Welcome to Greenviews Resorts – El Nido
- GREENVIEWS RESORT, CORONG-CORONG, EL NIDO
- Tel: 0905 315 6333 or 0921 586 1442 – PLEASE NOTE THE EL NIDO TELEPHONE NUMBER IN LONELY PLANET IS WRONG.
Corong–Corong, El – Nido.
El Nido is at the northern tip of Palawan and Greenviews Resort is situated in the barangay of Corong-Corong on a quiet beach just 3km from the town.
Accommodation and Facilities.
Although the resort was only opened in November 2007, it already has earned a very good reputation and has successfully bridged the gap between the expensive mainly offshore resorts and the considerable number of cheaper and often poor quality resorts in El Nido itself.
This has been recognised by the latest (May 2009) Lonely Planet Guide to the Philippines which stated :– ( Lonely Planet Review of El Nido. )
“Outside the top-end resorts (which meant the 3 very expensive resorts like Lagen & Miniloc) Greenviews cottages are the nicest in the area. Like its sister property in Port Barton, Greenviews looks like it was put together by highly skilled woodcarvers and craftsmen – from the hardwood floors to the room furniture to the wonderfully designed benches in the 2nd-storey restaurant, everything is a cut above the quality found elsewhere.”
Unlike El Nido town, which gets no sunsets, except in the May –July period, owing to the large rock blocking the view, Greenviews Corong-Corong Resort has wonderful sunsets, (except mid May – July), which are different each day. The Greenviews restaurant on the second floor overlooking the sea is an ideal vantage point to enjoy such sunsets, as is the garden and beach just in front of the restaurant. Tourists staying in El Nido town often arrive around 6pm to join in the view.
Free WIFI is available in the restaurant and free use of a computer if not being used by the management.
The resort has been constructed with native style cottages, with a native style restaurant building in the middle at the front.
The restuarant not only has superb views but the natural wooden furniture makes a splendid feature and gets the admiration of many visitors. I do not think there is another restaurant in El Nido that can get anywhere near to the beauty of our restaurant. Non resident visitors are welcome, if you are not staying at Greenviews you can come and experiance the restaurant for your self.
We serve both international and Phillappine cuisine and as part of the normal menu we give a free soup starter and free desert afterwards.
From January 2016 we have started to set up tables on the beach serving food and drinks each evening from our restuarant and beach side BBQ. Guests can also enjoy acoustic music on the beach provided by a young lady with a beautiful voce accompanied on guitar by her husband. This entertainment has proved so popular with non residents that we have improved the already attractive lighting as well as the cooking and serving arrangements.
The good food is prepared in our exceptionally clean kitchen, which is operated to strict hygene standards. We are so proud of the kitchen that we are happy to show around any visitor without warning our staff of the visit.
However, we do not allow guests to bring in food from outside to be cooked in our kitchen.
Fan room with balcony over main garden
Fan room with balcony over back garden
All cottages have their own balcony and bathroom with flush toilet and tiled shower which are hot showers.
There are 8 double cottages and 2 family cottages. All cottages have both fan and aircon so we can change to either by turning a switch and adjusting payment accordingly. There are also 6 rooms, 4 of which have the same facilities as the cottage except no airconn and two are interior rooms with no balconies, which can either be fan or aircon.
Double Cottage No 4
Front double cottage no 6
Double Cottage No 7
Family cottage no 10
El Nedo Cottages Photo Gallery.
The garden is being extensively planted with flowers, shrubs, climbers and trees and already has produced an attractive backdrop for the resort.
Recent additions, including a large number of orchids, ensure that the garden becomes an attraction in its own right.
Already the golden birdwing (troides platinii) is breeding in the garden, just as it is at Port Barton.
Apart from the exhausting tasks of resting in hammocks, lying on sun beds or lifting a glass of beer, guests can take boat trips from the resorts with either Greenviews own boat or with local boatmen living nearby.
The same boat tours offered in El Nido can be taken but with the added advantage that they pick you up and drop you just outside the restaurant and have extra flexibility as regards time and places to be visited.
