EL NIDO Thread 5

[Lady Blue]

My boyfriend will stop over here in the Philippines before going to Singapore on Feb. 4-8. So I decided I want to go to El Nido. I am in charged of the planning, so back read back read muna. OMG so exciting!!

[missgoodvibe]

Hi! For those who want to dine at The Alternative, closed na siya due to some work permit issues.

Recommended resto based from experience:

El Nido Art Cafe - ganda ng vibe and okay yung prices naman. Masarap yung pizza and pasta

Sea Slugs - masarap and affordable din naman. Try their seafood curry platter

Squidos - try their crocodile sisig. sarap!

[meimei]

^huwaaaat?!? Ano ba yan, excited pa naman ako sa Alternative. That's disappointing.. mukhang maganda pa naman ang ambiance. So my list now becomes: Altrove, Art Cafe, Squidos, Sea Slugs.

[missgoodvibe]

^yes, nalungkot din kami. ang ganda pa naman sana ng view dun. nov last week kami nagpunta dun, try niyo lang ulit sis pagpunta niyo baka open na sila

[brandi]

^sis, you mentioned na malapit na El Nido trip mo. Give us feedback sa restos that you'll get to try ha (and any dishes you either recommend for us to try or advice us to stay away from, hahaha!).

Ako malayo pa, sa summer pa trip ko. Early planner lang talaga.

sure sis! Excited na ko. Wish ko lang hindi delayed ang flights kasi super compressed ang activities namin.

[brandi]

^update: alternative is still closed except for accommodation. Ok art cafe. Didn't try other resto such as altrove etc. mas feel ni father na lutong bahay and such restos offer foods na pang foreigner talaga. So we ended up scouting native foods instead. Super ok angel wish which was known as doy's grill before. Luckily, pauwi na kami nung pangit na weather.

[loverofsummer]

Aaaww.. That's so sad. Favorite spot ko pa naman yung mga 'nest' sa The Alternative. Hope they re-open soon.

[jayce_mom]

Sana maganda weather pagpunta namin 2 weeks from now...

[meimei]

Has anyone tried hiring a van thru this website?

http://www.lexusshuttle.com/share-a-van/

I just need to know if it's legit before i deposit the payment. I need to hire a private van sana sa Lexus kasi 13pax kami. Gusto ko kasi yung Joylong van nila. Sana may mag-reply, dati ko pa tinatanong to. Haha!

[Maein]

^mukha naman legit sis.

Just read this blog, hope this helps.
http://www.confessionsofawanderlass.com/2012/06/planning-trip-to-el-nido-palawan.html

Im also planning to book Lexus from PP to El Nido -- kaya lang napapaisip na ako now, read some nega feeds sa tripadvisor re Lexus. Ugz 

yung pabalik naman from El Nido to PP, I booked thru daytripper and its confirmed na ... Sana daytripper nalang lahat kaso very limited yung sched nila.. only one trip lang per way..

[meimei]

^ang concern ko kasi is if that website itself is the legitimate website of Lexus... kasi yung Bank Account Name is not under Lexus but under a personal name kaya medyo cautious ako (sometimes may ganun talaga so it doesn't automatically mean it's a scam).

Yung FB account naman ng Lexus na kausap ko is:

www.facebook.com/lexusshuttle1025

Di kasi kami kaya sa Daytripper private van eh, max of 11pax lang.

[Maein]

^I checked yung fb nila sis, nakita ko yung website address nila same with the one you posted. Yun nga lang, i understand how you feel re personal name. Normally din kasi sa na eencounter ko eh company name ang acct name, but like what you've said meron nga din talaga na under sa personal name. Well hopefully sana meron tayo mga sis dito na magreply and did try na mag dp sa lexus and successful naman ang trip.

I'm also checking Cherry Bus kaso ang reservation nila online is 3 days before the scheduled trip. mhew! We'll be arriving PP around 6:45am, so if we'll wait for daytripper na 10am departure from PP, sayang oras namin. 

[gwendy730]

Mga sis, ask lang ako if meron na nakabook ng Palawan trip dito, either El Nido, Coron or Puerto Princesa, via group buying sites like Metrodeal and Ensogo? I tried calling yung merchant kasi sa Metrodeal via landline but it said the number is not yet in service. Sa Ensogo naman, walang contact numbers so I'm a little apprehensive booking with them. Meron cellphone number, pero come on, mabilis naman palitan ang sim. So just wanna ask if anyone here has experience booking in these group buying sites? Thanks mga sis!

