Sadly my favourite hotel, El Nido Cove, closed in January 2020. By chance I called in for breakfast on their last day. I just found a letter I wrote from there on my second visit in 2014. I hope you like it...
Saturday 16.8.14
El Nido Cove Resort and Spa,
El Nido, Palawan, Philippines
Good evening all from Paradise!
We have nearly been here two weeks now and only left the hotel once to visit the local town. The weather has been fabulous and the days have just slid by with a routine of breakfasting on the veranda overlooking the sea, then walking on the beach (a 4km walk from one end of the bay to the other). After a sunbathe and read we have a swim. The water is warm and clear and the beach sandy so it’s a real joy to swim in. After a salad lunch more sunbathing, the occasional snooze and then another walk before dinner.
A film crew was here for 3 days with a Philippine TV star who was filming on the island. They are building a pool and have just started on 10 new rooms (doubling the hotel size) and then there are the fishermen in the bay and the other guests to watch! We have been kept very busy doing nothing!
The holiday started back in July when I flew to Manila for the weekend. I met up with my friend Tom and we set off to explore the Intramuros area – a new district for me- (see my blogs on Manila). We managed to see Mass at one of the Philippines oldest catholic cathedrals and visited another later in the day. Rain cut the trip short so we returned to the hotel for a very relaxing dinner and then the next night headed out to Chinatown to eat food from the street sellers.
A Filipino friend in Bahrain had challenged me to eat fish balls, chicken intestines and quails egg and I managed the first two but we could not find the eggs. I also had a nice surprise when my friend Drew, who I met in Palawan last year, took a two hour coach trip to Manila from Batangas to have lunch with us. It was one of several very pleasant meals overlooking Manila Bay at Mall of Asia. We also attended Mass on Sunday at Baclaran church which is 10 minutes walk from the hotel and where my colleague Dino and my late friend Jay attended Mass when they were in Manila.
My only error in Manila was not to take enough money to the airport on the way to Thailand. I got there very early to allow time for the Manila traffic, the plane was late, and none of the kiosks took credit card- so I had to go without coffee for four hours! At least we did not have that problem when Drew and I catch another plane to El Nido
From Manila I flew to Thailand for a week. I stayed in Pattaya again. The weather was great (32 degrees) and this time I had a room with balcony on the 8th floor overlooking the bay (going up in the world, was 7th floor last time!). I loved watching as all the motor boats were bought from the Harbour on the left to the beach on the right for the Japanese tourists. The Japanese arrived from 8 am by coach for their day in Pattaya (3 islands in the bay and parascending). I then walked along the beach and watched them all come and go before getting my “all you can eat breakfast buffet “at a nearby hotel for just 180 baht (or 1.8 BD or £3 – depending where in the world you are reading this!) With fruit, yogurt, toast, coffee, fruit juice, cereal, Omlette and later pork and rice that lasted me until dinner. I found some new places to go like Jomtein beach- which I missed last time. We had an enjoyable day there walking /paddling and having lunch. Another day my friend and I went to Ko Larn, one of the islands in the bay. It’s a 45 minute journey by boat but a bit overcrowded when you get there!
I also rediscovered some old favourites – a very old Thai restaurant on Soi 1 where we were the only customers for lunch and had Oysters and Tuna. As well as walking, swimming, sunbathing and reading in Thailand I caught up on my pampering with a manicure and pedicure and a few massages, and of course lots of lovely food. I also fell off the wagon after several months of no alcohol in Bahrain and had a few Chang beers and half a bottle of wine in Manila.
From my walk down Walking street (on the way to the boat at 11 am – you certainly would not find me there at night!) I can tell you they have a lot to do to achieve their stated aim. I guess the best they can hope for to attract some people who enjoy the beach by day and sleep by night. Then others will sleep all day and party all night. It’s a kind of time share! The key is to ensure the people getting up early stay in hotels a long way from Waking street, Boys town, and the other party districts.
Pattaya has something for everyone (or as one of my Bahraini delegates said “It’s all so confusing, men dressed as women and women dressed as men”).
Interestingly it has several Middle Eastern restaurants and I have seen several GCC families enjoying their breakfasts alongside me each morning. Thanks to Mike’s suggestion to come here first I missed most of the rain, and even got sunburnt twice. I should also add the people are lovely and everything is cheap.
One other weird fact about Pattaya is the large number of Russians that live and holiday here- it certainly is a very cosmopolitan place with Japanese, Russian, Arabs, Germans, Brits and Thais everywhere. Also no one blinks an eye lid when you see a 65 yr old man walking along arm in arm with a 25 year old Thai (male or female). Certainly the place is a major culture shock after 5 years in Bahrain- but a very pleasant one.
