Start from 35 curated places around El Nido, PH, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Tutto Passa
A bright Sicilian-inspired room in El Nido's Town Square heritage strip, run by the same family for years and consistently the most-trusted Italian table in town. The pasta is made in-house, the wood-fired pizza uses imported flour, and the tiramisu arrives in a proper ceramic cup rather than a plastic dish. Good for a proper sit-down dinner after a day of boat tours.
Trattoria Altrove
A barefoot-only wood-fired pizza counter run by a Slovenian family near the Corong-Corong stretch, with a strict no-shoes policy that makes the covered dining area feel more like a private home than a restaurant. The Neapolitan-style crust is thin and blistered; the truffle-pancetta pizza has been a standard order for years. Lines form before opening and do not shorten until the kitchen runs out of dough.
Trails & outdoors
Nacpan Beach to Calitang Beach Trail
A 14km coastal walk from Nacpan Beach north along the shoreline to the twin beach at Calitang, passing through rice paddy fields, small fishing villages, rocky headlands, and stretches of empty beach. It is mostly flat, suitable for moderate fitness, and takes 3-4 hours at a comfortable pace. The second half of the walk, past the sandbar divider, is usually empty of other visitors entirely.
Nagkalit-kalit Falls Trail
A 3km round-trip jungle trail from Barangay Pasadena through dense bamboo forest, crossing a riverbed nine times to reach a pair of cascading falls with a natural swimming pool below. The walk is moderate difficulty with some scrambling on wet river rocks, and the pool at the bottom is cold and deep enough for proper swimming. A good counterpoint to a day of salt water.
Things to do
Submariner Diving Center
The longest-operating diving centre in El Nido, with a consistent reputation as the most technically rigorous among the town's dive shops. The PADI 5-star IDC centre runs both fun dives and certification courses, with sites ranging from the coral gardens at South Miniloc to the Dilumacad tunnel swim-through. The rooftop bar and restaurant above the dive shop doubles as one of the better bay-view drinking spots in town.
Palawan Divers
A PADI 5-star dive centre that has been operating in El Nido for over a decade, known for a strict 4:1 diver-to-guide ratio and meticulously maintained equipment. The team includes guides who have lived on Palawan their whole careers and know the seasonal patterns of the dive sites — which reef is sheltered when the swell direction changes and where turtles are reliably resident.
Landmarks & sights
Big Lagoon
The signature stop on Tour A, a cathedral of towering limestone karst walls enclosing a deep emerald-green lagoon reachable only by kayak through a narrow sea-level gap. The water shifts from pale jade near the entrance to deep teal at the back wall. Best for anyone who wants to feel genuinely inside a landscape rather than looking at one.
Small Lagoon
A sister stop to Big Lagoon on the same Miniloc Island, entered by swimming through a low limestone arch at high tide or wading at low tide. Inside the enclosure is a calm turquoise bowl with steep walls and several ledges for cliff jumping. The scale is intimate compared to Big Lagoon — you feel tucked away rather than dwarfed.