Travel Kwento: El Nido Palawan
July 16, 2011 § 3 Comments
Oh I love traveling so much, as much as eating (and that’s saying a lot) 🙂 Since we are off to a trip to Los Banos am quite in a vacation mood now.
This is a repost from my traveling kwento in N@W. This is the latest trip we took with our travel buddies Kuya Fol, Leslie and their kids Gio & Paulo. We’ve traveled quite often with them, we’ve been to Kota Kinabalu, Bellarocca, Ilocos, Banawe and Baler, we travel well together since our firstborn are of similar age and are too similar in taste and preference. Here’s hoping for more travel with them. Bohol, Amanpulo, Europe, Egypt, Turkey and USA.
We took the Deal Grocer Promo P15k per person for 2N stay in El Nido Lagen (Seafront Rooms) ohh I love the room so much!
This is our second time in El Nido Resorts but the first time kasi we stayed for 2 nights tapos return flight namin was lunchtime so we barely had time and felt so rushed and so unrelaxed kasi nga parang gusto kong sulitin yung bayad so ratrat sa activities. Kaya this time we took an extra night para may chillax time naman and besides we have a baby with us too so we had to put that into consideration.
Since the Deal Grocer deal was just 2 nights we booked an extra night at Miniloc so sila kuya would experience both resorts (also mas mura sa Miniloc din kasi)
more info re the rates: yung Deal Grocer deal namin no activities included so if we want to go anywhere even to Miniloc lang we have to pay P1000/person, si Laya lang free so anywhere we go P7000 agad yun, included sa deal grocer was a 1hr massage & daily buffet breakfast for 2 pax. Yung Miniloc naman namin no breakfast but activities are free.
back story muna: Lagen when we went there last 2007 hmm iba yung feeling parang cold and isolated at parang walang life; whereas Miniloc where we stayed last time is so comfy and full of life so medyo cold ako sa idea to go Lagen kaso sila Leslie nag-aya, and it is always fun to be with their family, also I know when we come back from Oz Laya’s yaya wont be back pa so this trip will make taking care of Laya a lot easier. Iba ang taking care of Laya out of town/country compared to just being home, super iba!
We fitted our travel date to their flight sched. We took the date where we can get the earliest flight out and latest flight back.
May 29 730am flight – we needed to be in ITI (El Nido’s chartered plane’s hangar) at 630 so talagang aga nito. We got to El Nido resort by 1030am, rooms arent ready yet so we were asked if we want to stay or go Miniloc for lunch and stay there till 1pm then transfer to Lagen when our rooms are ready na (free na yung trip if ever we choose this) or go Lagen and have lunch and wait there for the rooms to be ready. We took Miniloc. Lunch either ala carte or buffet. Ala carte are reasonable and food is yummy; buffet is P1000/pax for adults and P650/child. Ala carte food like adobo is at P350; cheeseburger at P400; red curry pork P350 yata or P400 yummy ito. We took buffet for the kids kasi natatakam sila then a bit na lang idagdag from ala carte. Some of the adult took ala carte some took buffet. Mga nag ala carte nagnanakaw na lang sa food ng mga nag buffet hehehe. After lunch and before lunch the kids played in the beach and sand area. Kami chillax lang sa eating area kasi overlooking the beach part and sarap ng hangin etc. Also it was drizzling a bit bec of Chedeng and have been raining daw the past 5 days wahhh
After lunch we moved to Lagen and went straight to nap hahaha ang aga kasi ng gising, the bigger kids full of energy nag swimming na. We met up around 6pm for dinner. Again some took buffet some took ala carte, menu in Lagen is exactly same as in Miniloc.
Wala relax lang sa room after dinner, sila Kuya nag drinks pa sa bar, the kids all stayed and played in our room lang.
view ng room
interior ng room
Day 2: we had the beach lunch and island tour. 2 activities ito but they charge us once na lang for the banca (although we paid buffet price for the lunch). Super ok yung Dibuluan Beach Club (except if you like to swim kasi biglang lalim sa beach, since di kmi nagswim nag wade wade and sand sand lang ok na ok ito) kasi may cabana sila na super sarap tambayan see the pic
this is what we paid for
hay super luxury talaga tapos ang sarap pa ng hangin and this place is really nice kasi may sand bar pa na mahaba talaga sarap din mag kayak tapos may clean cr where you can wash and shower.
sand bar
see how long yung sand bar? kuya is just half way here taking our pictures
The island tour is no big deal we were suppose to go to 2 caves then to snake island (a sand bar) nyeks eh nicer pa yung sand bar sa Dibuluan tapos yung cave hohum lang kasi sa labas ka lang pakita lang. Ok na din para maka balik na agad sa resort to swim sa pool and chill. We skipped the other cave kasi may shooting daw, we can take it the next day na lang daw sa umaga… no thanks rather sleep. We just saw Cathedral Cave and what you see in the picture is what we saw din lang, daan lang tapos tinapat yung banca then picture picture that’s it na.
