and Before we jump into the last day our Palawan Adventure, here’s our Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.
Hidden Beach
Off to our first destination is the Hidden Beach. Our journey going there made me realized why it was named this way. We have to swim, make our way through curves and giant rocks to reach this place. Actually we “cheated” the swimming part. The tour guides just instructed us to float and he pulled our life-jackets while swimming. If they didn’t drag us through the waves, we might have spent full hour swimming to reach the place.
.Just like before, a short time in the boat going to this island made me instantly hungry. The first thing, search for food or drinks. Here is a short clip of me ordering a coconut for P60.00 from the boat vendor.
Finally, this is me with my “buko”. Take note of the crystal clear water. Too bad we only brought mobile phone here. I did not dare to bring my camera anymore due to the damage it had from yesterday’s adventure. Also, it was kind of stressful to bring a full-blown camera. I was lucky that I had a reliable waterproof bag. If not, I would go home with a dysfunctional one.
SHIMIZU ISLAND
This island was named after a a Japanese diver who died while exploring the El Nido and eventually was found in the shore of this island. His surname is Shimizu.
The source of it’s name could be born out of tragedy but hey look at this! With its pristine water and white sand, being here is far from being tragic.
Of course, pardon me for having my photoshoot again. I travel for pictures with me in it.
Lunchtime in Shimizu Island
We spent longer hours here in Shimizu that any other island because this was the place where we had our lunch. This photo is an evidence on how my friends guarded our table. Their eyes fixated on the food. With the spoon and fork in their hands, they were so ready to attack.
What do we have here? Crabs, fish, liempo, eggplant salad, cucumber, banana , pineapple, coke and rice.
Snorkeling Area
Here’s one thing I hate about myself. I don’t like underwater activities. Snorkeling , Scuba Diving, and any other activities I might not know that involves a lot swimming and going into the deep. I’m not scared. It’s more like I easily get tired. The “I-am-going-to-die-tired” kind of way. But one thing I like about myself, I do it anyway. Who would like to miss the sight of the corals? I only lasted less than 10 minutes though.
SECRET BEACH…NOT!
What disappointed me in this trip is we have to skip Secret Beach due to large waves. A local said it should have been the highlight of tour C since it the most adventurous to reach. We have to swim through a small crevice in a cave before to enter this mysterious place. It also known as the real inspiration for a bestselling novel ” The Beach” written by Alex Garland. Although the novel was set in Thailand, Alex Garland derived the geography of the setting from Secret Beach during the time he spent vacation here in Palawan. So that’s we have missed. But safety first, right? And we can always go back.
Helicopter Island
This island was named this way because it is truly shaped like a helicopter in a distance. It is not the only thing that sets this apart from the other destinations we toured. The sand of this island is golden! A fresh sight from all the whites we have seen.
Here’s a short clip of our arrival in this island.
And yes, photoshoot again and again!
Here’s a short clip of me just enjoying the waves and fooling around. I just let my action camera stood by a tripod. Enjoy the sound of waves that will surely calm any restless heart.
ENJOYING THE SUNSET AT THE PORT
Helicopter marked the end of our Palawan Adventure. But we couldn’t get enough. So even if we were tired, we went back to the port to watch the beautiful sunset. What a sight to behold.
But before I truly end this blog entry, I will share the awesome and affordable accommodation we had in El Nido Palawan.
St. John Island Pensionne House, Truly Affordable!
My friend booked the room thru Agoda. It has no fixed priced and is according to season.
But I just checked in Agoda now that I’m typing this and it is still around this price. You can also visit their official facebook page.
As of this writing, its P1,768 per night, 4 persons, inclusive of breakfast.
What I like about this place. It is spacious. It has t.v, aircon and clean bathroom. They also have towels for four. They also provided hot water and coffee. The free breakfast is satisfying enough. They also have other meal offering just in case you are too tired to dine outside. It is also just walking distance away from the tour ports which is convenient. And its really affordable. If you split the price per night to 4, it would only cost P442.00 person per night. However, please take note that we went there off-season. The prices may subject to change.
What I don’t like about this place is they don’t have free water. They do sell water but it was too expensive. A bottle of mineral water costs P40.00 which would normally costs around P25.00 at Manila 7-eleven. Generally, the price of groceries n El Nido Palawan was really steep. But it’s understandable considering we had super affordable accommodation here.
This is the dining area.
You can see the shore from this area.
They also have a mini-bar here which I had my self-portrait shoot. I have another blog entry for that. Their mini-bar was really cute. And it was completely empty! Here’s one of my photo. Check out more on my self-portrait indulgence on my other blog: Alone at The Bar (Photoshoot)
Finally! I finished my backlog from last year. It’s hard to pick my favorite part of the trip but I got to choose Shimizu Island because that’s where we got to eat. Haha!
I hope this Palawan blog series would help you decide to go on a Palawan adventure specially in picking your accommodation. If you are not from the Philippines and you are interested to go here, you must not really skip Palawan. This is truly a paradise.
Remember, it’s not too late for everything,
Gurezu ❤
Lets’ connect!
IG: https://instagram.com/gurezu/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Gurezu/
GUREZU 