You can also take the much cheaper but agonizing 24-hour Superferry boat route if maximizing your travel schedule is not too important.

After the pleasant half-hour trip via SEAIR’s 32-seater Dornier 328 Aircraft, we touched down at the Francisco Reyes Airport in Coron, Palawan. There was a lot of construction and expansion work being done at the airport. So this means that Palawan is being developed to be a prime tourist spot in the country. I just hope our government will not be too aggressive on this so as not to make Palawan too commercialized.

Photo by Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva

From the airport, we went on a 45-minute jeepney ride going to the town proper for Php150. The jeep will drop you off at the lodge or resort you’re staying or somewhere near. Just make sure you tell the jeepney driver ahead of time. Although it was a very bumpy and dusty ride because there were no concrete roads yet, the scenery was breath-taking. The air was really fresh. We passed by the Yula King cattle ranch. I didn’t see too many cattle but I do remember seeing horses doing what stray dogs usually do here in the streets of Manila. It was a bright sunny day too. Our timing was perfect.

Staying over at Crystal Lodge

It was Ferdz who took care of our reservations a week before the trip. We initially planned on booking at Sea Dive Resort, a popular place to stay because they have air-conditioning. But we ended up staying at Crystal Lodge.

Photo by Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva

Photo by Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva

The nipa-hut style cottages are nicely situated along the seashore on stilts. So you have a nice view of the sea and the islands across. Very beautiful. There are mangroves as you walk along the narrow passage made of old, cranky wooden planks. One wrong step and you can find yourself swimming with the little fishes underneath. The whole place is somewhat primitive and that what makes it so beautiful. It was as if we were living in a fishing community together with the Coronians (better known as the local people of Coron, Palawan). Crystal Lodge does not have air-conditioning but the rooms and hang-out areas are very cool and breezy all the time. It was so peaceful and relaxing over at Crystal Lodge. At times, we would just sit around a bamboo bench and wonder how we could stop time so we can stay longer in this island paradise.

I noticed more foreigners (usually the backpacker tourist type) prefer staying at Crystal Lodge because it’s the place closest to Mother Nature so to speak. And they’re cheaper than the other hotels too. Gail and I rented our cottage for Php1,200 for 2 nights. You can check out their website over here. On the other hand, if you prefer a more convenient place with modern facilities like most Pinoys on vacation coming from Manila prefer, then you’ll probably sleep more comfortably over at Sea Dive Resort. You can see their website over here.

Crystal Lodge and Sea Dive Resort are both located inside the Coron town proper. So the wet and dry market, carenderias, scuba diving centers and shops, airline offices, bars, restaurants, and other establishments are just a walk away. Or maybe just take a tricycle for Php8 per person going to nearby places within the town proper.

We came to learn that Crystal Lodge was being leased and managed before by some foreign businessman who also operated Dive Calamianes, a popular scuba diving center in Coron. I guess the lease contract already expired this year so Crystal Lodge (as of June 2008) is now being managed by its Filipino owners.

On our second night, we kinda experienced the “nightlife” in Coron. What happened was, the electricity went out which lasted the entire night. It would have been pitch black if it weren’t for the brightly lit moon and stars that night. The place we stayed did not have a generator for back-up power. So it was quite an experience for the five of us, all in a single file, finding our way cautiously through the wooden planks back to our cottages with only one flashlight.

Photo by Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva

Photo by Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva

Photo by Gail dela Cruz-Villanueva