El Nido without Tourism: From Empty Beaches to McDonald’s without Burgers

I feel weightless. I lie with my back on the surface of the water and let myself drift from the gentle waves. The sun shines on my face and I feel a warm tingle on my skin. Slowly, I open my eyes, looking up to the blue sky. Occasionally, I can discover a few white clouds. I look around.

The long coconut palms are dancing in the wind. Every single leave is blowing around. I’m expecting a coconut to fall down soon, but nothing happens…

As on every Sunday, I see some Filipinos relaxing on the beach on their day off .I also see a few foreigners walking down the beach – but not many. I turn my head and look at the fancy restaurants, from which soft music can be heard and wonder what this place looks like during peak season...

From the buildings, you can tell that there are usually a lot of tourists hanging around here. But at the moment the restaurants are empty. And many hotels are closed as well.

If I turn around, I have a wonderful view of the numerous islands, which I already know very well by now. But I cannot discover any boats. Normally, there are supposed to be hundreds of boats in the bay, which are used for so-called island-hopping tours. On these boats, thousands of tourists are taken daily to the surrounding islands to explore the beautiful beaches of El Nido.

And I can confirm that these beaches are truly stunning. After all, I like to go to the islands myself and swim in the crystal clear water. But are the islands still special with large crowds of people on them? I don’t know, I’ve never experienced the place like this. But I’ve heard a lot about the tourism in El Nido…

The whole place is said to be overrun by tourists. If you want to visit the famous lagoons, you have to stand in line with your boat in front of the entrance. And in town there are so many people on the road that some streets are pure walking streets and closed for any kind of vehicles.

When I walk through the streets now, I can see that the place would look quite different during normal times. Many stores and bars are closed and I wonder what’s hidden behind the closed facades. Once in a while, some new restaurants and stores open, others close. These are the changes I could observe for the entire past year.

Just as quickly, the rules and Covid restrictions change. While in December people from Manila were still allowed to arrive, in June a lockdown was imposed with a curfew starting at 8 pm. When it was lifted in July, visitors from all over the Philippines were allowed to enter our little “travel bubble”. And soon after that, the capital Manila went back into lockdown and all flights were cancelled once again.

McDonald’s – the only food chain in town – is closing shop, but reopens its doors just a few months later. Only burgers were not available for a week. You could get rice with fried chicken though…

Island tours are cancelled and then allowed to operate again.

You can go to the capital Puerto Princessa to renew your visa without any problems, now you have to show a negative antigen test if you’ve been away for more than three days.

All these changes happen so quickly, that it’s sometimes difficult to understand what’s going on.

But I don’t really care about any of this as long as I can go to the beach and meet up with friends from time to time. To be honest, I actually really like it this way. After all, who can say to be all alone on a beach in El Nido? Or to be on the only boat in the bay to visit the famous surrounding islands of El Nido? Even when we visit the lagoons, we usually have the whole place for ourselves!

And no matter where I go, I see familiar faces. Everyone in El Nido knows each other and besides many familiar locals, there’s a small community of expats hanging around to wait out the pandemic. Every now and then you have to say goodbye to good friends that are going back home, but other than that, time stands still.

The only question is, for how much longer?! Will international tourism come back soon or is this still just the beginning of an economic drought? How long can the restaurant and hotel owners who depend on tourism hold out?

Speaking of restaurants… my stomach is grumbling! A burger after swimming would be amaazing! Let’s see if they have any. Otherwise, I’ll just get rice with fried chick… BUMS. My thoughts are interrupted. A coconut has fallen down.

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