Coron to El Nido Monday March 9th

Underway on the good ship Jessabel at about 0830 on a balmy Palawan morning with calm seas and a blue sky interspersed with fluffy white clouds. Jessabel is licensed to carry 60+ passengers but today I was sharing with about a dozen so there was plenty of room to both lay around resting and to move about the boat taking advantage of photo opportunities. The passing scenery consisted of islands, some with brilliant white beaches with fringing village huts and shores lined with fishing bankas, while others rose with shear cliffs from the ocean floor and are uninhabitable due to there being no safe landing place.
Schools of flying fish constantly scattered away from Jessabel in spectacular glides skimming the sea surface with just occasional flicks of their tail in the water. To the delight of all on board, crew included a pod of dolphins broached just off the starboard outrigger and followed us for ten or so minutes.
The skipper navigates without the aid of charts, modern electronic aides or it seems even a compass, at times sailing in very close quarters with the rocky outcrops off the tips of islands. In spite of this we arrived safely in El Nido well ahead of schedule and in plenty of time to find a room for the night.
I had heard in Coron that El Nida was pretty busy at the moment so I picked a lodge from my Philippines Guide book and called ahead to reserve a room. I have a lovely traditional room complete with bathroom in a duplex, away from the beach and the noise and at the base of a towering grey cliff. Called, appropriately Cliffside Lodge, rooms start at 500 Pesos a night and they can be contacted on 09197856625.
El Nido is more developed for the tourist market than Coron with more upmarket beach lodges wedged in between the beach huts. There are more shops catering to the shopping needs of tourists, however they all seem to carry the same lines of clothing and souvenirs seen decorating the shelves in Port Galera and Coron. Prices in general are slightly higher than in Coron, I'll have a good look around tomorrow before deciding how long to stay here.