Rovic's Pension House location was just perfect as it was only a hop and jump away from the beach. At around 7AM everybody was already up and done with taking a bath while some were eating breakfast . I decided not to take bath since we are going to swim the entire day anyway.
Simply put it this way El Nido has the best scenery you won't see anywhere -- from towering ageless limestone cliffs , serene lagoons and pristine white sand beaches that is consistent throughout of all the islands. El Nido is a top destination for island hopping. There are many booking agencies which offered various island hopping tours but since we stayed in Rovic we just booked our tour with them. El Nido is composed of more than 45 islands/islets so it's daunting which islands to hopped on to or which cave or lagoon to explore first.These tour packages are grouped based on the islands proximity to each other. Anyway here are some of the tours offered by various El Nido booking agencies:
Tour A: Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Simizu Island, Seven Commando - 500
Tour B: Pangalusian Island, Snake Island, Cadugnon Cave, Pinagbuyutan Island,
Cathedral Cave -600
Tour C: Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Secret Beach, Star Beach, Tapiutan Strait -700
Tour D: Cadlao Lagoon, Helicopter Island, Paradise Beach, Natnat Beach, Bucal Island-600
Prices are per person that includes packed lunch (pork bbq/chicken,grilled fish/squid,fruit and veggies). Almost all of the tours are the generally the same across all booking agencies which can be modified as well, as for our group we opted to combine Tour A and B for 700.
The rocky side of Pinagbuyutan Island
Pinagbuyutan Island
The first island is Pinagbuyutan,never mind the name because the beach is awesome although its hard to swim because it's a bit rocky . The stretch of soft,white powdery sand makes it great for a place to just stay in a hammock.From what I've heard this island was featured in the 1997 cover of Lonely Planet.
Lagen Island
Lagen Island
We weren't able to actually hopped on this island because this is a private resort - one of the luxurious resorts in the area. Maybe next time. This place serve as a pit stop of Amazing Race during it's 5th season.
Next on our list is Cudugnon Island. You will crawl through a tight opening of the cave to get inside. The shining light through the cave's give me an impression that is actually a shrine.
There is a higher area for some scenic perspective that requires a little bit of rock climbing. We ate our lunch here and after a bit of lazing out in the small hut we moved on to the next island.
There is a higher area for some scenic perspective that requires a little bit of rock climbing. We ate our lunch here and after a bit of lazing out in the small hut we moved on to the next island.
The not so visible S-shaped sandspit
view on the other side of Snake island
Vigan Island
Just when we thought it was all sunny that day - rain fell down while we're on our way to this island. It is commonly referred to as "Snake Island" because of the distinguished trailing s-shaped sandbar that snakes off its shores. There's a hill in the island where you can climb that provides an excellent view of the neighboring island.We weren't able to clearly view the sand spit because of the rain. After some leisurely swimming across the shallow water, the rain stopped and we head off to our next destination for some fish feeding frenzy.
Snorkeling in Pangulasian's coral reef cluster
Pangulasian Island
The long stretch of white sand beach is promising view from our boat but that's the closest thing we can get according to Kuya Jun our guide as this is a private resort According to Kuya Jun, the original resort was put on fire around 1990's due to some electrical malfunction, it is only now that the resort has been on the verge of restoration. True enough there were a lot of fish - which we feed to our delight. The Turtle Island is can also viewed from here - home to Bacuit Bay's pawikan and butanding.
Big and Small Lagoon of Miniloc Island
Cruising through the mystic Big Lagoon
It rained again when we cruised along the towering limestone cliffs of Miniloc Island. If you watched Lord of the Rings and remember the River Anduin scene with towering statues, this is the feeling you'll get as you wade throughout the shrouded labyrinth of the Big Lagoon. Towards the end of lagoon we see a small platform, according to Kuya Jun the platform serve a spot for a wedding ceremony. After all the kulitan we then head to the lagoon's mini-me version called Small Lagoon.
Small Lagoon
We had to swim a little to get to the other side and getting through a small hole opening in the karst. Inside is a beautiful lagoon, surrounded by giant limestones. The water gets deeper and deeper as you wade your way through the lagoon. This is a perfect spot for kayaking. After spending some time inside the lagoon we were greeted by monkeys as we go back to our banca. Perhaps two of the most revered treasures and the most dazzling of the gems of El Nido.
7Commandos Beach
The last stop of the tour and the spot of our sunset dinner. Here, the water is a amazing baby blue, with lush greeneries in the background. Kuya Jun dropped us off to this island as they head back to the resort to get the food for our dinner. While waiting we pretend like we're Derek Ramsay (patay tayo dyan) and played Frisbee the whole time. It was a little bit dark when our food arrived and hungry so we just helped them dinner set up (tables, monobloc chairs, light up the sulo). As Kuya Jun was about to strummed the guitar for a perfect sunset dinner it rained again, oh well we then just rushed finishing our dinner. The food served was delicious indeed- there's the liempo, grilled fish, veggies, fruits and for the longest time I was able to eat suso (snail with coconut milk).
7Commandos Beach
The last stop of the tour and the spot of our sunset dinner. Here, the water is a amazing baby blue, with lush greeneries in the background. Kuya Jun dropped us off to this island as they head back to the resort to get the food for our dinner. While waiting we pretend like we're Derek Ramsay (patay tayo dyan) and played Frisbee the whole time. It was a little bit dark when our food arrived and hungry so we just helped them dinner set up (tables, monobloc chairs, light up the sulo). As Kuya Jun was about to strummed the guitar for a perfect sunset dinner it rained again, oh well we then just rushed finishing our dinner. The food served was delicious indeed- there's the liempo, grilled fish, veggies, fruits and for the longest time I was able to eat suso (snail with coconut milk).
Frisbee Time
Time well spent for the first day in paradise. But the day wouldn't be complete without the inuman hanggang madaling araw with the rest of the gang in the resort.
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