I got back to Manila okay from Pattaya but to torrential rain. I was ripped off at the airport by the taxi driver (twice) and went down with a sore throat which just would not go. Luckily the Heritage hotel has a Doctor on site so after a quick and efficient consultation and a long prescription we headed off to Watson's for supplies of strepsils, antiseptic mouth wash and tablets which seemed to do the trick after a few days.
Drew arrived on Tues 5th after work in the evening and we had soup and ice cream to soothe my throat, and then on Wednesday we checked out and got a taxi to a private terminal at the airport belonging to ITI. We were ushered through into the VIP lounge for free coffee, sandwiches and juice and then boarded our 50 seater plane for the 1 hour flight to El Nido (saving a 7 hour drive from Puerto Princessa after a one hour flight there). The week before they cancelled the 1pm flight due to “technical problems” but as there were only 14 of us on the later flight I suspect it was to save an unnecessary plane.
We had stupendous views of Coron, Palawan and El Nido as we landed and we were taken by the El Nido Resorts Jeepney to the “Terminal building” were we were welcomed to the island with traditional Filipino singers and guitarists and more coffee, juice and sandwiches while our bags were processed ( along with all the hotel food which came with us on the plane).
The majority of the passengers then headed off to one of the 4 luxury resort hotels here ( 200 bd a night- £300/ 20,000 pesos) while we went in our motorcycle and sidecar to our cheaper El Nido Cove resort ( 30 bd a night, £50 or 3,000 pesos).
( Editors note, by 2020 they jacked this up to 50 bd a night - 5000 pesos, and I cancelled my booking finding a cheaper farm in Puerto, and soon after that they closed the hotel)
The British Kabayan at El Nido Cove in 2014
The hotel is beautiful, right by the sea with fabulous views of sunsets with long sandy beaches right outside the hotel gate. It is actually owned by the same company that owns all the resorts and the airline! I also found out recently that the land on which its built used to belong to a friend’s from Bahrain’s Uncle and Jam used to play here as a kid. His family still live in the town and we visited his sister when we went to El Nido town for lunch and shopping one day. What a small world we live in.
One night there were only two couples staying in the hotel so they set up two separate tents on either side of the hotel surrounded by candles. We were served a lovely dinner as the sky turned a variety of shades of red following the sunset. One day Drew had to leave one morning at 5 am to see his mum, who was not very well, in Puerto Princessa. He managed to get the van to stop at the hotel to collect him (as we are some way out of town) and the hotel gave him a picnic breakfast for the 6 hour journey. When the sun rose I sat in the sun watching the fisherman bring in their daily haul of fresh fish, downing freshly brewed coffee and sipping iced water. Then I had a swim before reading more of my latest book (Confessions of an Economic Hit man) – my third of the vacation. After lunch (Tuna steak) I went for another walk on the beach before dining alone. There is no TV here and the electricity is off from 6 am to 2pm so it’s a very simple relaxing life. However they do have both AC and Wi-Fi!
Drew came back the next night and was been a great help chatting to the staff in Tagalog finding out who was staying each night, places to go and ensuring we always had the best seats for dinner. He also arranged the free upgrade in our room and moved all our stuff to the new room while I was asleep in the sun!
We flew back to Manila on 18 August and then Drew headed back to work in Batangas on the 19th in the evening. I flew back to Bahrain on 20th and my friend Anis collected me from the airport. My hire car returned on the 21st and then Jay and Patrick came and help with all the washing and ironing after my month away. I returned to work on August 24th . Okay, enough of me – here is the last history bit:
“Palawan is an archipelago of 1,780 islands on the western part of the Philippines. It has the most concentration of islands but is the most sparsely populated region in the country. Because of its scenic landscapes and high bio-diversity, Palawan is known as “The Last Ecological Frontier of the Philippines”.
The northern part of Palawan province is blessed with crystal-clear waters, pristine beaches, and a wealth of flora and fauna. It is here that El Nido is located. Spectacular ancient limestone cliffs tower over marine sanctuaries teeming with innumerable species of tropical fish and coral, as well as five species of endangered sea turtles. Lush forests abound with more than 100 species of birds. It is a truly exotic destination.”
Well we certainly enjoyed our time here and will be back next year. I hope this finds you all well
Best wishes
Neil
This is the British Kabayan signing out looking back on my second trip to El Nido Cove in 2014
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Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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