Looking at the Philippine map, Palawan being a fringe island bereft of any volcano, seems to have not emerged from the Philippine mobile belt.
The origin of this island can be traced to its limestone cliffs resembling those of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and Guilin in China:
Ha Long Bay, Vietnam El Nido, Palawan, Philippines Guilin, China
250 million years old limestone cliffs formed from extensive and thick layers of coralline deposits that slowly rose from the Eurasian plate under the sea as a result of the collision of India and China about 60 million years ago; Palawan is believed to have detached from mainland China, traveled southward and linked to the Philippine group of islands 20 million years after the said collision.
The chance to set foot on one of the last frontiers of this prehistoric domain came when during the last quarter of 2009 my son Dane asked me if I would like to avail of the 100 peso-round trip ticket to Palawan being offered then by Cebu Pacific. But due to the confining how’s and what if’s of my profession I declined though with much hesitancy; for how could I forgo of such a beguiling bargain.
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| El Nido beach Palawan Philippines |
We slept during the 328 kilometers trip to El Nido until we were awakened by unusual movements of the van only to find that we were in the middle of a bumpy and muddy highway under construction. From there on, our van glided at a very sluggish pace until we reached Four Season Beach Resort at 2 AM.
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| Four Season Beach Resort, El Nido Palawan Philippines |
Inspite of the exhausting trip the night before, we were stirred to full wakefulness when the air conditioning unit stopped at exactly 6 AM. We had our breakfast at the beachfront while some of the 45 tropical islands were enticing us to get on to our feet to explore them.
Since we were 7, there was no need to invite other people to fill up the banca. We had to pay 200 pesos each as environment tax for our whole stay there then for the island tour 600 pesos each inclusive of lunch per day.
Package A brought us first to Small Lagoon cuddled by the gothic limestone formation of Miniloc Island.
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| Gothic lime formation, Miniloc Island El nido Palawan Philippines |
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| Entrance to the Small Lagoon, El Nido Palawan Philippines |
We had to wade diligently evading the sea corals beneath the waist deep blue-green water until we reached the crystal clear water at the opening of the small lagoon.
Once inside we were awed by an enclave of tree-lined limestone walls and sea of crystal clear, blue and torqoiuse green water.
It would have been advisable to navigate the small lagoon riding a kayak
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| Small Lagoon, El Nido Palawan Philippines |
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| Kayaking at Small Lagoon El Nido Palawan Philippines |
but we decided otherwise and opted on having our ultimate adventure.
We left the small lagoon without looking back lest we be lured to stay longer and be deprived of yet another grand adventure.
A short distance from the small lagoon we gained entry into another domain.... the tide was low so we had to wade through ankle to knee deep crystal clear water
until we reached the entrance to the Big Lagoon where the crystal clear water merged with the green and blue water.
Since our boat could not be navigated through the shallow water of the channel, we were not able to negotiate the deep waters of the big lagoon so we just became content with posing at its entrance.
Unlike in the small lagoon, we did look back at the big lagoon to capture the view and to keep the memory of such a magnificent site.
On our way to Shimizu Island where our lunch would be prepared, our boat passed by Miniloc Beach resort
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| Miniloc Island Resort, El Nido Palawan |
Shimizu Island was eerily named after a Japanese scuba diver who dared explore the small cave-like lagoon encased within this island, but unluckily died when he ran out of oxygen supply when the tide went high.
Being named not only as a marine reserve but a protected area as well, El Nido islands teem with underwater life but it was only here in Shimizu Island that I spent a lot of time snorkeling. With the coral reef just 2 meters away from the shore and the crystal clear water only waist deep, I was able to leisurely mingle with the colorful fishes.
The limestone carvings here resembled those of the big lagoon.
At a distance it looked as if our next destination would be another lagoon but what we came into was just a small cove;
From that time and up to now, this remained to be the place in El Nido that was able to touch my heart...to dwell in my consciousness...to move my spirit. So once again as I left the secret lagoon, I did not look back
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| Secret lagoon El Nido Palawan Philippines |
7 Commandos Island was named after the 7 commandos sailors who happened to find this island as a haven during a hale. During their stay here, they carved the name of their group on the island's big rock.
With verdant beach where one can rest on a hammock pitched between coconut trees,or float on pristine waters swaying above fine white sands, or find Nemo and Dory while snorkeling along the wide coral reef or enjoy viewing the islands across, 7 Commandos island aptly winded up our first day of island hopping.
A shower in the rain at El Nido Beach put the proverbial icing on the cake.
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