How to Travel From Manila to El Nido in a Breeze
In case you didn’t know, you can bypass the dizzying van transfer from Puerto Princesa to El Nido by booking a direct flight to El Nido.
We’re telling you this because there seems to be a fluke with Master Google, the oracle of the universe.
Google usually shows up the wrong information about how to get to El Nido.
Most travel bloggers out there fly to El Nido via Palawan’s capital city, Puerto Princesa. In short, you’d first fly from Manila or Cebu to Puerto, and then take a long van ride to El Nido.
But this is such a long, winding, and exhausting trip.
Taking about 5.5 hours, the van transfer from Puerto Princesa to El Nido is often reported to be a dizzying, pukey experience, especially when you’re traveling during the day.
TIP
If you are taking a van transfer, you can put on an eye mask and sleep the hours away, because looking out the window really is going to make your head spin. It’s easier to travel at night and do take an anti-motion sickness tablet like Bonamin.
The lack of information is rampant.
This is because the fastest and shortest way to El Nido is via an airbus called AirSwift, which is not listed in most flight booking search engines like Expedia or Skyscanner.
AirSwift is this growing boutique airline company that has special trips to unique–but remote!–beautiful places in the Philippines.
While the flight from either Manila or Cebu (or Boracay) is a bit pricier at P1,000 to P3,000 more, you can save a lot of time, not to mention, hours of bum sore and dizzy spells, in the van transfer.
Alternatively, if you want to take the most affordable trip to El Nido, you can hop on a ship via 2Go Travel. The superior cabins look like hotel rooms while the shared ones look like dormitories.
This is quite a leisurely trip with island views, taking about 34 hours, and stops by Coron.
SUMMARY
The fastest route to El Nido is by booking a direct flight via AirSwift. This option is not included in most travel guides because AirSwift is not listed in flight booking sites like Expedia and Skyscanner. This can save you at least six (6) hours of travel time but is P1,000 to P3,000 more expensive.
Top El Nido Tours
- 1 El Nido Tour A
- 2 El Nido Tour B
- 3 El Nido Tour C
- 4 El Nido Tour D
- 5 El Nido Yacht Tour
- 6 Climb Taraw Cliff
- 7 El Nido Zipline
- 8 Diving for Beginners
(+63) 917 677 3781
hello@elnido.ph
Palawan, Philippines