The Swimsuit Lovers Guide to El Nido
The plan was to do a fun travel guide giving you guys the who, what, where, when of El Nido. However, after taking a look through our vacation pics we realized we were pretty much only wearing swimsuits the entire time. Hence the title of our post. Don't worry, we're still going to give you guys a full travel guide! But fair warning, a gratuitous amount of swimsuit pics are coming up - haha. Oh and don't worry, we'll give you all the shopping info on where our swim suits are from, in case you need a cute new suit for your next vacation!
Where is El Nido?
It's in the Philippines on an island called Palawan. The easiest way to get there is to fly into Manila and then take a short 2 hour and 30 minute plane ride south to the El Nido airport.
When is the best time to go?
The dry season is from November - May, so any of these months the weather will be warm and sunny! We went in mid March and every day was in the high 80's. It felt much hotter though! We pretty much needed to be in or around the water during the day and would only venture out into the town during the evening when things cooled down.
What is there to do?
Soooo much! We stayed in El Nido for 5 days and it was just the right amount of time. Let's start with island hopping.
El Nido offers 4 different tours, named A, B, C, and D. If you only have time for one tour on your trip, it NEEDs to be tour A! This tour takes you to the big lagoon, which is the most stunning thing we've ever seen. Imagine yourself sitting on a kayak on top of the brightest blue water, massive limestone cliffs surround you on all sides, and underneath you colorful fish swim around. Ugh! Pictures can't even do it justice.
We also did tour C - these are the two most popular tours - and really enjoyed that one as well. If you are thinking about capturing content during your trip, we highly recommend booking a private tour (which is what we did). It's still very affordable and you're able to depart earlier than all the other tour groups, meaning less crowds! If you are doing tour A as a private tour, you'll need to arrange this a few days in advance as they only let a certain number of people into the lagoons each day.
Where to eat?
La Plage for tasty seafood dishes and great beach side atmosphere. Bella Vita for the best wood fired pizzas. Sava for sunset cocktails with lively night time vibes. Taste for refreshing smoothie bowls. And last but not least, the market for tropical fruits you can't find in the states!
Where to stay?
We highly recommend staying at this Airbnb! The villa is in the perfect location - just a few steps away from the beach, island hopping tours, and great restaurants. The hosts also know how to make you feel so welcome. They helped us get our bags (which we had a lot of) to the villa, booked all of our island hopping tours for us, and had the fridge stocked with waters, snacks, and cold beers!
