In our previous post about Island Hopping in El Nido, we already portrayed the incredible beauty of the island of Palawan and its stunning beaches. Having done that we decided to have a look at the beaches that are located on the island itself and discovered Nacpan Beach - an amazing, long-stretched white sand beach just north of the town of El Nido. Here we will provide you with some insights on our visit there.
How to get to Nacpan Beach
Nacpan Beach can be reached either by boat (usually part of a tour) or by motorcycle or tricycle. The tour that brings you here is the Tour E where you will see different inland beaches and waterfalls. You can book this tour through the most agencies or hotels in the town of El Nido.
Alternatively, you can rent a motorcycle (around 800 Pesos per day) or get a tricycle to bring you to Nacpan Beach. You can find tricycles all around El Nido - the driver will bring you all the way directly to Nacpan Beach. The ride takes around 45 minutes to 1 hour and will take you across some pretty bumpy dirt roads, so be prepared! A round trip will cost you around 1000 Pesos (roughly €20).
Nacpan Beach
When you enter you will have to register at a small counter and pay an entrance fee (around 50 Pesos per person).
The first impressions, once we arrived at the beach, were incredible. The sand is very fine and white and stretches for kilometers, hugging the clear blue water. There are lots of spaces to rest in the shadow and also a small restaurant at the entrance area where you can enjoy a snack and some drinks.
We decided to rest a bit and found a nice spot to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The waves are very small and the water is quite shallow, gradually getting deeper and allowing for some nice swimming.
Twin Beach View
After relaxing for a while we walked to the far end of the beach and climbed up a small hill. From here you can enjoy a beautiful view across the entire bay and also see the neighboring beach. This spot is called the twin beach view from where you can see both Nacpan Beach and Calitang Beach. It is a very incredible view and definitely something you should not miss when visiting this place.
Before coming to Nacpan beach you should be aware of the presence of sand flies that can make your stay here memorable in a very bad way! We did not know about this before and got bitten quite badly so make sure to prepare before you go. The best way to do so is to protect your skin with coconut oil (apparently, not confirmed) and insect sprays/repellents.
Anyhow, we found Nacpan Beach to be one of the most beautiful spots on Palawan island and rate it to be one of the nicest beaches we have discovered on the Philippines so far. Must-go place!