Great, you decided to travel to El Nido, Palawan known as one of the most beautiful islands in the world! Now how do you find all those drool worthy spots you see all over social media? If you are anything like us, we quickly became overwhelmed when we realized each beach/location was mostly available only by boat. To further complicate it, many of the tour companies refer to these El Nido boat tours as A, B, C, D. We hope this picture guide of our favorite 8 spots on the El Nido boat tours help you narrow down your island hopping destinations!
1. Small Lagoon
This is the lagoon where you see many of the shots online in kayaks. To really get a true glimpse of the lagoon and not just the outside view, make sure your tour operator provides kayaks. Upon lagoon entry, we quickly loaded into our double-person kayak.
There is a narrow opening that takes you into the heart of the small lagoon. It’s a tight little squeeze, but the kayak fits if the tide is right.
Once inside, you can stare in awe at the beauty that surrounds you!
2. Big Lagoon
After the small lagoon, many El Nido boat tours hit the big lagoon next. If your tour operator allows, you can have a thrilling ride on the boat edge to get there.
The water quickly changes color as you cruise deeper into the lagoon. Many major movies have been filmed in this area due to its sheer beauty.
Make sure your camera is ready, there are ample spots for photo opportunities as the boat coasts through the lagoon.
3. Secret Beach
My absolute favorite spot is secret beach. Why is it a secret? Well you need to swim through this hole to get there. See that little opening glowing where the rock hits the water? That is where we are headed!
Once inside, you are greeted with this setting. See the little opening again where the rock hits the water? This lagoon provided some of the clearest water we had seen while we were in El Nido.
4. Hidden Beach
Hidden Beach is also known as a kayaking spot during the El Nido boat tours. There is a large rock formation that blocks the view of the beach thus its name, hidden.
We timed it very well on our private tour from El Nido Pangulasian Island Resort and thus the massive tour group was leaving as we arrived. We had about 30 minutes to enjoy this spot all to ourselves!
We couldn’t miss the opportunity to take a romantic shot in this setting, I mean it is truly paradise!
5. Snake Island
Snake Island gets its name from the winding, narrow sandbar that is visible from the water and connects the two islands during low tide. Luckily no snakes here!
There is also a short hike to a viewing area that you can take during a stop at Snake Island. Highly recommend this stop! While the walk was a bit challenging in our flip flops, luckily it only took about 10 minutes to arrive to the top of the look out point.
But these views?? Definitely worth a visit on your El Nido boat tour! We could have stood here and stared for hours!
6. Entalula Beach
We stopped here for lunch as our hotel, El Nido Pangulasian Island, offers this as an option to their guests. Even if you don’t have lunch, it’s worth a stop to admire the stunning waters and sugary white sand. The lunch consisted of fresh seafood, vegetables, salad and fruit for dessert. It was served picnic style all packed in a basket at comfortable tables and chairs accompanied by this incredible view!
This beach had some of the most vibrant waters we witnessed for the day! We couldn’t stop staring and snapping photos!
7. Pangulasian Island
We had the privilege of staying on this gorgeous island and highly recommend a stop here if you are not. It has some of the darkest shaded blue waters we experienced in El Nido!
8. Popolcan Island – Snorkling Site
Not far from Panuglasian Island, the El Nido boat tour stopped for some snorkeling. The first thrilling part of this trip was our ability to ride on the exterior portion of the boat, so thrilling!
Once we arrived, we wasted no time diving into the water…
and checking out what lied below!
Overall we explored these areas through the course of 3 afternoons. We loved that our resort offered private and semi-private tours to see these areas versus the crowded boat tours we saw at some of the popular sites.
So the biggest question remains, was it as gorgeous as you see on social media? 100% YES! El Nido beaches are some of the most gorgeous we have seen and the limestone surrounding them makes for a unique and gorgeous landscape. We definitely understand why it’s been named one of the most beautiful island in the world! We highly recommend a visit here and don’t miss an El Nido boat tour to get the best views of these stunning locations!
Have you taken a El Nido boat tour? Which was your favorite stop? Let us know in the comments!
View Comments (2)
Beautiful photos! But I don't think it helped us narrow down the destinations...instead we want to go see ALL of them! :)
El Nido looks so incredibly beautiful! I almost went this year but it turned out that we didn't have enough time to fit it in. Definitely high up on my bucket list though and even more so when I see pictures like this. Thanks for sharing and for the info on the sites.