El Nido Bay, Cadlao Island.
El Nido - and what could be a sweet limestone crag.
The way to spend your time in El Nido is to go out on boat trips round the islands, lagoons and narrow straits that surround Bacuit Bay. For around NZ$40 you can hire a boat and a guide (who cooks you barbequed fish for lunch) for a whole day.
The trip visits several lagoons, some big enough to float a bangka into, and others that you can only enter by swiming through a small hole. A gap in the cliff ahead allowed us to swim into Small Lagoon (Miniloc Island).
Inside Big Lagoon - Miniloc Island.
Heading back out of Big Lagoon. Miniloc Is.
Limestone karst. The entire bay is formed like this - and the rock forms everything from jagged slabs to massive overhanging walls.
One of the many amazing beaches we stopped on.
Coconut palms and our bangka.
The snorkelling around these islands was amazing: the full range of coral, reef fish, barracuda, turtles - really good visibility too.
Cycle touring in the Philippines 