Americans First Time in El Nido

From Cebu we flew with AirSWIFT, it wasn't cheap, but they're the only ones that fly direct to El Nido. It was a nice change from Air Asia, we got a snack and drink, but still had a little trouble with our carry ons. When we landed in El Nido, we were the only plane there, it was the weirdest thing.

We hired a trike to take us to the hotel, this was an adventure. The roads were so bumpy and the seat wasn't big enough for both of us, so I got to sit on a ledge facing Shawn in the regular seat. They definitely need some work on the roads here.

We finally arrived at the hotel, Balay Paragua. This was the smallest room with two beds I've ever seen. The beds were so close together and the bathroom door hit the bed when you opened it. Not to mention the bathroom was horrible, the shower was right above the toilet and there was no hot water for the first 3 days, no water 1 morning, just awful.

Shawn couldn't stand to sleep right next to me so when we went exploring the town, he checked with a bunch of hotels on the beach and finally lucked out and found a room for the same price, right on the beach, with breakfast! His place was a million times better, but the original room was non refundable, so I stayed there reluctantly.

We had 5 nights here in El Nido, started off slow by just exploring the town, then we hired a van to take us to a waterfall and Nacpan Beach. The hike was cool, pretty far, and through a lot of rivers. Nacpan Beach was nice, not too crowded, nice sand, got some good footage with the Spark.

The next two days we did island hopping tours. The first was A&C and we met a bunch of cool people, and actually did tour B the next day with them again. The island tours were the highlight of El Nido, do as many as you can, they scenery is just amazing. Check out my El Nido Island Hopping video next week.

We had the worst service at Squiddos, do not go there, it was horrible. The food wasn't bad, but the service is just the worst in the world. We were afraid that service would be this bad on the whole island but found the best restaurant the next day, Big Bad Thai! The food was amazing and the service was excellent, we actually ended up eating dinner there 3 times!

The most popular restaurant was Trattoria Altrove, the pizza place. There was always a line, so we decided we had to try it at least once. The wait was about 25 minutes for 4 of us, not too bad. We ordered the mozzarella and tomatoes appetizer, and two pizzas. The food was good, not amazing like the lines would make you think, but pretty good pizza, especially for a town that loses power all the time.

We really grew to love El Nido, even despite it's shortcomings like no power, hot water, water, only 2 atms in town that close at night. The people are so nice here and the scenery around the islands can't be beat. It takes a couple days to get a hang of El Nido, but once you do, it really grows on you.

Check out Shawn at

Music By
Leonell Cassio - Mind

[kristamiller]

Wow what a hike! The beach looks so peaceful. And so much fun with the locals!

[farah.s]

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[stufr.travel]

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun! The island looks soooo beautifull. I loved seeing the footage of you guys just hanging around and having fun as well! great combination of travel beauty and fun footage.

[SkyelinesandSunsets]

Awesome video. The beach looks beautiful and all the food looks incredible. So hungry now. Really looking forward to the Coron video!!

[VFCsTravels]

Love the hiking part, sweet waterfall and that beach looks gorgeous.

[klahaneridge]

Absolutely breathtaking video, I love how you edited it!

[TouringTastebuds]

This is awesome, what a journey and a trip! I dont know how I didnt see you upload these, turned the bell on for next time! Really enjoyed this video, the waterfall and beach looked amazing! All of the food looked delicious especially the pizza!

[Chrismassiegolf]

That was so cool that you and Shawn were able to travel together there. You guys got some sweet drone footage.

[CristinaDimaano]

Wow. That's another side of El Nido. We will be there by August. I'll make sure to check these out.

[AnitaLouise]

It sure does look like a wonderful place to be, the view from your hotel is freakin amazing 🍃

[ConCo]

This video is so cool. Thanks for sharing it for me.

[TravelingPursuit]

Very cool video Todd!! Love the shots! Love the smooth drone shots! They look sick! Liked and subbed!

[JamesBTravel]

What a beautiful place! Really nicely shot - loving the drone footage :) Looking forward to following your travels!

[Jenniferobrien]

Wow what a beautifully shot and helpful video and that drone intro was so perfect! 👌

[Kb.travel]

ohh man I definitely need to go visit that restaurant! I'm definitely more excited! I need to go to that waterfall as well thanks for sharing it.

[gmha]

cool and amazing journey. love to see it again and again

[RebornInIndia]

Loved the whole of the video, awesome shots, beautiful place! Looking forward to seeing more :)

[ArvinConcepcion]

Lovin' your drone shots of the beach!

[asjc]

Great video! I enjoyed watching your video while its snowing up here again in the NW. It really is a wonderful place...magical tropic views.

[AmazingChristine]

Thank you for sharing this. Glad you had so much fun in El nido :), El Nido, is one of my list to visit this year. been saving for it yay :)