We set ourselves up in El Nido at Chislyk Cottages, which was a cluster of “somewhat cozy” cottages right on the beach. We wandered out to explore the town of El Nido, which took us only a few minutes because it was so tiny. However, we did run into Noam, a friendly guy from our treacherous bus trip up, and together the three of us made arrangements to meet the next day for a snorkel tour of the Bacuit Archipelago.
Early the next morning we were up and ready to do some snorkelling. We met Noam, and secured two other passengers, James and Ellie, and the five of us were soon on our way to explore some of the beautiful small islands that make up the archipelago.
Our boatman first dropped us off at the small lagoon, a pristine pool encapsulated by huge limestone cliffs. The only way to enter this majestic pond was through a small whole in one of the cliffs. And so we did. We made our way into the lagoon, and set about snorkelling around and exploring the lagoon and the caves around it, being sure to curse OLYMPUS once more for not being able to capture it (If you don’t know what we’re talking about, see Miniclip #4). After swimming in around the caves and areas around the small lagoon, we made our way back to the boat and on toward the big lagoon. We were amazed at the marble cliffs that surround us and the plants that grew precariously throughout them. From the big lagoon we made our way to a secluded beach for a nice lunch. Here our boatmen grilled us up some fresh fish (mmm… barracuda) and they made us some fresh tomato and cucumber salad with rice and finished it off with Fresh Filipino Mangoes (so amazing!). Before stuffing our selves silly, we went out snorkelling once again, and were feeling satisfied with the variety of underwater species we were able to see. After lunch we made our way to a few more places, where we continued to snorkel and explore and just have fun in and around the archipelago. And then it was time to return. That’s where it got interesting…
Traveling during the typhoon is always exciting, because you never know just when the strong winds or torrential rains will come. It could be perfectly clear one moment, and then all of a sudden… well… that’s what it was like on the trip back to El Nido. We braced ourselves as the rain came slamming down, the boat started rocking from side to side, and the boatmen started bailing water furiously out of the bottom of the boat. It was quite the nerve racking experience, but we made it back to tell our tale.
Needless to say, we spent the next day on the beach, enjoying the view from the safety of the shore. We had enjoyed our adventure in El Nido, but once again, we were off, with our backpacks strapped on tight and some motion sickness tablets in hand. You never know what the next road is going to throw at you!