Hellobee

In the past, I’ve shared pictures from our past family trips to El Nido, Philippines – along with tips for traveling internationally with kids.

This year, I thought I’d try something different, and talk about why El Nido is an increasingly popular tourist destination! Usually we limit the amount of sightseeing we do there, but this year the kids were finally old enough for us to spend a lot of time exploring the local islands together.

S I G H T S E E I N G

The Philippines is comprised of over 7000 islands and El Nido was named the best island in the world last year by Conde Naste Traveler. Because it is still a relatively newly discovered tourist destination (just in the mid-80’s), the government protected waters and beaches are pristine; most of the islands you visit by boat are uninhabited. It’s still considered a bit off the beaten path, but that is definitely changing quickly from what I’ve seen over the past 10 years. Plane tickets are comparable to what you’d pay to Southeast Asia, but lodging, excursions and food are very affordable so you get a ton of bang for your buck. I’m a total beach/scuba/snorkel gal and if you are too, this is definitely one place you’ll want to check off your travel bucket list!

The green and red roofs are Mr. Bee’s parents’ property where they rent out rooms to guests. This image and the one below of downtown El Nido was taken with a drone!

We always visit during the wet season in the summer, but there is plenty of sunshine too. When it rains like it is above, it’s still warm enough to play in the water.

These are some local kids swimming up to our boat. Kids as young as 2 roam the beaches with their older siblings or cousins (often as young as 4) all day without any supervision. Needless to say the kids here are very independent.

There is deep blue water, crystal clear water, and my personal favorite, turquoise water.

The many different varieties of crabs are amazing. Every time we go we find ones we’ve never seen like the white sand crabs above and the big hermit crab below.

I definitely credit our yearly trips to El Nido with teaching the kids to be fearless around animals. The first year we came when Charlie was 2, he was terrified of the two big dogs that lived there. But now he touches fish, worms, crabs, frogs, and lizards without a second thought. Since Olive has been coming here since she was a baby, she isn’t afraid of anything!

My little rock stars at the wet market where you can buy meat, livestock and produce every Wednesday and Saturday.

Their favorite vegetables — broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and peas — don’t grow in the hot, humid weather. But cucumbers are available and that is their all time favorite vegetable. Learning to eat the different local fruit and vegetables is going to be an adjustment for the kids.

A puppy uses a coconut as a bowl.

Olive is wearing a bug repellent bracelet that has an absorbent pad where you pour in mosquito repellent. I think they definitely helped because Charlie got far fewer bites this year (he’s usually the most delicious out of all of us). Olive typically doesn’t get many bites, and I don’t think she got any this year! Her b blood type isn’t as delicious as my O because I still got a ton of bites. But this mosquito bite reliever did help a lot with the itching.

It’s all about the water in El Nido. We lounge in oversized tubes, collect seashells and coral, build sand castles, go island hopping, go kayaking, and of course go snorkeling in sand, kelp and coral. I recently purchased this full mask snorkel that I’m excited to use. We had Charlie practice with a kids’ snorkel in the tub before we went to El Nido, but he still had trouble regulating breathing through his mouth when he was in the ocean. I’m sure he’ll become a little fishy in no time though once we’re living there.

This is the stunning Cadlao Lagoon, which is so close we can kayak to it. These friendly fish aren’t scared of people at all, and it’s easy to catch them with your hand and a cup!

Island Hopping tours always include lunch, which usually consists of pork and fish grilled over charcoal, often on some rocks right on the beach.

I would definitely recommend investing in a waterproof camera or a gopro because you can capture such cool shots! Since they’re designed to be tough, you can let kids use them as well without worrying about them damaging it.

I saw 7 nemos on this trip! They are just so darn cute and live in very shallow water, less than 4 feet deep. The secret is to look for the anemonies they like to hide inside!

I think the nemos above were babies because I came across this huge one below (bigger than my hand) with its baby peeking out in the top corner. It was much darker in color too.

There are tons of fish right at your feet everywhere, but an easy way to get them to swarm is to throw some cooked rice in the water.

Snorkeling is always better when there is tons of coral or kelp, and so much more interesting. I can’t wait to spot my first turtle and whale shark which are abundant in these waters!

I had a point and shoot so I wasn’t able to capture a great half underwater half above water image since my lens was so small, but I’m definitely investing in an underwater case for my dslr now!

Thousands and thousands of schools of fish!

Coral we found on the beach.

A local delicacy called ranga ranga that we saw many of the locals collecting to eat in low tide. Supposedly it tastes like squid. You can see its little eyes peeking out!

The shells we collected during one day of island hopping. It’s amazing the endless varieties, shapes and sizes. Some clam shells grow bigger than our heads!

This is right in front of Mr. Bee’s parents’ place, with Cadlao Island in the distance.

Olive is obsessed with all animals, particularly dogs. Yochan just got a new little brother yorkie that we have yet to meet.

Every evening produces a spectacular sunset whether it’s golden, red, blue, pink, or purple.

The weather is hot and humid so refreshing beverages are always a must!

It’s a good thing these two are close because they’re about to become a lot closer spending 24/7 with each other once we move to El Nido!

They’re going to be expert water babies when we return!

Living in El Nido is definitely going to be an adventure, and I can’t wait to take you guys along as we navigate living abroad, homeschooling, and so much more! We leave after we go trick or treating on Halloween!