[rocky]

^DIY ka na lang sis, baka magkaprob ka pa jan madali lang naman & mas mura

[meimei]

^^personally, i don't book vacations through vouchers. I only use vouchers for goods, restos or for 1-night staycations only. Vacations are too precious to be spoilt by lying/incompetent merchants.

My mom bought a voucher for a staycation once. It was TERRIBLE! The merfhant fan't be fontacted on the day itself even though that merchant was contacted days prior. I won't go into too much details. Let's just say my mom will jever buy a voucher again, not even for a 1-night stay.

Back to topic, you can book hotels thru agoda/booking.com etc. Then just get a tour agency for each tour (i.e., Northern Hope for El Nido, sis tiara for PP). Though i think sis tiara also offers El Nido tours.

[glacy_rein]

We went for our honeymoon here last Jan 6-11

Hotel: Stunning Vistas Beach Resort 9/10
Location wise 10mins away to sa Town so tahimik sya tapos beachfront kame so pwede na sa kanila mag-book ng tours mismo and sumakay sa harap nila BUT we booked ours with Northern Hope Tours so kailangan pa namen mag-trike (free yung papunta, yung pauwi hindi na) I gave a 9/10 because the food service is really slow, it will always arrive 45mins-1hr no matter if breakfast-lunch-dinner.

Tours/Van: Northern Hope Tours, okay yung service sa Land and Sea Tours pero bagsak sa van transfers.. I reiterated na foreigner si husband sana nag-consider na ireserve yung front seat or second row just to allow more space sa legs kasi matangkad sya kaya lang hindi.. Nung papunta kame sa pinakalikod kame nakaupo bitin sa ulo at sa binti so talagang napagod and na-disappoint sya so kinabukasan talagang pumunta ako sa office nila to take refund to get Eulen Joy pero sabi irereserve nadaw nila next time and sure daw. Kahit ba mag-extra charge ako pero nagbigay sya ng assurance na irereserve daw so dumating na ang araw pauwi na kame and pagdating ng service aun sa likod padin kame, hindi kame sumakay. I called and texted then dumating ang second van aun solo sya sa front seat, comfy na. OA kasi ang private one.

Overall: We loved the place especially Nacpan Beach/Twin Beach (kahit na marami ng nalunod dito), Bulalakaw Falls and Tour C&D. We'll always go back to this place from now on, forget the congested Boracay!

[beach_n_sunsets]

^^^I purchased a Puerto Princesa 4D/3N package from Metrodeal last 2010. Sobrang disastrous ang pakikipag-contact doon sa travel agency. Metrodeal kasi wala na pakialam sa 'yo pagkabayad mo eh. Our tour itself was okay naman, walang hassle. Pero sabi noong hotel and tour operators, sana daw dumiretso na kami sa kanila. I charged it to experience na lang

Anyway, hindi naman mahirap ang mag-ayos ng IT sa mga Palawan tourist spots, IMHO. Halos lahat kasi standard na ang rates and kung ano ang pupuntahan ganyan.

[gwendy730]

^^^I purchased a Puerto Princesa 4D/3N package from Metrodeal last 2010. Sobrang disastrous ang pakikipag-contact doon sa travel agency. Metrodeal kasi wala na pakialam sa 'yo pagkabayad mo eh. Our tour itself was okay naman, walang hassle. Pero sabi noong hotel and tour operators, sana daw dumiretso na kami sa kanila. I charged it to experience na lang

Anyway, hindi naman mahirap ang mag-ayos ng IT sa mga Palawan tourist spots, IMHO. Halos lahat kasi standard na ang rates and kung ano ang pupuntahan ganyan.

Thanks for the heads up sis! Nagduda na ako nung I tried to call their landline, not yet in service daw eh. Tsaka sa ensogo, no contact number at all. Tsk tsk.

Ano pala name nung travel agency na yun sis? Para diretso na ako sa kanila. Actually, this will be the first time I'll be traveling with my husband and takot siya sa DIY. Masprefer niya meron itinerary. Sunod na lang ako kasi it took me years to finally convince him to go out of Manila for our honeymoon, so compromise lang talaga ^_^

[Maein]

^you better go for reputable travel agency nalang talaga sis if DIY is not okay with your hubby. I agree with our sissies here na mahirap yung mga travel packages offered thru group buying sites. Google mo nalang Northern Hope Tours. Btw, when is your travel date pala?

[beach_n_sunsets]

^^That was a Manila-based travel agency - Ensemble E-Travel. Wala na ata sila ngayon.

I recommend 'yung mga Palawan-based travel agencies:

Northern Hope Tours
Hadefe Travel and Tours