My digital nomad trip to El Nido, 2 weeks in Paradise

In April 2022, I decided to head to the Philippines for a month to travel with 2 close friends of mine. I really wanted to make it a digital nomad trip, as I could not really take 4 weeks off in a row, after having already taken some holidays in Mexico earlier this year.

When I was at Uni, one of my favorite teacher told me that if I wanted to see paradise, I should go to the island of Palawan in the Philippines. Just the name sounds like a dream. It stayed with me all these years, and I promised myself I would go there.

When I was researching for this trip, I discovered it was pretty hard to find up-to-date information, as the Philippines had just reopened in late March 2022, and lots of business had gone down. Browsing on Reddit and the web looking for "Internet in el Nido", "Wifi in el Nido", and "Coworking space in El Nido", I could read many discouraging tales of atrocious wifi, unreliable 4G, and brownouts. I really wanted it to work.

During this trip, I had planned 2 weeks in El Nido, a small town at the very northern tip of Palawan, known for its towering cliffs and the stunning Bacuit bay. I brought all my diving kit and my usual digital nomad / remote worker gear.

Disclaimer: I went to El Nido just after the Philippines opened after the pandemic, and that probably made my experience quite unique in many ways. There was barely any tourist in El Nido, I did not encounter much traffic and the internet worked well. I have not been back yet, so make sure you check more recent trip reports.

Getting to El Nido

I flew from Barcelona to Manila with Qatar Airways, with a stop in Doha. Leaving Barcelona at 16:20 on a Friday and landing in Manila at 16:30 on a Saturday. Then I spent an evening in Manila with my friend Leo and got a taste of Manila traffic.

This is by far the worst connected airport I have ever seen. There is no public transportation between terminals and you need to take a taxi from one terminal to the next. The traffic was crazy.

There are 2 ways to get to El Nido from Manila:

• you can either take a cheap flight to Puerto Princesa and then take a 6h van to El Nido.
• or you can fly directly to El Nido airport with Airswift. The plane on this flight is small and the tickets run out fast, so make sure to book in advance to guarantee a seat.

I decided to fly directly to El Nido since my time was precious. I had booked a 5:55 am flight with Airswift to El Nido from Manila, which cost me 6832PHP (around 116 €). I landed at El Nido at 07:15 am, in the cutest airport I have ever seen, after a really stunning flight. We flew above The Coron archipelago and it was incredible to see it from the sky.

Getting cash and a sim card in Manila airport.

When I arrived in Manila, I withdrew cash straight from the ATM at the airport. The exchange rate and fee might not be as good as outside of the airport, but you need cash in the Philippines.

There was also a stand selling Sim cards, I got one from Smart. I just needed to present my passport and my phone, and they set it up for me. The card worked about 3 min later. I can't remember the exact price, it was maybe 20€ and came with 70G of data. It lasted the whole trip with no issues.

Getting a scooter in El Nido, delivered at the airport

After some research, I discovered that it was possible to book a scooter online and get it delivered to me directly at the airport! From my previous trips, I knew I wanted to have a motorbike from the get-go, walking in the tropical heat gets old after about 10min.

Every single business in the Philippines is on Facebook. If you don't have an account, you should probably create one. Many places do not have websites but they do have a Facebook page.

I contacted Lakwatsero Motorcycles directly on their page and arranged the booking and delivery. They were super responsive and efficient. The rental was around 500php a day (8.5€). For an 11-day rental of a 125cc scooter, they offered a 20% discount and I paid 4500php (around 77€), delivery included. They also picked it up directly from my hotel at the end of my trip

Honestly, having it delivered to the airport was awesome. I was knackered and jetlagged after flying all these hours, but landing at El Nido airport was amazing, it's such a beautiful spot. I got my bag and walked out straight into the parking near the jungle and these 2 guys were waiting for me. They took my 5000php deposit, I paid the booking in advance (in cash of course), they took a picture of my ID, and off I went.

I had just arrived in paradise and I was already free to go wherever I wanted. I loaded the scooter with my bags (one bigger scuba diving bag and my work bag) and drove to my hotel. The 30 min drive was stunning.

Getting cash in El Nido

It can be complicated. There are a few ATMs around town, but they do run out of money pretty often, and they will not work when the electricity is off, which happened often. Just look up "ATM El Nido" in Google maps and you'll be able to locate them.

Make sure you stock up when you can. El Nido is a fantastic playground with lots of cool activities to do. It's not the cheapest place compared to other destination in SEA, so make sure you have cash and you won't have to worry.

Working remotely from my Terra Sancta in Corong Corong

For the first week, I stayed at Terra Sancta, in Corong Corong, about 10 min from El Nido town. The room was comfortable, spacious, with AC, and the hotel has generators, so I never actually realised there was regular brownouts until I headed in town. I paid around 62€ / night.

The Wifi at Terra Sancta was great, and I was able to work and attend Zoom calls without any issues. The staff was excellent, and the was food tasty. I usually got dinner at the hotel, and the main lady cook was fantastic.

After my first day, I got sick (probably from ingesting some tap water by mistake) and the staff took care of me, brought me rice porridge with calamansi (tiny lemon), and bananas, and it really helped me get back on my feet.

This week I was mostly alone, as my friends were in Coron for a few days. I really wanted to see Coron and dive the famous Japanese WW2 wrecks, but it would have been impossible to work from there. Workwise it was a good decision, as my friends had the worst connection out there and it would have been stressful to handle.

Working with an 8h time difference.

