El Nido, Palawan Island

Enough cannot be said about the natural beauty of El Nido. World famous Boracay is its southward neighbor, but El Nido has been protected from droves of tourists by the treacherous 6 hour trek over unforgiving roads. Only recently has a small airport been established near El Nido, and there has been an uptick in new business. 

We started our trip in the beautiful Dolarog Beach Resort with its stunning views and wonderful hospitality. Getting there has been a challenge since the website is less than helpful and contacting the front desk is always a challenge. Taking a tricycle to the closest spot we could muster and then waiting for baggage handlers to walk down the beach and pick you up was a new experience. When we arrived, we were surprised to find that this resort is one of the oldest in El Nido, being one of two eatablishments in the 80's that catered to scuba divers. The property was a series of palm frond roof cottages that were spread out in a garden of coconut and palm trees. 

The inside was fitted with a wonderfully comfortable bed and indoor plumbing in the rear. 

Since the place is so remote, it operates a full restaurant, serving 3 meals a day along with operating its own excursions. 

We kicked back and let the gentle breeze guide our choices. Plenty of naps, great seaside meals and lots of swims in the calm beachfront. 

We couldn't do any of the pre planned trips, as they would depart at 9 and get back around 5, so we opted to charter our own boat and do a condensed version, so we were home by 12. We visited the Snake Island (known for its shape, not inhabitants) and another beautiful beach, while admiring some of the amazing cliffs in the area. 

After 4 nights at the beautiful Dolarog resort, we chartered a boat to Miniloc island in the distance that we had been watching at our sunsets. 

This resort was home to those idyllic cottages on stilts and a private beach. The resort felt far more polished than our previous resort and was run with the type of efficiency you might find in a commercial hot spot like Hawaii. 

We fell right into the island rhythm, kicked off our shoes and savored our beachfront beds with white sand covering the entire resort. 

The next day, Jen signed us up for scuba diving and we decided to split our dives up. I would do the morning dive while Astrid had her morning nap, circle back to the resort, pick Jen and Astrid up, let Jen dive and then make our way to nearby Entalula beach for a fantastic lunch. 

Our stay here was only for two nights and we made our way back to the mainland. We stayed at a lovely little bed and breakfast called Treetops, situated on another stunning beach and a short walk from a number of delicious beachside restaurants and bars. 

While Treetops was a lovely B&B, we quickly realized that the resort experience offered a better chance for us parents to comfortably leave Astrid in the room while she naps and for us to enjoy our time outside the room nearby. The Treetops was comfortable, but sadly had little to offer outside of the bedroom walls, so we adjusted our booking and left a night early. We cancelled our next stay as it had a similar setup and found a wonderful resort on Matinloc Island for us to enjoy the remainder of our trip. 

Now, I know our readers feel our burden with the challenge of booking ANOTHER resort in a tropical getaway, but this resort took the prize for best place during our trip. The Matinloc resort was recently built, so had all the amenities of a full fledged resort, but hardly any traffic, had a lovely beach, infinity pool, amazing restaurant, and stunning views of the mainland. 

Astrid turned 4 months and we celebrated with a little impromptu photo shoot by the pool and in our messy bedroom. She gladly brought the smiles before crashing hard from a half day on the boat. 

Tomorrow, we leave beautiful El Nido to make our way back to Manila before an evening departure back to reality. It's been an amazing stay and surely ranks up with some of the best places we have ever been lucky enough to visit. It doesn't top Paros for overall experience, but it sure came close with its stunning beaches, amazing scenery and wonderful inhabitants. 

We will gladly come back another day should any of our dear readers be in the mood to visit.