Why the Hell is El Nido Town So Poorly Managed?

During our stay in El Nido, we checked out every review on the internet to find the best place to stay here and what we found was very different from what the reality of the area was. I hope that we can help other travellers to do this area right. These are the reasons why I hate El Nido, Philippines right now.

Are you sensitive to smells? Then do yourself a favour and avoid staying in town in this location. Don’t get me wrong, this place is unreal beautiful. Unfortunately it is very poorly managed at the moment 2019 which is a major turnoff for a lot of people. You can plan on smelling sewage everywhere you go including in your hotel for some reason. I am travelling with 2 children and my wife and we are used to travelling in various locations all over the world including all over the Caribbean, Canada, the US, Australia, Fiji and all over Asia. El Nido town was one of the worst smelling places we have experienced after 20 years of long term travel.

Why I Hate El Nido Right Now, Should I Avoid It?

Should El Nido be shut down like Boracay?

Recently the Philippine government realized that there are sanitary problems in a lot of their major tourist destinations and they ended up shutting down one popular location Boracay for a period of time of adjustment. The result was a significant change in the quality of the area and the ocean surrounding the area.

How Long Should I Stay In El Nido?

Staying in El Nido town for a long period of time is and absolute waste of time. It is a cool are to see and to party at, but overall if you are planning on going to El Nido you should avoid this area. I stayed at the new Cuna Hotel that had great pics online and the experience for the price we payed was far below what it should have been in the Philippines. Every floor had an excessive amount of air fresheners to try to mask the smell of shit, there was no internet in the room and really shitty internet in the lobby area and the guy at check in was rude.

We finally found the most amazing part of this place which was their top floor. It has an infinity pool, and amazing bar and a well priced restaurant. Unfortunately for us, there was so much construction happening in the area they shut down the restaurant during our stay forcing us to go into town every time one of our kids got hungry.

I am not a super high end traveller, but I expect to get what I pay for and their site said they had internet and all of the good amenities like the restaurant etc.

El Nido town should be the main hub for the area and it is quickly loosing ground as larger corporations are realizing the potential to build their own dream properties and control everything about their investments.

El Nido Boats and tours, Philippines Why I hate El Nido right now.

The Best Place to Stay In El Nido?

For example Lio Beach is an epic success and there are other companies that are capitalizing on the beauty of Las cabanas or Carong Carong beach. In these locations they have built amazing restaurants and experiences for the tourist. By doing this they will get more out of it financially and over time, and get higher ratings.

El Nido town needs a facelift and the government here are the only ones that can instill the minimum standards this place needs. The roads are in horrible shape, many of them with large potholes, there is no space for strollers, the waste system is nasty and the people here just don’t give a shit.

Should I Stay In El Nido Town?

I did meet some people in El Nido that respected what they had in front of them including a dive shop that explained to me that no-one really pays taxes here…. Maybe that’s why the government doesn’t care.

El Nido is an up and coming tourist area and the Philippine government needs to spend some money here. Even if the locals are barely paying taxes, there is major opportunity here for larger companies to come in, employ the people in the area, clean up, provide the amenities that higher end travellers want and PAY TAXES.

After reading about this place online, we had to visit here. We are literally travelling through the Philippines for a month with 2 kids and El Nido was so far one of our most difficult experiences. It should not have been this way, but unfortunately you can expect this if you are here with kids at this time, or even by yourself.

Lucky for me I only spent half of my time in town, my single brothers were in El Nido staying in hostels their entire time in El Nido. Both of them got sick in my opinion just because it was an unsanitary place to be. Before this we were all travelling through Malaysia and everyone was fine.

El Nido Mountain Views

Is the driving safe in El Nido?

The driving in El Nido is Erratic with taxis and scooters speeding around areas that should be walking areas. In the evening, they shut down one road to traffic and make it for walking due to the hundreds of tourists on the street, unfortunately there will still be people driving by then.

This is not to bash El Nido, I loved this place. You just need to go in El Nido for the experience you want. I think a lot of people come here expecting a Phi Phi island or something. It is not. They do not have the infrastructure, They have too many vehicles and people to create that vibe. And the place is so poor with a high population for an area like this. Everyone is trying to make a buck and I don’t blame them. In fact when were there we gladly paid the price they quoted for most things.

Not all places in El Nido are in this condition. If you venture out you will find hidden gems such as Lio Beach that had almost everything you would want out of a dream beach destination, Nacpan beach that is just stunning and Vanilla beach that is making massive efforts to bring in the tourism.

Is Driving Safe In El Nido, Philippines?

Does El Nido Have good Wifi?

The internet is shit in El Nido town. The best place I found here was V&V caffe that had fibre optic internet. They were down for 2 of the 5 days I was there. I think we live in a time now that this should be a non negotiable. We had a globe sim card in our phones and we tested the internet in our hotel and several establishments. I could barely send a text email out.

My recipe for this area is simple if you are travelling as a family with kids stay on Lio Beach. There is an unreal beach right there for out every morning and great food. Take the free shuttle into town for the amenities you don’t have there and get back to paradise every night back at Lio. They limit the amount of drivers coming in and it has no weird smells. Only seabreeze and a dreamy beach.

How Can El Nido Improve Fast?

As the area progresses with their building through 2019 and 2020 Vanilla beach will be and amazing place. They have a huge shopping area coming in right off the beach and beautiful resorts and beach. This place will be beautiful once it is done. There is also a lot more character in the area from and experience perspective with nice local shops and hidden gems throughout. I took my son for a beach walk and we found swings, abandoned boats and all kind of other fun things to see. It is a real treat to be in this area after being in El Nido town.

I hope this will help you get the most out of El Nido, if you have any questions or comments please let me know. We will have several articles about El Nido that will help you make an educated decision so that you can get the most out of your trip.

The Rampersauds at Lio Beach El Nido, Philippines

The Rampersauds

My name is Sean Rampersaud, my family and I are travelling the world writing and taking video of our experiences. My wife is Radika and my 2 kids are Rayden and Natasha. We want to help improve our readers lives in some way, and have a large private group of travellers we like to work with. You can join our group by leaving your email. Please comment below if you have any questions. If you found this informative please share it. We provide our community free travel tools that will make your lives way easier when you travel including free travel plans, and a custom itinerary builder! Join us today. If you are interested in how we make money while we travel email me or reply with you name and email at sean@adventugo.com.