I booked tour B on the second day of my trip. Our hotel manager told me that all the island hopping day tours are cancelled because of the storm warning. The boat from El Nido to Coron was also cancelled because of large waves. I immediately checked the flight tickets to Coron from El Nido via Puetro Princesa and Manila. It was costing me roughly USD 120 extra and it will take an entire day to reach Coron. I booked fast ferry ticket to Coron which was scheduled to leave 2 days after during the morning hours.
Since there was no island hopping tours I decided to rent a motorbike and explore the beaches around the island. Motorbike rentals are very convenient around the island and most of the owner don’t ask for passport for deposit while renting the motorbike. The petrol cost is extra and you must take pictures of the condition of the motorbike before taking it out for the tour.
Canopy walk – My hotel manager recommended me to check out the canopy walk for the beautiful views of the El Nido town. I decided to go for the Canopy walk before going to the beach. The entire tour lasted for about 1 hour. The trail involved climbing some stairs and going over some rope bridge. After a short walk we reached the top the cliff. The view was fantastic from the cliff. You could see the outlying islands and parked boats near the pier. This is a must do activity if you are in El Nido. The canopy walk was opened recently after the closure of Tarrow cliff. Tarrow cliff height is twice that of the current cliff and before people used to climb to the top of the cliff without any support. Lots of accidents happened there while climbing the cliff without proper support so the government has permanently closed the climb to the top of the Tarrow cliff.
After the Canopy walk I started the motorbike journey to visit Verde Safari beach. The beach is located at the northernmost part of the island. The beach is located by around 1 hour drive from El Nido town. The road was good for the most part of the trip. I was looking for a sign board pointing towards the beach. I finally found the sign board and turned left . The road started to get worse and it was made from red sand and gravels. Since it was dry weather I had to put glass of my helmet in order to avoid the sand particles from entering my eyes Some parts of the road were very steep followed by downhill path and It was tough for motorbike with two people to ride along road. Finally, after lot of careful driving I managed to reach the beach.
Verde safari beach – There was no one at the beach and it was completely empty. You have the feeling like you have the whole beach to yourself. There was only one house situated near the beach. After taking some pictures at the most secluded beach I decided to visit Duli beach which was situated close to the Verde Safari beach. When I was coming back I saw few people arriving at the beach with their surfboards.
Duli Beach – I traced back the same road and saw the sign of the Duli beach. I turned right and the beach was just 5 minutes ride. The road to the beach was private so you have to pay entry fee if you are bringing your motorbike along with you. The beach was looking similar to the Verde safari beach but it was not that isolated. There were lots of restaurant along the beach and because of the good waves around the beach lots of people were surfing that time. It was around noon time when I finished visiting Duli beach and I decided to come back to El Nido town for lunch.
Nacpan beach – I wanted to visit Nacpan beach for the sunset so I started around 4 pm from El Nido town. After taking diversion the roads became little bit worse but it was still in better condition compared to the roads to Verde Safari beach. The parking lot was full and it seemed like everyone who missed the island hopping tour came to the beach. Area near to the beach is well developed and there is also a resort nearby the beach. Mad Monkey also has a hostel at the beach. I loved their hostel during my trip to Cambodia. The sunset from the Nacpan beach was brilliant and it was worth all the hype. The day was well spent by visiting the beaches around El Nido and I never felt bad about missing the island hopping tour. I was keeping my finger crossed for the island hopping tour for tomorrow.
Exploring Kuyawyaw waterfall and Las Cabanas beach – It was my last day at El Nido. My hotel manager told me that all the tours are cancelled because of bad weather. I didn’t want to waste my day sitting at hotel room. My hotel manager recommended me to visit Kuyawyaw waterfall and Las Cabanas beach.
Kuyawyaw waterfall was around 1.5-hour drive from El Nido town. I planned to visit the waterfall till afternoon and then Las Cabanas beach for sunset. The drive to the waterfall was very scenic. The roads were in perfect condition. I finally reached the waterfall and purchased my entrance ticket to the falls. Four of us were assigned a guide. There are total 3 levels in the waterfall. The trail to the first level lasted for around 20-minutes and we had to pass through some small streams and forest landscape. It was a good spot to do cliff diving. The size of the pond was also the biggest among all the three levels. Some people stayed at the place for cliff jumping but I moved on to the second level.
It was a short hike in order to reach the second level. This level was the most beautiful section of the waterfall. The water was light blue in color. The flow of the waterfall was also very good.
The hike to the last level was very steep. We had to use the help of ropes in order to reach the last section. This waterfall was the smallest out of all the three sections. The place was not at all crowded compared to the first two levels. After spending 30-minutes at the top I came back to the entrance of the waterfall.
Las Cabanas Beach – The beach is located very close to El Nido town. It is a great spot to see sunset. It is very popular among local people of El Nido because of its proximity to the town. Everyone was there at the beach to see sunset because of the cancellation of the island hopping tours. I was planning to do Zip-line at the beach but it was cancelled due to bad weather. There are lots of restaurants and pubs near the beach. The sunset view on the background of limestone hills was amazing. The sea was very rough and it was windy. I was just hoping for a good weather the very next day so that I can go to Coron by ferry.
The weather was very bad the next day and all the ferries were cancelled. I didn’t want to wait at El Nido any longer because I had only 3 full days at Coron. I immediately booked my ticket from Puetro Princesa to Manila and from Manila to Coron. There was only one seat left from Manila to Coron and I booked it immediately. I went to my travel agent to get my refund of the ferry ticket and booked my transport to Puetro Princesa. I reached manila in the evening and next day early morning I took flight to Coron.
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