I was back to traveling solo in El Nido, Palawan. My travel mates for the past four days already left, before day break, for the 6-hour ride to Puerto Princesa and return flight to Manila.

There was no awesome view of the sunrise to cheer me up that morning because of the thick haze of heavy clouds tirelessly hovering over the islands.

I had a couple of hours to spare before checking out of Rico’s Beach Cottages, the resort we stayed at in El Nido. In the meantime, I thought it would be a good idea to do a quick hike of Taraw Peak, which offered a bird’s eye view of the islands around Bacuit Bay. Conquering El Nido’s majestic limestone cliffs was something that I have been wanting to do since my first visit.

Even though the weather was not perfect, I pushed through with the hike anyways. The result? I was to find out soon enough.

View of El Nido outside Rico’s Beach Cottages. Starting point of my trek to Taraw Peak.

Planning a hike to Taraw Peak

Asked our tour operator the day before where I could find willing local guides to Taraw Peak. They were the ones who looked for a guide and instructed me to wait at Rico’s Beach Cottages around 7:00am. Really convenient :)

I suppose it also would’ve been easy to find a guide myself since it’s a fairly popular activity among tourists in El Nido.

My guides were two high-school students who do “guiding” on the weekends or on holidays.

I noticed they only had slippers on. I was highly advised previously to bring hiking shoes for this trek because of the sharp limestone rocks that made up 99% of the trail. I wouldn’t have brought my shoes otherwise because I knew I’d be spending 99% of my trip on the beach. I reckoned I could have done the trek with thick soled flip flops or sandals… oh well :|

The two boys led me to the base of the trail, which was located near the pier (western side of the town proper/poblacion). I felt so like the typical tourist being escorted through the town streets of El Nido.

Hiking time

The hike took around an hour, which wasn’t too bad. It was a bit of an effort to climb the sharp rocks and steep cliffs, which could be dangerous if not being careful.

Beautiful deep forest view

Asked my guide to point out any interesting flora/fauna we might encounter along the way. Got excited when he finally gestured at me to take a look at something … It turned out to be this guy, LOL

Dwarfed by the rock cliffs

The fun begins

The trail started to get very steep 1/3 of the way.

Close to the peak

Cloudy day

The view on top although spectacular wasn’t “post card” perfect because of the haze. No blue skies that day :(

El Nido Town Proper

Full view of Taraw Peak

View of El Nido’s northern shores and mountains

View of Cadlao Island

Cadlao Island, the pumpboats and local houses near El Nido pier

Closer view of Cadlao Island, which has the highest peak in all of Bacuit Bay

Clouds start rolling in

My luck must have worn out because it started drizzling. We barely started our descent when the heavy rains came. As in we were really drenched! I should have brought extra waterproofing (A.K.A any plastic bag) because my daypack (slash camera bag) didn’t have decent waterproofing.

That was the least of my problems … the trail was extra dangerous because of the slippery rocks. We did manage to come down safely, and at just 30 minutes this time.

Asked my guides how much I should pay for the tour. They said it was “up to me.” They agreed to a rate of P300, which was the normal rate I read online. Gave additional tip.

I planned to stay in El Nido for a couple more nights. I needed to transfer to another place to stay that was more budget-friendly for a solo traveler :) My visit was in perfect timing because there was a new backpacker hostel in El Nido, called La Banane Hostel, that just opened.

Ambot-ah Taraw Peak Itinerary

• 6:00am – Bid goodbye to travel mates. Start solo travel in El Nido
• 7:00am – My two guides for the hike to Taraw Peak arrived at Rico’s Beach Cottages
• Taraw Peak guide fee – P300
• Walk to jump-off point for Taraw Peak (under 15 minutes)
• 7:20am to 10:09am – Taraw Peak trek (1 hour to reach summit from jump-off point)
• 8:22am – reached summit
• 10:09am – back to jump-off point
• Walk back to Rico’s Beach Cottages
• Check-out at Rico’s
• Transfer to another place to stay in El Nido that is better for solo travelers