It's not a secret that the best way to explore El Nido is to avail the different island hopping tours they offer. Here's some helpful info in case you're planning your beach getaway here soon.
1. How many islands can we see around El Nido?
Basically, there are 4 kinds of Island Hopping Tours namely A,B,C & D.
Each tour consists of 5 islands/places but sometimes, you can request the boatman to include an additional island/s if it's near.
TIP: Better do your research and ask about certain islands you want to visit/include in the tour. Often times, some agents/boatmen don't suggest it.
2. How do we book/make a reservation for the tours?
Usually, you can ask directly from the staff in your hotel/accommodation to arrange the tour for you. There are also a lot of booking agents around the town so it's actually quite easy to do it.
I think you could also try to hire a boatman directly -there are a lot of boats parked in Bacuit Bay, just approach some boatmen there.
TIP: *In our experience, we just inquired the tours from the lodge we were staying in. I think it's more convenient and easier to make necessary arrangements or changes to your liking. But it is also good to ask around and inquire as much as you can so you could get the best deal for you.
I highly suggest NOT to book online. Book it once you arrive so could compare the prices.
3. How much are the tours?
The picture above shows the rate for each tour when we went last April 2016.
PS: These island hopping rates are arranged as GROUP TOURS. Meaning guests from your hotel/other hotels would join you in the excursion.
TIP: If there's 10 or more people in your group, avail the private tour or ask a boatman to give you one. Don't forget to haggle!
PROS/CONS:
Group tour: Strangers in the boat lol but you can also meet new people.
Time is FAST. You're always in a hurry to transfer to another island.
Imagine 10-15 mins each island!
For couples: the rate would be cheaper.
Private tour: No other people in the boat.
You CONTROL the time.
You tell how long you want to stay and when to leave the area.
For couples: rate is more expensive
4. Can we combine the tours?
I think it would depend on the person/agency booking your tour if they would allow to combine the islands.
*I've read some blog posts wherein they couldn't combine the tours and just settled paying for each tour. In our case, since we already did Tours A & B last 2011, we wanted to do C & D this time.
According to the staff , tours B & D is less popular compared to the other 2 thus making it difficult to form a group tour for it. BUT, we got lucky that time as the staff told us that they were forming a group for a combination tour of B & D. We paid P1600 each for it.
5. What is the BEST TOUR? Which islands do you recommend?
I can't really say which one would be the best tour since beauty is in the eye of the beholder lol
In my opinion, there's 1 or 2 islands in each tour that's a MUST visit.
With that being said, I reco you avail all tours or combine/mix and match the islands!
My favorite islands/places were:
TOUR A: Big and Small Lagoon
Tour B: Snake Island
Tour C: Secret Beach, Hidden Beach & Matinloc Shrine
Tour D: Cadlao Lagoon
PS: All the other islands were also beautiful, it's just that the ones I chose above were really unique and something I could definitely say you will only get to see in El Nido ;)
TIP: For a private group tour, ask the agent/boatman if they could combine certain islands you want from each tour. It would be more cost and time efficient ;)
Got any more questions? Just comment in this post and I'll update this list! :)
