No points for guessing where the name comes from.

Helicopter Island is a short boat ride away from El Nido. It’s worth every drop of sweat in the sweltering heat. To get up high there’s a canopy walk through the trees and to the top of the cliff overlooking the town. The natural bay offers glorious views from the beach side restaurants and bars. So if you’re struggling to keep warm in the Northern Hemisphere right now, here are the most beautiful pictures from my island hopping adventures in El Nido, just to make you a little jealous!Įl Nido town sprawls out onto a sandy beach, and it’s a great place to get exploring. But with Palawan having recently been voted one of the top islands in the world by Conde Nast, it’s best to get here sooner rather than later, before it inevitably gets too busy for those of you who prefer their destinations to be off the beaten track. And it will always be beautiful! There’s the usual Filipino charm and friendliness, with fresh sea food, cheap beer and daily opportunities for exploration. It’s really not that remote these days though, and the country has far less visited locations for the really intrepid, but with the Philippines being the least frequented region of South East Asia, it’s a place that has yet to be over run. Palawan has been called the ‘Last Frontier’ of the Philippines, and until recently El Nidowas just a small, isolated fishing village. It’s a paradise for beach lovers and island hoppers, with outstanding scenery and incredible marine life. The alert level was lowered back to two before Saturday’s eruption.Beautiful Pictures of Island Hopping In El Nido!Įl Nido is a laid back town at the far northern end of the Filipino island of Palawan. It belched sulphur dioxide for several days, creating a thick haze over the capital and surrounding provinces. Last July, the seismological agency raised the alert level to three after Taal burst to life again. The Philippines is hit periodically by eruptions and earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – a zone of intense seismic activity.Īccess to the volcano island, which was once home to a community of thousands, has been prohibited since the 2020 eruption. Police have been deployed to stop people entering the high-risk zones, while aviation authorities warned airlines and pilots of potential hazards from volcanic ash in the atmosphere. More than 12,000 people live in the most vulnerable communities, according to the latest available official data. “There is no threat beyond the … five villages,” Solidum said. The agency’s chief, Renato Solidum, said the activity was weaker than in January 2020, when Taal shot ash 15 kilometres high and spewed red-hot lava, crushing scores of homes, killing livestock and sending tens of thousands into shelters. The initial eruption was followed by “nearly continuous phreatomagmatic activity” that sent plumes stretching 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) into the air, the seismological agency said, raising the alert level from two to three on a scale of zero to five.Ī phreatomagmatic eruption happens when molten rock comes into contact with underground or surface water, said Princess Cosalan, a scientist at the agency, likening it to pouring “water on a hot pan”.Ĭosalan told AFP that ash and steam emissions had quietened in the hours after the initial burst, but said the institute’s on-site sensors continued to detect volcanic earthquakes and another eruption was “possible”. “It smelled really bad and I had difficulty breathing,” she added.

“It rained mud,” said Cornelia Pesigan, 25, who sought shelter at a school outside the 7km (4.3 mile) “danger zone”.

Residents in five fishing and farming settlements around the lake were ordered to leave their homes, in the third mass evacuation in as many years around one of the country’s most active volcanoes. It warned further eruptions were possible, which it said could trigger dangerous, fast-moving volcanic flows of gas, ash and debris, as well as a tsunami.

Philippine scenery pictures