El Nido Inland Tours

Day 3: El Nido Inland Tours

Day three of our Palawan escapade did not involve a boat. We woke up to a partly cloudy day and had our free breakfast in the inn, hoping that the day would continue with such a promising weather for exploring El Nido.

The inland tours are offered by almost all of the tricycle drivers, and the prices can vary depending on the number of participants, the season, and the places you'd like to visit. The price usually averages to 600 to 800 pesos for 2 pax, and includes visiting 2 or 3 places starting from 8 or 9 am (or later) and ending at around 4 or 5 pm. The price could go as high up as 600/pax during peak season. We chose to go to Nagkalit-Kalit Falls and the famous twin beaches of Nacpan and Calitang. We left the inn at around 10 am.

Path to the Falls

Nagkalit-Kalit Falls

 Our first stop was the Nagkalit-Kalit Falls. About 30 minutes away from the town proper, this refreshing destination requires hiking for around 30 minutes or more, depending on your speed and whether or not the terrains are slippery due to rainfall. The tricycle driver dropped us off a house by the road where we met our hiking guide to the falls. The hike involves going through 7 - 9 rivers. The 50 plus year old guide that we got told us that she has been guiding tourists to/fro the falls for 20 years now, but she doesn't look another day older than mid-30s. She was very nice, very fit and was really talkative, she was even able to tell us almost her whole life story for the duration of the trek towards the falls. Her talkativeness helped calm me down since I was scared I might see a snake or two on the way to the falls. It didn't help too that there were only 3 of us going through the eerily quite forest. But this stuff is really suitable for those who love a "closer to nature" kind of experience.

She told us that the falls got its name because the visitors usually just "comes and goes" fast. It is Bisaya for "saglit" or "mabilisan" (for just a short while) stay. The waterfalls give off lush green and blue colors, and it's either you sit by the rocks or swim in the middle where the water falls.

We stayed there for just around 20 - 30 minutes and decided to head back down. It was easier to go back down than to trek up. You have to pay for the tour guide for around 200/pax.

We then got into the tricycle again, and headed to the famous twin beaches of Nacpan and Calitang. The road was real rough and the tricycle had a hard time going through some parts of the rocky road. It was raining during our journey. There was a point near the end of the road to the beach where the tricycle can no longer pass through because of the state of the unpaved road, so we had to walk through the mud.

Nacpan Beach

When we got to Nacpan beach, it was just about time for lunch, so we opted to eat at the carinderia by the shore before going to see the twin beaches. The menu included both seafood, pork, and chicken. We decided to indulge in seafood and ordered buttered shrimp, and crab. The atmosphere was pretty relaxing, and the food was really good too. We ate at a leisure pace while we watched both locals and foreigners enjoy a game of beach volleyball.

Seafood Lunch at Nacpan Beach

 We then had a short climb up a hill at the far end of Nacpan beach for a real nice view of the twin beaches. The climb up is really slippery though because the hillside was too steep, you have to hold on to a handful of grass on each side to hoist yourself up the hill. The view is really amazing, having to see two beaches with different hues, side by side. It's almost as if they are trying to reach each other, but almost is never enough.

Twin Beaches of Nacpan and Calitang

After taking pictures of the twin beaches, we then descended the hill via another route, which was less slippery but passing through thick bushes of waist-high grass, which made me panicky since it would make you think that snakes might just make an appearance.

Nacpan Beach

We then decided to swim in Nacpan beach where the waves were really huge. The locals that were swimming with us even taught us how to safely dodge the waves by going down once it hits so that you don't get carried by it. It was really fun to do, especially with huge waves.

By 4 pm, we headed back to the town proper, where we stopped by a souvenir shop to buy souvenirs, and then back to the inn to freshen up before our van picked us up for our transport back to Puerto Prinsesa.

Sunnies at Nacpan Beach