Tours A to Z

Netnet Camomot .

ON Monday morning, the rainfall warning for Northern Palawan was orange. In Cagayan de Oro, that would mean, Brace yourself. But when you’re in El Nido, you ask your Airbnb host if it’s in Northern Palawan, and if she says yes, should you pack up and go home?

Tour C was supposed to be our first tour but it was cancelled due to the bad weather, so, we had Tour A where big waves still welcomed us, anyway, as we sailed to the first island. Big as in “Iduyan mo ang duyan ko”—it felt like someone up there had put us in a duyan and constantly splashed seawater on our faces.

By Monday evening, the rainfall alert for Northern Palawan worsened to red. Our thought bubble began to ask if the Airbnb place is located in a flood-prone area, and should we now hold on to our dry bag and use it as a floatation device.

At least on Tuesday morning, the sky cleared but Tour C was cancelled again. Since we’re flexible—come what may—we went for Tour B which was for another set of islands.

Tour C finally pushed through on Wednesday, and waves even bigger than Monday’s accompanied us as we sailed from one island and lagoon to the next. Basil Valdez’s “Iduyan Mo” wasn’t enough anymore. It was time to progress to “Sit down, sit down, you’re rocking the boat.”

I lost count of the number of islands we visited, but I’m guessing they were 99 percent of the Philippines’ 7,107.

El Nido is the ideal place for a mermaid. Its tours have island-hopping, lagoon-hopping, swimming, snorkelling, diving, kayaking but no need for one to be an expert swimmer. As long as you can float, the tour guides will help you transfer from boat to shore and vice versa.

Each tour includes lunch and that’s how we were able to try the capiz shell which is called katipay according to our tour guide.

The lunch is always yummy, with the boat’s crew preparing the dishes while you’re swimming or taking selfies. The crew can even carve veggies and fruits into swans, flowers, and I heart El Nido.

Its islands are sometimes named after their shape—Snake Island looks like a snake, Helicopter Island resembles a chopper. Or location—Hidden Island is, well, hidden. But not as hidden as Secret Beach.

Secret Beach and Secret Lagoon were the two places the weather didn’t allow us to visit. The boat captain said the amihan weather of November to May makes these secret places generally accessible unless of course the color-coded weather warnings are on. Since it’s July and it’s rainy season, the tour guide said both the Secret Beach and the Secret Lagoon will remain a secret for us. Haha. Funny.

El Nido’s tours A to D should be savored and not merely ticked off a bucket list that may prompt you to start looking for Tours E to Z.

With Boracay closed until October, tourists are flocking to alternatives, and El Nido is one, although, we feel it should be the priority, with Boracay as its alternative.

As for El Nido’s lagoons, Cadlao Lagoon may give you the best chance to swim and savor the beauty of lime rock walls. This is part of Tour D but was thrown in as an extra destination for our Tour C to replace Secret Beach. I could have stayed forever at Cadlao if not for the other islands that we still had to visit for Tour C.

Tour A is usually recommended for its lagoons—Big, Small and Secret—and also because it’s seldom cancelled but Secret won’t be included if there’s bad weather. If there are time constraints, go for Tour A. If you can spend four days in El Nido, you can have Tours A, B and C, with the fourth day for an inland tour where you can visit Nacpan Beach which looks like a bikini.

Once you check out your El Nido photos, though, they’ll all start to look the same—island, beach, lagoon, lime rock walls. Thus, savoring every second you’re there is still the best way to remember your home away from home.