El Nido

The most famous of El Nido's lagoons - a vast turquoise lake enclosed within towering limestone cliffs, accessible only by kayak through a narrow rocky passage at low tide. The water changes color from aquamarine to deep blue through the day and the silence inside the lagoon walls is absolute.

📍Miniloc Island, Bacuit Bay, El Nido, Palawan 5313, Philippines

A stunning enclosed lagoon on Cadlao Island - the largest island in the El Nido archipelago - with dramatic overhanging limestone walls, clear water, and excellent snorkeling on the edges of the lagoon. Less visited than the Tour A lagoons, Cadlao offers a more peaceful El Nido experience.

📍Cadlao Island, El Nido, Palawan 5313, Philippines

An island shaped like a helicopter from above, with a beautiful white sand beach on its windward side and excellent snorkeling along its rocky southern coast. Helicopter Island is the most accessible uncrowded beach day-trip from El Nido, reachable in 15 minutes by bangka boat.

📍Dilumacad Island, El Nido, Palawan 5313, Philippines

A protected government-managed beach in the Lio Tourism Estate north of El Nido town with white sand, clear water, and resort facilities managed by the Ten Knots group. The low-key resort development, paddleboard rentals, beach bars, and excellent snorkeling reefs make it the most accessible luxury beach day in El Nido.

📍Lio Tourism Estate, El Nido, Palawan 5313, Philippines

A 4km twin beach on the north coast of El Nido accessible by habal-habal motorcycle taxi, with powdery white sand, coconut trees, turquoise water, and almost no tourist infrastructure. Consistently voted one of the world's most beautiful beaches - visit on a weekday morning for the experience of a genuinely empty paradise beach.

📍Nacpan, El Nido, Palawan 5313, Philippines

A shallow, crystal-clear lagoon hidden behind a small beach cove, entered through a narrow crack in the limestone rock. The secret lagoon's shallow interior hosts a coral flat with juvenile fish, nudibranch, and sea horses while the entrance is barely wide enough for one swimmer at a time.

📍Miniloc Island, Bacuit Bay, El Nido, Palawan 5313, Philippines

A perfectly circular enclosed lagoon accessible by swimming through a small hole in the limestone karst at low tide, with stunning vertical cliff walls rising 100m straight up from the translucent water. The experience of emerging through the rock wall into the hidden lagoon is one of the most memorable moments in Philippine travel.

📍Miniloc Island, Bacuit Bay, El Nido, Palawan 5313, Philippines

A day trip from El Nido to Coron's iconic Twin Lagoon - two connected lagoons with a natural rock wall between them, accessible by swimming through an underwater passage. The thermocline effect creating warm and cold water layers in the same lagoon is unlike anything else in the Philippines.

📍Coron, Palawan 5316, Philippines