エルニドツアーA – 2025年でもまだ価値がある?(期待と現実)

when people talk about El Nido in the Philippines Tour A is always the one everyone says you can’t miss but is it still worth it in 2025 and 2026 let’s find out here’s how my day really went during tour A so in El Nido whether you’re sleeping in town or in one of the resorts around El Nido town all tours depart from the harbour at El Nido town so you always need to go there there’s this Long Beach usually crowded with sellers of various products including snorkels and proper shoes to actually step on coral which is really bad more on that later and this is where the tours will gather you and the rest of the group to place you in one of the tour boats that are allowed to go into the designated areas of each tour it’s a national park it’s protected by the Philippines government therefore they have designated areas that tourists can visit and they are split between tours A B C and D and this video today is about tour A because it’s one of the most popular ones if not the most popular one just by going to the beach at El Nido town you’ll see that this is not a secret anymore this is definitely not a hidden gem anymore I mean there’s like hundreds of people on this beach waiting for the boat to depart don’t come here thinking oh my god I’ve been to this unexplored place that no one knows like no not anymore so if you come here expecting this virgin land virgin paradise with lots to explore and you’ll be alone forget about that anytime of the year it’s gonna be busy after you got on the boat they take you to the first stop of this tour which is usually the 7 Commandos Beach and look I’m being honest the beach is marvelous it’s amazing the water is crystal clear the blues are amazing there’s beautiful palm trees there’s a few hills there’s just an amazing atmosphere as well even though it’s also very crowded as you can see by my footage as well because most tours actually stop there it’s one of the spots for most of the tours very crowded beach as you can see I’m also a tourist so… wow a fish just bit me can’t believe it there’s people playing beach volleyball and other games but then once you go into the water you can actually see a little bit of animal life you can see clownfish I was shocked by that because I thought oh well this beach is so crowded probably all the marine life has already died or moved somewhere else but no you actually go in and after a while you start seeing a little bit of coral and plenty of clownfish and some of the most beautiful clownfish I’ve seen with lots of vivid colours that typical orange and white and they were actually really big fish maybe the size of my hands like I was really impressed then the usual second stop is either the Big Lagoon or the Small Lagoon during my tour they took us to the Big Lagoon The Big Lagoon is famous for having a stretch of water of shallow waters that connect you to a larger body of water surrounded by these rocky peaks covered with vegetation it has this very pleasant eerie feel oh but that’s if it’s kind of empty which is not gonna happen this place is super crowded and even though you are in a specific designated boat for your tour well the other tours that also run tour A they all go there and sometimes at the same time I think they coordinate with other boats to not be there at the same time but I think because there are so many boats doing the same tour they end up having maybe two or three boats at the same time in each location and it’s always gonna be crowded because of that that’s a territorial fish that bites you having said all this it’s still a magical place the atmosphere is incredible the nature you see there is beautiful one little note is on that stretch of water where people have to walk or kayak towards the Big Lagoon and actually most people walk I believe that in the past there would be some coral in those waters and now there’s literally nothing maybe a few rocks and that’s really bad because maybe it’s because of tourists stepping on those waters that there’s no more coral in those waters because it’s not really normal that in a tropical place with such tropical weather a very shallow body of water does not have coral so I think it’s probably being damaged and removed later on then once it’s time to return to your tour boat you have some spare time to play around the boat swim and chill which is really nice actually by the way the Big Lagoon is Instagram famous and you see lots of shots lots of beautiful shots and videos of this place on Instagram and they look beautiful and yes it is a beautiful place but like I said when you go there yourself and you realize that it’s super crowded and noisy maybe part of that beauty is kind of lost unfortunately that’s how it is that’s what tourism does to places so I want to be really transparent in this video and just tell you just how it is then the stop No. 3 depending on how fast your boat is and how the skipper of the boat plans the day because they can swap the destinations around your third spot might be Shimizu Islands and that’s usually where you have lunch and where you have some time to walk around and snorkel wow even Lunch Island is beautiful look for me Shimizu Island was the highlight of the trip it’s very tiny it’s like a big rock coming out of the ocean with a little stretch of sand a very tiny beach but the atmosphere was beautiful there was a lot of shade for you to rest a little bit from the sun you could just swim off the beach and