Greenviews has two boats, one for 10 passengers and one which will take 6 passengers. We reserve the right to organise the numbers of passengers using our boats. For those guests who do not wish to share the boat with others, their boat reservation will be rescheduled until such time as a boat becomes available. If no Greenviews boat is available for a small party booking we would then transfer the booking to a local licenced boat operator. Guests are free to make their own boat booking with boat operators in town, however they would then loose the free breakfast offered by Greenviews.
The Coastguard frequently cancels boat tours because of the weather conditions. If the cancellation lasts a few days this can lead to a backlog of people wating for boat tours throughout the El Nido resort. Such cancellations can lead to anger and frustration by some of our guests but the cancellations are out of our control. Greenviews cannot accept any responsibility if such a backlog of boat trips occurs. At times like this we have in the past been able to offer alternative trips using our new van, however we cannot guarantee that the van will be available or that ther will be sufficient spaces for all of the guests wishing to use it.
The main tours are:
- Tour A – Big/small lagoons Miniloc & Simisu Islands, 7 Commando Beach.
- Tour B – Caves, Beaches, Snake Island.
- Tour C – Secret Beach, Martinloc & Tapuitan Islands.
- Tour D – Helicopter Is, Pasandigan Cave, Nat–Nat Beach, Cadilao Lagoon, Paradise Beach
- Special drop–offs at favoured beaches or fishing trips can be arranged too.
Greenviews Resort Island Tours - free breakfast menus:
Menu 1
- danggit(marinated fish)
- fried or scrambled egg
- fried rice
- juice
- pandesal w/butter or jam
- brewed coffee
- fruits
Menu 3
- pancake and bacon
- fried or scrambled egg
- juice
- pandesal w/butter or jam
- brewed coffee
- fruits
Menu 2
- hotdog(sausage)
- fried or scrambled egg
- bread or fried rice
- juice
- pandesal w/butter or jam
- brewed coffee
- fruits
Menu 4
- spanish omelette
- bread or fried rice
- juice
- pandesal w/ butter or jam
- brewed coffee
- fruits
The sea is quite shallow in front of the resort, but that is ideal for families with young children who can often enjoy playing on the beach with local children too. If a swim is all that is required a 30 minute walk along the beach takes you to another deserted, or almost deserted, beach which not only offers excellent swimming but also wonderful scenery. If a 30 minute walk is too strenuous the Greenviews van will give you a free ride to within 5 minutes of that beach. Another incredibly deserted and spectacular great expanse of white sand beach is a 45 minute van drive away, but beware of sand flies there. They bite! If our van is available we can take guests there and pick up in our van free. The van can take guests to see other inland sights such as a local waterfall, caves where outside many butterflies and other insects can be seen, and a lake area about 2 hours from El Nido.Various games are available such as chess and badminton but one which can be real fun is beach volleyball with the added variation of the court being half in the sea when the tide is in! if guests are short of players then the Greenviews staff are normally eager to oblige.
If you have the energy after a hard day's activities then you can venture into El Nido to sample the slightly limited but quite enjoyable nightlife and to assist you.
Location and Getting There
El Nido is at the northern tip of Palawan and Greenviews is situated in the barangay of Corong-Corong on a quiet beach just 3km from the centre of El Nido, which is a 25 minute walk or a 15 peso per person tricycle ride. Buses and vans travelling from Puerto Princesa or Tay Tay to El Nido pass by the back entrance and the drivers will stop outside, either to drop off or pickup guests, if requested. We are about 200m before the 268km road sign so be ready to remind the driver when you see the 267km sign.
There are a few more flights from Manila to El Nido by Air Swift but they are more expensive than flying to Puerto Princesesa and have a 10kg weight limit. If their flights are cancelled there are no alternative flights which will be a problem.
Guests who fly into El Nido can either take a tricycle (but beware they will often take you to a different resort to get commission from them) or request the Greenviews van to pick them up for the 15 mins journey cost P300.As these flights are difficult to get most guests have to fly to Puerto Princesa, where they have a choice of public bus or van.
