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is found near Long Beach, so you can include this in your<br />

itinerary.<br />

Go to the village of New Agutaya where a new resort<br />

opened in 2019, you can take small boats or rent kayaks<br />

to go through the river. Guests are advised to wear longsleeved<br />

shirts or rash guards to protect themselves from the<br />

sand-flies. As you go through the river, marvel at the thick<br />

mangrove forests and the sound of wildlife around you.<br />

El Nido<br />

El Nido is a Philippine municipality on Palawan island. With<br />

many resorts being built to cater for the increasing tourism<br />

in the area. El Nido is known for white-sand beaches, coral<br />

reefs and as the gateway to the Bacuit archipelago, a group<br />

of islands with steep karst cliffs. Miniloc Island is famed<br />

for the clear waters of its Small and Big lagoons. Nearby<br />

Shimizu Island have fish-filled waters. The area has many<br />

dive sites, including Dilumacad Island’s long tunnel leading<br />

to an underwater cavern... Situated about 238 kilometers<br />

north-east of Puerto Princesa, this hidden paradise is a<br />

must visit place when in Palawan. Together Pension House<br />

catered for our accommodation needs in El Nido this is a<br />

gem of a pension house with superb accommodation.<br />

El Nido is currently ranked #4 in Condé Nast Traveler’s list<br />

of “20 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World.” And has the<br />

reputation of the Best Beach and Island destination in<br />

the Philippines for its extraordinary natural splendor and<br />

ecosystem. The Poblacion, consisting of barangays Buena<br />

Suerte, Corong-corong, Maligaya and Masagana, sits in a<br />

sheltered bay with a pier at one end along a crescent beach,<br />

and is flanked by the area’s famous limestone cliffs on the<br />

Enchanting<br />

El Nido<br />

eastern section and hills on the western side. It is a small<br />

town center with tree-lined streets, and the lifestyle is<br />

laidback. Because El Nido was quite remote from most of<br />

the inhabited islands in the Philippines, its pristine beauty<br />

was hidden to the world until 1979 when a sea accident<br />

happened in Bacuit Bay. As the story goes, “a tuna line<br />

disabled a dive boat’s propeller in the middle of the night<br />

forcing it to drop anchor in an inlet. The following morning,<br />

the divers woke up to an amazing scenery of skyscraping<br />

dark cliffs, thick green forest, white sandbeach, sparkling<br />

water and, rising above it, a series of magnificently sculpted<br />

jade islands.<br />

In 1983, a dive station was established in Miniloc Island<br />

by a group of divers who were on board the diveboat M/V<br />

Via Mare. In the same year, major tourism commenced in<br />

El Nido, when the Ten Knots Development Corporation, a<br />

Filipino-Japanese joint venture company, opened a divers’<br />

Large lagoon<br />

87

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