snorkel see some coral see some fish or simply just enjoy lie down on the sand and of course we had this amazing buffet lunch with noodles with fish with pork I think there was some chicken as well plenty of fruit very enjoyable experience to have lunch in this beautiful beautiful island and I think this island alone was already worth the trip every time you come into an island you need to jump into the water that’s the only way and you have to wear your flip flops because apparently there’s some dangerous fish or orchid that can spike your feet and then it’s quite dangerous or poisonous then after Shimizu Island or Lunch Island you usually go to the Secret Lagoon The Secret Lagoon is also one of the highlights of Tour A it’s super famous it’s basically this sort of like open cave with water inside like with no ceiling you literally go through a little tunnel with a few rocky spikes and once you go through to the other side there’s like this huge puddle with murky waters without a ceiling and you can look up to the sky and there’s all these rocky peaks so yeah it’s definitely a secret lagoon because if you don’t know where the hole to get in is yeah
you’d not see this and it’s it’s an interesting place it’s beautiful and as you can see in my footage there we go crowds again but like a lot of crowds and I think it’s basically the same amount of people as in the other locations but the problem is this place is tiny compared to the other locations to give you an idea to get through to this secret lagoon we had to queue we had to wait in line to get in because yeah there were people coming out and then people waiting to get in and once you get in there’s still people inside that will always be on your shots in your field of view so
you will never be completely alone in any of the spots which is expected these days I mean mass tourism, hello… we are now at the Secret Lagoon as you can see not so secret anymore it feels like to me that the more we progress through the tour the better it gets um having said that I’m not very impressed by the Secret Lagoon I’ll be honest with you um but yeah the snorkeling was was a great experience I also had some time to explore the areas around the Secret Lagoon and also the tour had some time for us to just jump off the boat and snorkel around the boat near the Secret Lagoon as well so overall amazing experience because it was completed with these other activities I walked on the beach I saw a few dogs it was really cute next to the secret lagoon there’s this beautiful beach and this is the beach time to go back to the boat and to El Nido town this is what I have to swim or walk I don’t know I’ll see what I can do apparently need to have the flip flops again halfway the coral that I saw around the boat was not damaged or anything because actually it was too deep for people to step on it but I did see places where coral was stepped on and damaged and yeah that kind of hurts to see like I said mass tourism these days if it’s unchecked it causes a lot of damage so try to not get too emotional when you see things like that happening because sometimes it’s by mistake people don’t really mean to cause damage it’s just that some people are clumsy or they didn’t see the coral and accidentally they damage the coral after this stops the boat has a long journey back to the village and we’re all kind of like sunburnt but super happy we have a few moments on the boat to enjoy the sun the landscapes and they drop us at El Nido town where we just walk back to our hotel or resort wow the beautiful town of El Nido so finally is El Nido Tour A still worth it in 2025 and 2026 yes yes I think it’s still worth it I think you should still do this tour if you are in Palawan especially in El Nido if I’d do it again? yes I’d do it again and do I recommend it to everyone? yes, all ages? yes probably yes maybe not over 70 or 80 unless you are very healthy do not skip it just because you’ve heard it’s too crowded also because they have some limitations in place anyway the park manages the number of visitors just book the tour if there’s availability go enjoy have an amazing time the place is still beautiful just like the rest of the Philippines I’ll make another video of the 2nd most popular tour if you like this video like subscribe and comment and without further do see you next time

El Nido, Palawan is known for its crystal-clear lagoons, limestone cliffs, and stunning beaches — but is Tour A still worth doing in 2025?

In this video, I take you through the full experience of El Nido’s most famous island-hopping tour, from the busy harbour and crowded lagoons to the breathtaking spots that still make it one of the Philippines’ most beautiful adventures.

You’ll see what Tour A is really like today — the good, the bad, and the surprising. If you’re planning to visit El Nido, this is everything you need to know before booking your trip.

📍 Destinations covered in this video:
7 Commandos Beach
Big Lagoon
Secret Lagoon
Shimizu Island
El Nido Town Beach

🎥 Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:34 Seven Commandos Beach
02:46 Big Lagoon
05:11 Shimizu Island
06:28 Secret Lagoon
09:50 Honest thoughts – still worth it?

#ElNido #PhilippinesTravel #DigitalNomadLife #IslandHopping #travelguide #philippines #palawan

3 Comments

  1. 🌴 Have you done El Nido Tour A? Was it what you expected — or too crowded?
    👇 Share your experience below

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