I arrive in El Nido on a Sunday morning. I drove my scooter around to get my bearings and tried to rest. Monday was my first work day, and my plan was to have fun in the morning and early afternoons and then work from 3:00 pm until 11:00 pm, to get the best of both worlds.

It turns out that this was quite exhausting and I alternated working normal Philippines hours (9 to 5) most days and 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm on the days I had planned activities. I'm super grateful I have a really flexible workplace.

Working remotely from El Nido in Mansion Buenavista

Later on, to be closer to my mates and see a different part of El Nido, I moved to Mansion Buenavista, and booked via Airbnb at the edge of El Nido town proper. The host was Noud, an awesome dutch guy who made me feel immediately welcomed. The breakfast was copious and tasty, the staff was fantastic, and the view from the room was phenomenal. Wifi in the room, on the terrace, and at the restaurant was super fast (around 200Mo), and I was able to work comfortably. They have AC and generators as well, and I never encountered an interruption.

A coworking space with the most stunning view ever

As a backup, I looked up beforehand any coworking space that I could rush to in case the internet was not working in my accommodation. I actually never encountered any internet issues. But I found out about Lexias Hostel El Nido.

A quick disclaimer, I did not stay there, I only went there to work for 2 days. Their recent Google reviews are quite negative, so make sure you do your research.

To reach the place, you have to go south from Corong Corong and turn right just after McDonald's. The hostel is on top of a very very steep hill. I climbed up and down a couple of times with my scooter and honestly, I do not recommend it. When it rains, do not drive up or down, you will probably fall. You can always walk, and they have some kind of heavy-duty rickshaw that will come and pick you up.

The view from there is stunning, and it's really worth staying for sunsets. The hostel overlooks Bacuit bay and the sun sets right in front of you. The Internet was okay but a bit patchy.

Scuba diving in el Nido

I'm a keen diver and I was not going to miss out on the occasion. I actually traveled with my dive gear and dived in El Nido, as well as Moalboal (on Cebu island) and Dauin (on Negros Oriental island).

I dove twice in El Nido, once with Turtle divers, and once with Palawan divers

Diving with Turtle divers

The first dive was on the reef on Helicopter island. The water is transparent and the above-water scenery was stunning. However, the reef was definitely in a sad state, with not much life. I saw one green turtle which is always a pleasure. It was my first dive with my full own gear and I was super happy with it. I got myself a light backplate and really enjoyed diving without a weight belt.

The second dive was on South Miniloc, and much better. The reef looked better, and around 20m depth there was a stunning patch of cabbage corals. I saw plenty of fish, barracuda, a super cute ribbon eel, and 2 stunning  (and quite big) alien-looking cuttlefishes. Also saw a green turtle. On both sites, the water temp was around 28C at 20m, and visibility was excellent.

Diving with Palawan divers

A few days later, I went with my friends to dive with Palawan divers. I dove 3 times with them, one of my friends twice and the other one just snorkeled. It was a great day out at sea, and we basically had the boat for ourselves, lunch included. It was great.

My first dive of the day was on Nat Nat, not much to see but it was really cool to dive with my friends. The water was Gatorade blue and the above-surface world was stunning

The second dive of the day was on Intalula Wall and was really cool. It was a gentle wall dive with a really mild current, and I saw a few electric clamshells! They are pretty hard to photograph with my GoPro but they are visually impressive.

The third dive of the day was at a site called Twin Rocks, where I saw an orang-utan crab, more electric clamshell, and a yellow ghost pipefish. These probably do not mean much if you do not dive, but the Philippines are part of the Coral Triangle and have an incredible amount of underwater biodiversity.

Surfing in El Nido

You can actually surf at Duli beach. It's north of El Nido, takes around 45min on a scooter to reach it. The ride is really nice and the beach is beautiful. White sand and palm trees, and barely any building.

You can rent a surfboard from a couple of places, and go for it. The waves were small, but still for us. I'm a complete beginner and I had a great time. I was exhausted afterward!

Make sure you reapply sunscreen often and wear some lycra. I was wearing my long sleeve and had sunscreen, but it got washed out by the waves and I got very sunburnt!

Leaving El Nido for Puerto Princesa

Our next destination was Moalboal, on the island of Cebu.

We asked Mansion Buenavista (I'm sure you can ask any hostel) to book us 3 seats in the 7 am van heading to Puerto Princesa. The road is fine and the van has AC but it's pretty long. Then in Puerto Princesa, we had a flight to Cebu which got delayed a couple of hours.

You could also spend more and take the plane directly from El Nido airport. Between the price of the van, the plane ticket, the food to be consumed on the way, and the time lost, it might not be that much more expensive.

Total costs

Transports:

• My return flights to and from Barcelona to Manila: 1232€
• Flight to El Nido: 116€
• Scooter for 11 days: 77€
• Van from El Nido to Puerto Princesa: 700php = 12€

Accommodations:

• 5 nights in Terra Sancta: 18.176php: 310€
• 5 nights in Mansion Buenavista: 249€

Activities:

• Scuba diving with Turtle divers: 2 dives for 5000php = 85€
• Scuba diving with Palawan Divers: 3 dives for 5400php = 92€
• Surfing is included in the next item

Food and the rest:

• Food, petrol, surfing: around 200€

Total and per day:

• Total cost excluding my long flights: 1141€
• Cost per day excluding my long flight: 103€/day

I'm aware that this can be done much more cheaply. I booked pretty nice accommodations just for myself. I also went diving and had my own scooter for the whole duration of my stay. I would happily do it again!