As well as the older uncomfortable buses, which stop everywhere with the last departure 9am, There are now RORO and Cherry Buses operating every hour with RORO even hours and Cherry odd hours between 4ap amd 10pm. They take about 6-6hrs 30 mins depending upon the number of stops finally ending at Tay Tay and El Nido market in Corong-Corong, which is just 1 km from Greenviews
Vans can be private P8000 or a shuttle van. Camarih have shuttle vans at P600 per person which includes pickup from airport or PPC hotel and drop off at Greenviews. Some other companies also have shuttle vans from their own terminals but will charge P700 if picked up from the airport or PPC hotel. For extra comfort Day Tripper offer a van at P850 or a coach at P950 but usually only one trip a day around 10am so they need to be booked early. The above prices are guides only and are subject to change by the van companies.
These times and prices may vary in future so please check both aspects before committing yourself.
If coming from Sabang it may be possible to travel by boat but that is dependant on the sea conditions at the time as well as availability so should be booked when in Sabang. It is also possible to travel by van from Sabang to El Nido but there is no direct road to El Nido and vans have to back-track to Salvation junction 35 km from Puerto Princesa before heading north again to El Nido. This makes a private van relatively expensive as fuel in Palawan is expensive. Lexus operate a shuttle van service from Sabang to Salvation Junction to connect with its own shuttle van going from PPC to El Nido.
If coming from Port Barton to El Nido one way is by boat providing sea conditions are good. If the sea is rough passengers can get very, very wet! The journey normally takes 5-6 hours depending on sea conditions There is no regular service so you may have to charter your own boat or join a boat chartered by others. Greenviews staff will try to find out whether others have chartered a boat or want to go to El Nido .
Much of the Port Barton road has now been cemented so that Port Barton to El Nido takes less than 3 hours. Shuttle vans will stop at Roxas for 30 minutes and again for 10 minutes at the TayTay roundabout
For those not wishing to go by sea its possible to book a private van or to take a jeepney leaving at 8am and go to Roxas where you can either take the RORO bus or a shuttle van providing that shuttle van has been booked in advance.
Boats also go to El Nido from Busuangabut are often cancelled (see my comments on opening page of web)
Issues concerning El Nido.
Electricity
Greenviews like all other resorts relies on electricity supplied by the town electric company located near the El Nido market. Power supply is meant to be 24 hours. Unfortunately, just like many other parts of the Philappines, brownouts occur from time to time. Although the frequency of these brownouts is being reduced. When they do occur it causes a lot of inconvenience for the whole town not just Greenviews. We do have a generator which will work the fans and lighting, however not the aircon or hot showers. At least we do have a generator, other resorts do not, leaving their guests with only candles for light. A few guests have become upset blaming Greenviews. Unfortunately life in the pristine wildernesses such as El Nido and other beautiful places in the undeveloped world have drawbacks and often the lack of 24 hour electricity is one. If people are not prepared to put up with these inconveniences they should NOT vist Palawan and similar places. Leave Palawan to people who can accept life in the wilderness is not always perfect and who are happy to enjoy something special.
Food Poisoning
As in other parts of Palawan food poisoning is common in El Nido. Greenviews makes a considerable effort to prevent food poioning by having strenuous hygene rules and its past record has been extremely good. Whever a guest gets food poioning we always check if they have eaten at Greenviews the night before. On this basis we have been able check that what we are doing appears to be sucessful. However, no matter how clean a restaurant is, food poioning can arise from the most basic errors, particurly when ordering a drink. As a general rule when in the tropics avoid ice in your drinks as its often unsafe. as I found to my cost on a trip to Peru in 1982. At Greenviews we freeze mineral water each night in sachets so we know the ice is clean. We also know that many places do not take such precautions. A big factor in the problem with food poioning in El Nido is that there is no town water supply. There are plans but they are behind schedule. Another risk can be from salads. At Greenviews salads are washed in mineral water to reduce the risk. A good guide to the cleanliness of any restaurant is to inspect the toilets. If they are very dirty the risk is much greater.
For guests who are worried about this they are welcome to inspect our kitchen at any time without warning my staff being warned.