El Nido: Accommodation, Tours and Restaurants

by John Marx Velasco · May 19, 2013

Who wouldn’t fall in love with El Nido? Should I need to brag more about its beautiful islands and stunning beaches for you to be convinced how this place is so lovable and charming? Definitely no, El Nido stands out effortlessly. By just hearing its name you can just instantly imagine, paradise. It’s simply paradise.

Because of its perfection, at first we thought El Nido is an expensive place to travel to but no, this place is also a haven for those travelers who are looking for unspoiled beaches and islands without really breaking the bank.

Would you believe that I only spent more or less PHP 5,000 for my entire 3 days stay in El Nido?

Yes, you heard it right! With a little research, good El Nido contacts, companions and sacrifice (not really in a bad way), I was able to come up with a budgeted trip to El Nido.

Accommodation

Finding an accommodation is one of the hardest parts of planning a trip. There’s a lot of factors that need to be considered like price, location and comfort but if you can give up luxury then definitely you can stay in any place (staying in the street is not included, of course).

Since I don’t want to have our trip that extensively planned anymore, I just asked our contact, Ate Neriza (0939-902-2216), to book for our accommodation and island tours.

Originally, it was just me and Paula who will be touring El Nido for three days but because of Paula’s charm (I guess), she was able to convince Josiah to join us. She convinced him in an instant, see! 😀

Our room was supposed to be a fan room as what I’ve asked Ate Neriza but when we arrived, we were taken to an air-conditioned room that can fit 4 persons. She gave it to us for the same price. The room is very basic with two double beds and a private bathroom. There’s no TV which is fine with us since we were outside most of the time. The room costs PHP 800 per night. The price that she gave us was actually good for two persons only since we were just two traveling at first but Ate Neriza is so kind enough not to charge us for the extra person. :p

Please do take note that electricity in El Nido only runs from 2:00 PM to 6:00 AM.

Northern Hope Inn is situated in an alley along Sirena Street, just a few steps away from the town beach.

Tours

What’s the essence of going to El Nido without taking the tours? May it be beach bumming or island hopping, do contact Northern Hope Ticketing and Island tours. They’ll be glad to help and assist you for your El Nido tours need.

“Left Photo – Me and Ate Neriza; Right Photo – Northern Hope Ticketing & Island Tours Booth”

For the tours that we’ve been to when we visited El Nido, you may visit these links; Island Hopping Combination Tour A & C and A Visit to Nacpan – Calitang Beach.

El Nido Town

Although you’re in El Nido for its islands and beaches, exploring the town also worth the time. Spend maybe half an hour or so roaming around the streets and you’ll definitely see something capturing; just like the cherry-blossom-like tree in one of the streets in town.

This type of tree is very noticeable in some areas of El Nido and few parts of Palawan. I don’t really know what’s the name of this tree is but it’s somehow resembles cherry blossoms in Japan. Anyone who know what tree is that, please leave me a message. 😀

Dine-in Places

Moreover, why not also check the town beach wherein you can see numerous bars and restaurants along the shore. The town beach is also the area where the island tours start.

It may not be as big as what Boracay can offer in terms of bars and restaurants but certainly one restaurant stands out because of its prime view. What am I talking about, it’s The Alternative.

The Alternative is a family-run Inn with restaurant and bar nestled into El Nido’s picturesque bay. The bar restaurant is situated at the second floor and as soon as you reached the area surely you’ll be amazed of how scenic it is.

Time for photo ops.

“From L-R; me, Paula, Brenna and Josiah”

Having your meals with this picturesque view is totally a wonderful experience but since we’re on a budget, we just had refreshments. Refreshments costs around PHP 100 to PHP 150 while meals costs PHP 200 to PHP 300. Good tactic of having shakes just to say we bought something; our access to have these dazzling photos.

By night, restaurants along the shore set up their tables for an intimate candle light dinner may it be with friends, loved ones and families. One of the restaurants that we were able to try is Og’s Restaurant.

Meals are too pricey and not so outstanding. I forgot to take pictures of the food because we were all famished already that we had ate our food immediately when it arrived. 😀

But if you’re looking for good meals with generous serving without spending too much, you can try dining in at Squido’s.

Located at Hama St. in Brgy. Masagana, Squido’s is said to be one of the most favorite restaurants in town because of its homey ambiance, value for money and wide array of Filipino and French dishes.

During our visit, we ordered squid, chicken tinola, pizza and pasta.

One place in the town of El Nido that you can eat cheaply but still having that good food, it’s IBR Fast food. This fast food restaurant is open 24 hours a day, and offer meals that costs PHP 70 to PHP 150. The most common meals here are ‘silog’, a popular meal combos for Filipinos during midnight snack and breakfast.

Selecting the accommodation, tours and restaurants during our travel are the big considerations in budgeting our trip. Despite of how much or how less you have for a trip, just ensure to enjoy the time and moments of your vacation.

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Northern Hope Ticketing and Island Tours
Ate Neriza
0939-9022216