El Nido🇵🇭

The single most photographed spot in the Philippines — a vertical-walled limestone amphitheatre of jade-green water reached through a narrow channel between two cliffs. The bangka (outrigger boat) drops you at the entrance; you transfer to a kayak (PHP 300/kayak rental) and paddle 700 m into the cathedral-like inner lagoon. A daily visitor cap (200 people, enforced since 2019) means the lagoon now actually feels peaceful. Wear water shoes — the limestone shore is sharp.

A tighter, more intimate cousin of Big Lagoon — entered through a hole in the rock that you swim through (or kayak through at higher tides). The interior is a circular pool of opalescent water surrounded by 80-metre cliffs and a small white-sand beach inside. Often less crowded than Big Lagoon because the swim-through entrance discourages large group tours. Brings goggles for the underwater rock formations.

Two more Tour A stops — Secret Lagoon is reached by ducking through a chest-high cave opening at low tide into a small enclosed pool; Shimizu Island is the lunch stop, with picnic tables in the shade and excellent shallow-water snorkelling for clownfish and the giant Tridacna clams. Lunch on every Tour A is grilled pork, fish, chicken adobo, rice, and a fresh fruit platter — included in the PHP 1,400 fare.

Tour C is the more dramatic, less crowded alternative to Tour A — Hidden Beach is a small cove invisible from the sea, accessed through a narrow rock crevice you swim through; Helicopter Island has a long white-sand spit and the best snorkelling reef of the four tours; Matinloc Shrine is an abandoned mid-century Catholic shrine on a remote island with a viewpoint hike to a panorama of the entire archipelago. PHP 1,500.

A 4-kilometre crescent of white sand on the western coast, 17 km north of El Nido town — reached by a 40-minute tricycle ride (PHP 600 round-trip with the driver waiting) or rented scooter (PHP 500/day). The beach is largely undeveloped: a handful of beach bars (Mahaba, Nacpan Beach Glamping) and zero high-rise development. Best at sunset; bring cash for the PHP 50 entry fee charged at the access road.

A short, brutal scramble up the limestone cliff that rises directly behind El Nido town — 30–45 minutes of hand-over-hand climbing on sharp karst (gloves and good shoes essential) to a panoramic view of Bacuit Bay and the entire town from above. Two access routes: Canopy Walk (the easy guided version, PHP 600, includes safety gear) or the unguided traditional route (PHP 200, at your own risk). Sunrise climbs leave at 04:30.

A 10-minute tricycle ride south of town (PHP 150 each way), Las Cabañas is the closest sunset beach to El Nido and the easiest beach day if you don't want a tour boat. A 700-metre stretch of white sand backed by coconut palms and beach bars (Las Cabañas Beach Resort, Sava Beach Bar). The famous "Zipline" runs from the cliff at the southern end across the bay to Depeldet Island — PHP 700, and worth doing once at sunset.

A 4-hour boat-and-van trip north to Calauit Game Reserve in the Calamian Group — a Marcos-era island where giraffes, zebras, and other African animals were brought from Kenya in the 1970s. The animals roam free; you tour by jeep with a guide. Most travellers combine Calauit with a Coron-area itinerary; it works as a 2-day trip from El Nido but is more easily done as part of a Coron extension.