Did you know….
* El Nido was voted the best beach in the world by Conde Naste Traveler readers in 2015.
*In 2012, CNNGo declared El Nido as the Philippines’ Best Beach and Island destination.
*In 2007 National Geographic Traveler’s magazine chose Palawan as one of the best travel destinations in the world.
*El Nido means “the nest” for the cave swiftlets that build nests using their saliva on El Nido’s cliffs. The nests are believed to have great health benefits and are used to make bird’s nest soup. The nests are very valuable and locals have harvested and sold them for centuries.
*El Nido is composed of 45 islands and islets, and the Philippines has over 7100 islands!
*The Philippine government made the entire area of El Nido a turtle sanctuary in 1984, then a marine reserve park in 1991, and finally a managed resource protected area in 1998.
*El Nido is protected for its unique flora and fauna, and geologic formations. These include:
- limestone cliffs, the home of the swiftlets
- 50 white sand beaches
- 5 types of forest (the lowland evergreen rainforests found in the mainland and islands such as Miniloc, Lagen and Pangulasian; semi-deciduous forests; forests over limestone; beach forests; and, the mangrove forests found mostly around major rivers and creeks in the mainland)
- 3 major marine habitats
- 16 endemic and 10 threatened species of birds (including the Palawan hornbill, the Palawan shama, the Palawan tit, Palawan scops owl, and the Palawan peacock pheasant)
- 6 species of marine mammals endemic to Palawan (including dolphins and its native dugong)
- the Palawan tree shrew, the Palawan stink badger, the Palawan spiny rat, the Palawan anteater, and the northern Palawan tree squirrel
- 4 species of endangered marine turtles (hawksbill, olive ridley, leatherback and green sea turtles)
- 100 species of corals, 45 of which belongs to the genera of hard corals
- 813 species of fish
*The 3rd and 10th seasons of Expedition Robinson, a Swedish version of Survivor, was shot in Cadlao Island in El Nido in 1999 and 2009.
* Leg 12 of The Amazing Race 5 was shot in the Bacuit Bay of El Nido in 2004.
* The “Desert-Island Special Challenge” or the episodes 59 and 60 of the 3rd season of the most-outstanding comedy program in South Korea, Muhan Dojeon, was entirely shot in El Nido in 2007.
* All 10 episodes of the 7th edition of Les Aventuriers de Koh-Lanta, the French franchise of the popular reality American TV show Survivor was entirely shot in El Nido in 2007 and was aired to 7 million viewers in Europe.
* Some of the scenes of The Bourne Legacy were filmed in El Nido.