Bacuit Archipelago - The Idyllic Islands of "Tour B"

Sitting at the base of huge limestone cliffs and a small beach, the quiet town of El Nido is the gateway to the Bacuit Archipelago - a group of about 45 islands covered in palm trees, massive limestone cliffs, hidden caves and fabulous beaches.

(One of the main roads of El Nido ends as it hits the beach and incredible bay full of beautiful islands. The convenience store on the right side has good tortilla chips, in case you were wondering.)

(Just before the sun sets behind the huge limestone cliffs, a few street vendors come out to sell various meat on a stick. Pork, chicken gizzard, pork.)

(Amazing spicy chickpea curry with water spinach at Blue Azul. I found this wonderful restaurant two streets back from the beach, so I returned almost every night during my time in El Nido.)

(Mango smoothie - my daily dessert...and sometimes breakfast...and possibly a snack. So good...and cheap.)

(The beachfront at El Nido, backed by beautiful cliffs. While this beach is ok, it's a little crowded and not all that amazing comparatively, but it's the islands offshore that make this area so alluring.)

(Looking out into the bay outside of El Nido. Cadlao Island and its rocky peak reaching over 600 meters/2,000 feet above the water below.)

(I joined up with two Filipinos on a small boat for "Tour B." There are 3-4 fairly standard tours circling around different islands in the large bay, grouping up with a few random tourists here and there. This is one of the first islands off the coast, known as Helicopter Island.)

(Our first stop took us to a tiny hidden beach amongst a few tall palm trees and hundred foot cliffs. The beautiful islands dotting the bay are said to be similar to some of those in Thailand and Halong Bay in Vietnam, though with far, far less tourists. We had this beach to ourselves.)

(Ben and Heather, two super friendly Filipinos in my group, explore the beach while I waded out in the water. Asking about their impeccable American accents, I found out that they are actually customer service supervisors for two American telecom companies.)

(Our hidden beach as we sailed on to our next stop. This was possibly on the edge of Pangalusian Island, though with so many islands in the bay, it's hard to tell.)

(A fleeting view of a private resort on what might be Pangalusian Island - this private piece is a refuge for those staying on the exclusive and expensive Lagen Island Resort. So apparently even the upper class want to get away from each other.)

(Standing atop Snake Island during a very brief rain. You can see the long sandbar in the background behind my head that stretches from the island to the mainland. Walking barefoot up to this point was a little painful.)

(Our lunch at Snake Island. Fresh fish (amazingly from the ocean surrounding us), soy/garlic sauce with diced onions, vegetable salad with vinegar, rice, infinite bananas and some of the juiciest mangoes I've ever had. Our group was originally going to be 5 or 8 people before dropping down to just 3 of us, so there was plenty of food to go around.)

(The sandbar stretching from the mainland to Snake Island.)

(Looking back across the bay from Cudugnon Cave where we made a brief stop to explore a hidden cave in the limestone walls.)

(On the edge of another island containing Cathedral Cave, not to be confused with my beloved Cathedral Cove in New Zealand. Yes, it's mine. I took a picture there.)

(Here's the actual cave at Cathedral Cave - 50 or 60 feet high, though too narrow to enter with a boat. Apparently someone thought it looked like a cathedral...man were they wrong. Looks more like a cave to me.)

(Amazing Pinabuyatan Island. A small circular island with huge limestone cliffs all around and one tiny beach and some palm trees around the front. If I had to create an island for myself, it might look pretty similar to this, along with a taco bar, of course.)

(Two or three other small boats joined us on the island.)

(Our guide/boat driver climbed one of the palm trees to cut down a few fresh coconuts at our last stop. Fresh coconut juice and perfect views over the bay...it doesn't get much better than that.)

(The small grove of palm trees on Pinbuyatan Island. The spelling of the island's name varies a lot depending on where you see it written, but once you find a place like this, you really don't care.)

(Along the backside of Pinbuyatan is one tiny hut among the massive hundred foot cliffs of limestone and a few lonely palm trees.)

(Quiet beaches dot the coast of the mainland heading back towards El Nido.)

(The view of El Nido, heading back from the incredible day touring just a few of the islands of the Bacuit Archipelago. )

(Falafel burger with hummus at Blue Azul restaurant again. Yes, it's not all that Filipino, but I couldn't resist. And no, I'm not sure about the name which just translates to Blue Blue. I also saw a hotel in Sabang named Green Verde.)