El Nido Island Tour Day 1

the El Nido sunrise

Our second day at El Nido marks the first day of our two island tours. The morning  was bright, sunny and filled with excitement. Countless boats lined the beach, swaying to the waves, ready to whisk away  passengers to paradise. On the shore, tourists kept busy doing what tourists do, as boatmen and guides get ready for another day at the office. I'd love to call this place my office.

Just like in Puerto Princesa, tours are already organized and you'll see similar choices in the different tour organizers. For today, we're going on what they call Tour A (they weren't very creative with the names), which includes Small Lagoon, Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Simizu Island and 7 Commando. The tours usually start at 9am and ends between 4pm to 5pm. If you avail these tours, it would also include lunch. Rates range from Php700 to Php1200 per person.

Public tours are available for those traveling alone or small groups. It would be better to arrange private tours though so you can control the time spent on each place.


Small Lagoon

Our first stop is the Small Lagoon. It's called Small Lagoon because it's smaller than the other lagoon (you've probably guessed that). Boats dock outside the entry, because they wouldn't be able to go in. The entryway is a small opening under the lime stones, which can fit maybe 3 to 4 people at the same time. Outside the lagoon is not that deep, maybe 5 feet or less, but inside is mostly deep (more than an average person's height).

Our boatman/guide, Rodel, led us inside. All around the lagoon are caves and amazing rock formations. He even did a trick of entering a hole and getting out on another one. Unfortunately, I still don't have a waterproof camera so I don't have any pictures inside the Small Lagoon. If you don't want to be too tired paddling or swimming (it's called Small but it's still tiring to swim all around it), you can rent a kayak so you can ride it exploring the lagoons and islands. You'd have to arrange it before leaving the main island. Most of the tour organizers would have it or would know where to rent one.

Big Lagoon

The Big Lagoon has a big enough opening for boats to go in. We went in, cruised around the lagoon, took some pictures and went ahead to the next one on our itinerary. Our guides pointed out Batman's back and Mary and Jesus rock formations. It's like an abbreviated version of the Underground River tour in Puerto Princesa.

Secret Lagoon

See the camera man's tower by the coconut trees? They're shooting Survivor here!

An interesting fact about this place is there's an on going shoot for Survivor (not sure which franchise) here, so the sandy part of the island was off limits. This is where they shoot the challenges or maybe the tribal council. The contestants are staying in another remote island somewhere.

The entrance to the Secret Lagoon is literally just a hole in the wall. Kuya Rodel showed us how to maneuver ourselves to the other side and one by one we went in. We were able to bring our cameras inside by using a dry pack, the boatmen so graciously offered and carried inside. Inside the Secret Lagoon, you'd step in the sand. The water starts maybe a foot from the hole and goes deeper as you go farther. The very end was deep enough that several people where climbing the rocks and diving in.

Simizu Island

our private beach (for a few hours)

Simizu Island got it's name because Japanese soldiers stayed here a long time ago during the war. This is a large island with several patch of sandy white beach. Since there were already several boats on other wide beach areas, we picked a small one that we got all to ourselves! The sand is so soft (as soft as Boracay's) and the water is crystal clear.

As soon as we're anchored in, the boatmen started preparing for lunch. Aside from boatmen and tour guide, they're also cooks. They grilled seafoods and set up table and chairs right on the beach. While they were busy with lunch, we're busy frolicking in the sand, swimming and taking pictures. A few feet from the shore, there are lots of corals and different kinds of fish. Some time after lunch and after taking an afternoon siesta, Kuya Rodel guided us to a nearby rock, which has a marine sanctuary. Turns out it wasn't so near because I didn't get very close to the rock, but I heard it was very beautiful.

7 Commando

7 Commando is an island with a long stretch of beach. The name came from a group of illegal loggers called 7 Commando, who set up shop in the island a long time ago. They vandalized the rock found at the end of the beach, etching their group's name in it (it's not visible anymore). It was found later that they didn't have permits so they were ousted from the island, but the name just stuck.

That name would probably be changed to something else soon, because rights for the island was recently bought and our guides said a resort would soon be constructed. We're lucky to have the chance to go while it's still free.

Since the day and our energy are starting to dwindle down, we watched a friendly game of volleyball between the locals and tourists while sipping a cold soda from the store. After finishing the refreshments, we walked around and took another dip in the beach. The sand in the shore was fine, but just a few steps into the water and there's already corals. Definitely a good place to snorkel.

After all the swimming and snorkeling, we found a shaded spot in the beach, laid our tired sun-kissed bodies in the sand and looked out in the amazing islands of Bacuit Bay.

El Nido Posts:
Journey to El Nido
El Nido Island Tour Day 1
El Nido Island Tour Day 2
The (Perfect) Alternative
That French Restaurant in El Nido