Small Lagoon — Attraction in El Nido

Positives: The stunning landscape with its towering limestone cliffs and tropical nature is breathtaking. The small lagoon on Miniloc Island is particularly impressive like a small wonderful treasure.

Negatives: Unfortunately, snorkeling was disappointing. At all the spots, including this place, the corals were already dead, and marine biodiversity was very limited. Apart from a few fish and one ray, I saw nothing. Visibility was between 5 to 10 meters at most, with many algae and particulates, indicating high pollution or nitrogen levels, possibly from untreated wastewater from El Nido town.

Improvements Needed Typically, when snorkeling in other countries, people are discouraged from using sunscreen/sun lotion, as hundreds of snorkelers and swimmers can create an oil film that pollutes the water, harms corals, and disturbs fish.

Conclusion: This is a classic case of overtourism. There are far too many boats with diesel engines and anchors, and far too many tourists who have already caused significant damage to the corals. Additionally, untreated wastewater from El Nido town likely contributes to the problem.

If I'm honest, I regret being part of this mass tourism. Ideally, the entire island landscape should be closed for several years or the number of tourists per day should be strictly limited so that marine nature could recover. Prices for tourists from wealthy countries should be significantly increased to fund a wastewater treatment plant from...

Been here many times but my recent visit made me so happy because of almost no one there. They did a great job with their new tours controlling the crowd.

This is probably one of the best stop when you do the El Nido tour. Peaceful, the limestones giving the place character, the lush greens and the turquoise water.

To get to the lagoon, you will kayak from your speedboat/boat. Scoot yourself in a small opening and you kayak inside the lagoon. One part of the lagoon has shallow water and the other is deep blue. There is a small cave, the size of a kayak inside the lagoon. You can swim or snorkel too. Abundant in fish, sadly the corals are dead.

There is a nearby mini beach too that you can go to...

What a beautiful little area! The boats will anchor and you can either swim or hire a kayak to get you to the small lagoon. It is a good swim if you are up for it. You then pass through a small arch in some rocks and arrive into a mini paradise. The lush green vegetation that spills from the limestone is just jaw dropping. Some areas as quite deep, so watch your phone etc. You don't need shoes for this area. There is also a little cave thats darkness is broken by sunlight streaming through a gap in the...