Island Hop in El Nido Without Crowds

The Philippines is the very first country that we have ever traveled to in Asia! Crazy right? We absolutely love it here. The islands are all insanely beautiful and have so much to offer for the adventurer in everyone! From stunning white sand beaches, epic cliff climbs to island hopping in the sun, El Nido is an island that you MUST visit if you are heading to the Philippines!

Read our full itinerary for el nido here!

Located in the Palawan region of the Philippines, this ocean side town is full of adventure. El Nido is particularly famous for their island hopping adventures! You can book various tours taking you to 4 – 6 places each. The tours are named A, B, C, D, and you can buy them from just about everywhere in town!

The Usual Tour Itineraries (A,B,C,D)

Tip: Due to new environmental laws and stipulations, you cannot visit Small and Big Lagoon on the same day! You will need to visit on two separate occasions. They also have imposed a daily limit of visitors to both lagoons as of 2023. Therefore, some tour operators may no longer be able to offer Big Lagoon or Small Lagoon.

When we initially started planning this trip, we knew exactly what islands we wanted to see! However, none of the tours brought us to all of these places, unless we did multiple! So we started digging and eventually found Bryan. Also known as “The Couch” in El Nido, Bryan is the experienced guide who took us up to Taraw Peak (more on that here), and also organizes island hopping tours!

Bryan has a tour called “Tour X” which is includes 8 of the most popular places to see plus some of his favorites that other tours do not go too! After speaking with him, he was willing to tweak his itinerary slightly to ensure that we saw everything that we wanted too. He also ensures that when you do visit certain places that are popular with other tours, that you are there at a time when there are little to no tourists.

Bryan’s Tour X vs. Our Tour Itinerary

At the time of updating this blog post (January 2023), Pinagbututan Island has been officially closed to all visitors. There was a legal battle over the Island with the true owner vs a squatter who claimed rights to the land. Due to this, the Island has been closed to visitors indefinitely.

Island Hopping Day

The morning of island hopping, we ate breakfast at Art Cafe! El Nido is in a transition period right now to try and be more environmentally friendly and also more self sustaining. Art Cafe is pioneering this movement. We absolutely loved it here, so much so we ate here twice! They have no single use plastic, source food locally, have an organic farm, and are creating a water filtration system to make drinking water safer!

TIP: THE DRINKING WATER IS NOT SAFE IN EL NIDO. Do not drink tap water, do not accept drinks with ice cubes. Also stay away from fresh veggies and fruit as the water is used to wash them. We met SO many people that got super sick in El Nido and ruined their entire experience.

You will meet Bryan and his wife April at the floating boat tour dock in the downtown area of El Nido town. You will likely need water shoes for your boat tour, so if you did not bring them yourself, you can rent them for 100 php per pair.

The Big Lagoon

Our first stop was Big Lagoon! We got here before any tour boats and all we can say is WOW! What a beautiful place. With the new environmental laws and restrictions, they no longer let boats into the lagoon itself. We loved that! They have also imposed a limit as to how many people can visit in a day, so permits have become harder to get for a lot of tour operators.

We had to rent a kayak from our tour boat which was 300 php. From there, we explored the beautiful lagoon! Bonus points if you can find the secret passage way!

Snake Island

Bryan brought us to Snake Island next before it was lost in the high tide! Snake Island is a long sand bar in between two islands! The water is crystal clear, the sand is white and there were even starfish hanging out just off the sandbar! We absolutely loved this place. There is also a small hike that takes you to a lookout point that gives you a birds eye view of the sandbar!

Entalula Island

This cute little island has a beach that is right out of a tropical dream! We wanted to visit this island specifically as it is a drone lovers paradise. This is also where we had our lunch. Bryan and his crew made us this insane spread of Filipino dishes that were to die for!

Malapacau Sand Bar

This sand bar is a place that Bryan surprised us with, and we are SO glad that he did! Malapacau is sheltered right in the middle of two islands and the 360 degree views are absolutely beautiful! Reminded us a bit of Hawaii to be honest. This place was so special to us, as very little tour boats go here and many people have never even heard of it. Consider this one a local gem, uncovered!

Pinagbututan Island

As we said earlier in our blog, this Island has now been closed to the public. We were lucky enough to visit in 2020. We are DEVASTATED this Island is closed now. It really is one of the most beautiful places in El Nido. You can get the boat to navigate around the Island for some great photo opportunities still!

7 Commando Beach

Legend has it that 7 commanders in the Japanese army were stranded here during World War II, hence the name! However, locals told us that an ill fated ship named 7 Commando had crew members wash up here that ended up dying of Malaria. No one knows!
This beach is insanely popular with tours and is generally one of the first places that they visit. Therefore, Bryan made sure we visited this for sunset. We ended up being the only boat here, and aside from the locals that live there, we were the only people. What an experience. This place is magical. One of the most beautiful sunsets we have ever seen.

Final Thoughts

El Nido is an insanely beautiful place, with lots of activities for just about everyone! With the most sought after activities being the many island hopping tours, they tend to be crowded with large tourist groups! If you are seeking a tour that runs at your own pace that also allows you to get to many of the most popular destinations without large crowds, than a tour with Bryan is your best bet! He truly has a deep rooted passion for what he does. Himself and his crew are very professional and will go above and beyond to make sure you have the best time possible. Bryan made our experience in El Nido one our favorite memories of our entire trip to the Philippines! If you are interested in this tour, you can hit up his link on Facebook here!

We hope that you found this blog post helpful! We would love to hear about your experiences in El Nido as well as if you end up booking a tour with Bryan!

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