Nacpan Beach – No Longer A Secret!

Time and tide wait for no man, and when it comes to “secret beaches” nothing could be truer. 

We’ve been coming to El Nido for 6 years now. It is hard to believe that at that point (and until 2 years ago), the whole town only had electricity for 12 hours a day. In some ways, the daily brownout was quite pleasant and usually occurred during the island hopping anyway. 

El Nido is no longer a secret! It has not quite become Boracay yet, but El Nido is not only expanding in all directions but they now even have a McDonalds. That’s when you really know you have screwed the pooch.

But, whilst El Nido has been expanding, we always had the secret beach of Nacpan. Nacpan (was) a secret beach that stretched for miles with only a few shops and a couple of huts to stay in. People would usually come for the day, or maybe one night to stay in the traditional huts, but my word, what difference a mere year makes.

In the last year, the place has been overrun by pop-up bars and restaurants, and extremely high-end resorts. It is no longer the place of solace that it once was!

That being said it is not without its charms, and the long run of white sand crystal clear beaches that Nacpan, Palawan offers is still worth a visit. They even still have beach huts you can stay in, although even the cheap places are now $50 a night. We didn’t visit but they also have drinking pool parties that are definitely aimed at the younger party crowd. 

As for our evening, we played cards against humanity, ate fish and drank Tanduay rum by the beach. A place doesn’t have to be a secret for you to have fun!

Next year, we try and find the next “new” place. 

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