El Nido - Part 1

Previous travel blog was about Corregidor. We saved the best for last, El Nido.

from the el nido resorts website

We booked our cottage from El Nido Resorts - Lagen and for those who might not have heard of El Nido Resorts yet, they have 4 resorts. Miniloc is the cheapest, Lagen is a little pricier and the favorite among honeymooners, they have another one in Apulit but is no longer part of El Nido (it's in Taytay) and their most expensive resort, the Pangulasian (which they just recently opened late last year, 2012).

the little plane

We're supposed to get to the ITI Manila airport really early because I booked the earliest departure. El Nido Resort - Lagen isn't what I will call cheap so of course I want to make sure we get our money's worth. Problem is, they had to move our flight to later in the day. Which means instead of getting there before noon, we'll get there in the afternoon. But they made up for it by giving us a free complimentary massage (yes, all four of us).

El Nido Lounge

El Nido Resort has a decent lounge area, and they had food and coffee and juice which pretty much what kept us busy while waiting for our flight, lol. Come boarding time we were all herded to a twin-turboprop STOL aircraft (Donier Do 228 aircraft). I was a bit scared to take that flight because I have heard a lot of horror stories from co-workers and friends who took the same flight and they told me about how rough the flight was and the nasty turbulence but I survived. We lucked out and had a smooth flight both to and from El Nido. There were several of us on the plane, some are bound to Miniloc and some same as us, to Lagen.

inside the plane

When we got to the ITI El Nido airport we were greeted by a group of women wearing a traditional Filipino costume, singing and dancing complete with a real carabao as props. By this time, my guests are so used to the sight of carabao already that the only thing they noticed are the women singing. They thought it was a nice touch. We then waited at their lounge which is simpler than the one in Manila but it has benches to sit on, it has rest rooms, it's clean and most of all has snacks! We were offered 3-in-1 coffee and some rice cakes (biko) while we wait for the jeepney that would take us to the dock where our boat to El Nido Resort is waiting for us.

Ten El-ni DOs (i thought this is cute)

welcoming us with a song

jeepney and the dock

When we got to the dock they gave each of us a life jacket then we walked towards the boat. The Miniloc guests and Lagen guests have their own separate boats. The boat ride to Lagen resort took about an hour. It was a very pleasant ride and while my guests were busy admiring the scenery I was busy watching my guests faces, there's amazement written all over their faces. I love and I'm proud of my country and I am always eager to show anyone around (both foreigner or local) and there's always a certain pride and satisfaction on my part whenever I see amazement on my guests faces whenever I get to show them scenery that they have never seen before, specially when they are foreigners. If you're a Filipino, I'm sure you know what I mean. You know how it is, when foreigners hear the word "Philippines"" the first thing that comes to their mind is trash and squatters. I want to change that association, that perception. I want all foreigners to think of turquoise waters and white sand beaches and colorful marine life and warm & friendly people whenever they hear the word Philippines. Anyway, I digress.

boat ride to El Nido Resorts - Lagen

Like I said it was almost an hour boat ride but you won't get bored. We saw different islands and limestone cliff along the way. Plus the ocean breeze and tiny splashes of water touching my skin is enough to entertain me. What can I say, I love the ocean! We also got some free island trivias from one of the boat men and he even pointed to us the island where Bourne Supremacy movie was shot. Then suddenly the boat ride is over and we were at El Nido Resorts - Lagen!

Ahh....

It's hard not to smile. The only word I can think of at that moment is PARADISE! It is so tempting to brag. It's so tempting to tell each one of the foreign guests on the boat: "I live here, in this country, the Philippines! Do you know that we have lots of these here?". But I kept my poise and just smiled. And smiled some more. This is the reason why inspite of "pasaway" government officials and "bobo" voters I still love my country.

Lagen Resort view

Lagen Resort swimming pool area

walkway to our over the water cottage

to our rooms

After we got off the boat, we were greeted by our Tour and Activity coordinator (which unfortunately, I forgot the name). We were also greeted by yet another singing and dancing crews but this time they were just wearing their white shirt and khaki uniform.

That wasn't the only thing that greeted us, we were greeted by this very pretty sunset as well...

sunset in Lagen, El Nido

our cottage
(all water cottages have balcony with gorgeous view of the ocean)

We booked 3 over the water cottages, even if it cost a bit more, just because the hubby was so hung-up on going to Bora-Bora, lol (we're supposed to go there for our honeymoon and book one of those over the water huts with glass flooring, but we realized that for the same money we'll spend for just the two of us in Bora Bora, we could instead take our guests to El Nido and all 4 of us can have fun!). So anyway, 3 over the water cottages, one for the hubby and I, one for the sister-in-law (her husband is supposed to come with us & this is supposedly our 2nd honeymoon gift for them but he cancelled the last minute..oh well, his loss) and one for our bestman. We spent our first day getting comfortable. Oh, did I mention I like their attention for details? Like their turn down service (see photo below). I always look forward to going to our room after a hectic day to see what's waiting for us on our bed which is sometimes a tiny bird origami-like made of pandan leaf, or a leaf with our names on it and a "sleep well" or "good night" message and! there's always the pastillas candy

turn down service

i wish i have asked them how to make this

the bag for island hopping..
the pamphlet is a check list of
all the fishes you will and can
find in the waters of El Nido

All my guests enjoyed this trip, specially the hubby. They keep saying it's paradise. The hubby have always wanted to go to Bora-bora (in Tahiti) but he said El Nido is better. He thinks Bora-bora won't have several beaches to go beach-hopping to, or there won't be any big and small lagoons. There won't be any of those amazing geological formations (limestone cliffs). For him (and my other guests) it's an amazing, amazing experience. Ofcourse ang ngiti ko hanggang tenga, nagsalubong pa nga sa batok e, lol.





My sister-in-law is still thanking me for it everytime she sees me and still can't stop talking about it to his co-workers/friends/family member. Good. I don't want her to hate me forever because of the Corregidor trip that I made her endure, lol.



Succeeding El Nido blogs would be all about the amazing islands, sand bars and lagoons in El Nido. What to do, what to bring, what to expect. I'll tell you about our private raft dinner at the big lagoon. The hidden beach, secret beach, the turtle island, just to name a few. More photos like below to follow too.

i'll tell you where this is in the next blog

where we had lunch on our day 2

note: all photos by yours truly unless otherwise specified...please do not use any photos without permission