El Nido Nightlife

1 more image

You certainly didn't come here to party, but if you're tired of sitting at the beach with Bob Marley and tiki lights you can try the "Boom Disco House" or the "New Zone Disco And Karaoke Bar (Formerly Hardrocks)". Both are what I'd call a Filipino countryside disco, the music is loud and the alcohol flows. You'll meet a lot of locals there, it's fun! Curfew is at 12.30am!

3 more images

Art Cafe is the most popular place in El Nido. The food is good, perfect! I love the Seafood Pizza, garlic shrimps and the pesto pasta(which is not included in their menu). The price is okay, taste of pizza.. u can compare it to the taste of CPK. The owner is a European girl married to Pinoy. They're nice and cool! Since it's off peak, we're the only Pinoy guests in the resto. Mostly are Europeans & other foreigners who stayed long in El Nido. The resto is in 2/f. On the G/F, they have a lot of cute souvenirs you can buy

Dress Code: None but you have to remove your shoes or slippers before entering the resto

Balay Tubay has a nice reggae/local music set up. They actually have live bands every night. Great character to the place.

It would have been perfect if the place is located on the beach and open to sea breeze. As it is, it can get pretty hot at night.

No, don't give my title a negative connotation. One of my friends from the IT industry said that the only place where she can get drunk is in El Nido. That I fully understand.

I don't drink but I can see my companions getting happily drunk in Miniloc's bar. Because aside from there's no large crowd to bother you, you can take your beer or cocktail anywhere on the island (whether it be on the bar, on the beach side, or on your cottage). Their cocktails are okay. But then, the boring me drank only Bailey's. Haha!

With the beverages comes great music and billiards. You can even just hang out there until the wee hours of the morning. And when you're drunk, the cottages are pretty much there so you can crawl, er, walk your way to bed.

Dress Code: Beach wear, of course. Or whatever is comfortable for you.

It is like a mini "Saguijo" but in Paradise. Bong the owner was very friendly and explained to me what Balay Tubay means it is actually Cuyunin for My Father's House. You see a lot of the stuff here is pre-war taken from their house in Taytay, Palawan.

The clocks you see around you were actually shoe racks made from a certain tree(forgot the name). They have live music, cheap beer, a see-through booth that had a collection of DVDs(pirated hehe) for you to watch. From Led Zeppelin to John Denver. A must go for travelers in El Nido Town.

Dress Code: Wear whatever

1 more image

There really isn't much of a night life in El Nido... There are a few expat-owned places along the beach and elsewhere, but the coolest after-dinner hang-out would be Balai Tubay. It's too bad that they're not located along the beach, but here are the top three reasons why this place is not to be missed:

3. Cold beer at an affordable price --- at P40 per bottle, beer here is already a bit on the high-end considering you can get them for half that price elsewhere in town. But all things considered, that's not too bad.
2. Cool ambience --- set up by a group of local artists and musicians, the interiors of Balai just say "PALAWAN." It's simple in a very artsy yet unpretentious way, and cluttered with indigenous crafts and artwork by El Nido- based artists. Really cool...
1. ROCK and REGGAE ON! --- local music group Islanen and friends dish out the type of music that's perfect in an island-setting. From original compositions to Pinoy reggae classics, to covers of the great Marley and classic rock tunes from the Beatles and Pink Floyd and even The Police and U2 (my personal faves!) Sure, they kinda miss the lyrics sometimes, but that's no big deal. I love the way these guys just jam and have a ball performing. On some nights, not even the lights going out at 1 am stops the fun. Hell, all you need are some candles and voila, we have an acoustic session going on! With that cold beer in your hand and surrounded by happy locals and tourists having a great time, it's all good!

Dress Code: No restrictions: Just come as you are!