Shimizu Island in El Nido, Palawan took me by surprise the first time I laid my eyes on its captivating beauty. It’s probably the most gorgeously surreal island in Bacuit Bay off the coast of El Nido.

Imagine a small white sand beach pocket sandwiched between two sentinel-like limestone cliffs that are bridged by a curtain of deep forest. Emerald green waters surround the island. Underwater, the sightings of colorful corals and diverse marine creatures are equally impressive.

Surreal beauty of Shimizu Island in El Nido, Palawan

After visiting Miniloc Island‘s lagoons, we continued our island hopping tour to Shimizu Island. We were planning to have picnic lunch there but the beach was packed with hordes of tourists at the time. Our boatmen decided to dock at Entulala Beach instead.

Deserted island seen on the way to Entulala Island

Secret Lagoon Beach

Entalula Island

Entulala Island is a privately owned island frequented by El Nido Resorts’ guests who desire to have lunch/dinner at a more intimate setting. I was excstatic when our boatmen told us we were having our picnic lunch at Entulala Island because it’s not usually included in the island hopping tours offered from El Nido town proper.

First glimpse of Entulala Island

Main beach in Entulala Island
 

The main beach area of Entulala Island had a couple of wooden structures that are, most likely, exclusive for guests of El Nido resorts. There was a smaller beach cove at the far end of the beach where we docked and set-up the picnic lunch. It was awesome because we only had to share the beach with one other group.

Beach cove at Shimozu SIland where we had picnic lunch

While the boatmen were busy preparing our food. We had a lot of time to enjoy the area. Like Shimizu Island, Entulala was walled by limestone cliffs and bordered, on the inland side, by lush foliage.

View from under the rock formations in Entulala Island

It was kinda cool to see our boatmen set-up a campfire beside the cave-like rock wall. The idea of being able to live on the island and feed from freshly caught seafood or fruits/animals from the forested area seemed very possible :D

Boat crew preparing our lunch of fresh seafood :D

Staging a free form cliff climbing shot. I was only like a couple of feet from the ground :p

Our picnic lunch by the beach took a while to get done. The long wait was so worth it. Our simple lunch was made more special because the crew put some effort into creating a good presentation :D It looked really delicious! We couldn’t wait to dig in and savor the mouthwatering seafood.

Fish Feeding in Shimizu Island

After our picnic lunch, we went back to Shimizu Island for “fish feeding.” There were a LOT of fish in Shimizu Island. Underwater, snorkelers can enjoy a flurry of colors from different types of fish and live corals. It was definitely one of the best snorkeling sites that I’ve experienced in El Nido.

Fish feeding in Shimizu Island
Shimizu Island during sunset

Miniloc Island Lagoons and Shimizu Island are part of the “Tour A” island hopping tour in El Nido. The next item in our itinerary was to visit a few spots included in “Tour B” like Snake Island, Cudongon Cave, and Seven Commando Beach.

We decided to arrange custom combination tours so we could cover most of the major attractions and  fully maximize our visit to El Nido.

Views along the way to Snake Island

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