Your humble guide in the Small Lagoon on Miniloc Island, Bacuit Bay, Palawan. Image © Mike Aquino, licensed to About.com.
El Nido is very difficult to get to; the route involves an hour's plane ride from Manila to Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan, then a grueling six hour ride through dirt roads to the northern part of the island, where Bacuit Bay awaits.
The trip is worth it. El Nido's sleepy charm is at that magical point between strangeness and familiarity; enough Western tourists and decent digs to make you feel right at home, but a few quirks that remind you that you're not in Kansas anymore. El Nido isn't fully electrified, for one thing, so the power is off for most of the day in many places.
It's all worth it when you pay for a boat to go island-hopping around the islands off El Nido. True, El Nido has a nice beach on its own, but going all the way here and not visiting Miniloc's lagoons or Pinasil's Cathedral Cavern is like visiting Heaven and settling for camping out at the Pearly Gates.
Read the article: Islands off El Nido, Palawan.