Cathedral Cave
Back to Lagen nag swimming na lang and ordered food sa poolside. Enjoy yung pool kasi di salt water kaso nadapa ako while carrying Laya. Sa sobra kong protect na she wont get hurt mas grabe yung impact sa akin, I scrapped my knees na kita na yung white and bleed ng bleed. Ouch tignan but I kept waiting for the super pain to arrive wala naman, di grabe yung pain so ok na din, and na-imagine ko buti di si Kite she is so squeamish and also just glad nothing happened to Laya. Yun nga lang bad trip kasi how will I swim na. Oh well, just happy the 2 kids are ok and it could have happened na Kite is the one carrying Laya then nadulas diyos ko I can’t imagine anong mangyari either grabe ang injury nila or possible ma drown sila kasi poolside ako na slip or inis kami kay Kite for not being careful… ah basta was just cringing when I remember what happened then thankful the next second.
pool picture
papasan floater
super love this Papasan floater (the one Kite is using, super chillax yan, will buy one more kasi nag aagawan kami diyan) saw this sa facebook, asked for discount and he gave me 30% off, so I got them at P1200 yata
Day 3: move to Miniloc Day. So free na activities namin today. We had the beach lunch at Entalula beach club. Nice yung beach kasi mababaw maski malayo na. Yun nga lang walang cabana na sing ganda ng Dibuluan, yung cabana namin walang ka hangin hangin imagine the init! hay naku di happy. Buti na lang maganda yung beach. The place is bigger or maybe dahil madami ding tao yung cabana namin medyo malayo so kakatamad to go, even to hingi water or cr or do anything, add pa na may sugat ako. But the beach is nice kasi sand is white and fine and wala masyadong corals or bato so kids can play talaga.
Entalula
After Entalula we go na to Miniloc ready na room namin, the Lagen people brought our luggages na din there. This is our chill day. We had drinks sa beach side and just enjoyed the place. We saw na yung room namin maganda yung labas, sarap tambayan
Miniloc Seaview Room facade
Interior of the room
2nd floor
view of our room
Seaview Rooms (those on the right are for 2 pax; the ones on the left are with 2nd floor good for 4 pax)
We had room service for dinner. Same price as ala carte if mas mahal man minimal lang kasi di ko napansin. Kids meal pala nila na ala carte is P200 lang.
Last day:
They all went to Big & Small Lagoon (except me, didda & Laya) so 730 am alis na sila. Kami ni Laya nag watch ng fish feeding sa pier ng Miniloc ang lalaki ng jackfish (talakitok) they really jump to eat the squid na pinapakain sa kanila, madami ding ibang fishes pa may mga clown fish and yung striped fishes kaya nice mag snorkle.
The group came back at 10am nag snorkle sila sa pier ng Miniloc again. They enjoyed the small & big lagoon ganda daw I have yet to see the pics pa. Nag kayak sila and nag snorkle din doon. Super luxury snorkle kasi the guide just pull them using a buoy. All they need to do is hold on and look down and enjoy. Pati camera na underwater hawak nung guide to picture them.
After snorkle kami nag pack na ng gamit kasi we need to check out one room and they are giving us the other roo for late check out. Good enough for us kasi we want to bathe after our private lunch.
We scheduled a private beach picnic, kami lang dun sa island and balikan na lang nila kami. We did this sa 2007 trip namin and feel na feel namin kaya we want to do it again.
Our private island food pre ordered the night before
An island all to ourselves
naka set up na lunch namin
picture picture
iniwan kami doon and was asked what time kami pasundo so we said balikan kami at 1230 kasi check out namin 2pm.
Back to the room to ligo, change, chill till check out and departure time.
Back to reality na.
Hope this helped.
I was asked na by quite a number of friend if ano nicer Lagen or Miniloc. My answer is if maliit lang ang difference ngprice go to Lagen na; if malaki ang difference mag Miniloc na lang.
Also if active kayo tipong nag snorkle and kayak then Miniloc is better; if relax type kayo pa swim swim ang kain kain sa poolside and wanna feel luxurious then Lagen dapat.
TIPS: bring your own coke, and lotsa snacks and food para less kainin doon. Pwede maging dishonest sa age ng bata. One of our kid is mahina kumain he’d go sa buffet pag usually konti lang kinakainniya sa we’d tell the server to waive his buffet na lang since konti lang and they ALWAYS agree naman. Also they are payag din na all adults take ala carte and kids lang mag buffet. Also maski di ako nag buffet at nakikikuha ako kay Kite ok lang sa kanila. Also nangunguha kami ng fruits sa buffet to eat sa room. Shameful confession, we even make cheeseburger then balot it to eat sa room hehehe.
If you wish to go to El Nido log in and join their mailing list then ask them to include you if may promo sa rates. That is how we got our rate last trip namin. All in ang food and activities pero kinda short notice. Like we got the email September the October na yung promo.
Hmm this is all I remember.
Hay love love to travel 🙂
MimmaBenz.com 
Certified Elbi girl here! I hope you enjoy LB. Don’t forget to try the Mernel’s chocolate cake.
Maqui, yeah we bought din from Mernel’s yes it’s good 🙂 We enjoyed LB and loved that it is so near lang.
love the photos and the kuento =)