P308 - Philippines - Palawan's virgin islands

A snake-shaped view of one of Palawan's virgin islands, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

El Nido (officially the Municipality of El Nido) is a first class municipality and managed resource protected area in the province of Palawan in the Philippines. It is about 420 kilometers southwest of Manila, and about 238 kilometers northeast of Puerto Princesa, Palawan’s capital.

The municipality, covering a land area of 465.10 square kilometers in the northernmost tip of mainland Palawan, is bordered by the Linapacan Strait in the north, the Sulu Sea in the east, and the South China Sea in the west. It is composed of 45 islands and islets, each has its own unique geological formations. The highest peak is at Cadlao Island, towering up to 640 meters above sea level.

Like the rest of Palawan and Sulu, it is part of the Sunda Plate, a plate that is entirely separate from the Philippine Mobile Belt to which the rest of the Philippines belongs. The limestone cliffs here are similar to those that can be found in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and Guilin in China, as well as Krabi in Thailand, all of which are part of the Eurasian Plate.

According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 30,249 people in 6,311 households in its eighteen barangays. Eighty-five percent of the population are living in the rural barangays, while only fifteen percent of them are in the Población area.

Vigan Island ：Located near Pangulasian Island, it is also referred to as, "Snake Island," because of the fine natural sandspit (s-shaped sandbar) that "snakes" off it shores. The sandspit is clearly visible only when the tide is low. On both sides of the sandspit are shallow swimming areas.

愛妮島，位於菲律賓巴拉望省西北端，距馬尼拉430公里，搭機從馬尼拉約1小時15分可抵達。愛妮島在1890年為西班牙統治者，改名為巴奎。在1954 年，又因活躍的燕子，在此區大量構築的燕窩，而更名為愛妮島，。(NIDO即為西班牙文的鳥巢之意)

愛妮島，行政區域內，人口有二萬人，無受污染的美景，總是帶給訪客無限的驚喜，島內森林裡有可愛的小動物，向人們熱情的招手。島外則是成千上萬的彩色魚類，在湛藍的海洋中，跳著歡迎舞。為保存這些罕見的自然資源，愛妮島，巴奎灣，已由資源部劃為海洋生態保護區。對所有造訪的人而言，愛妮島，實堪稱為”人間天堂”。

愛妮島是四十五個大小海島組成的. 每個海島都有它獨特景觀, 有高聳的石灰岩及細白的沙灘, 日光浴和野餐午餐的好地方. 愛妮島的石灰岩是許多珊瑚累積而成的.它們是兩億五千萬年前 至今淹 沒北越和南中國部分的淺海形成的. 而差不多六千萬年前,又與印度和中國的碰撞促 使它們慢慢的升起.有些海島石灰岩洞穴中別有洞天, 退潮時通過窄小的洞口, 是天然的礁湖. 可乘獨木舟到此,跳入如翡翠的海水中, 沒有大批遊客喧鬧只有您獨享........到愛妮島的旅客都為了這裡如夢似幻的山水美景, 晶瑩清澈的海水, 以及他相當神密的位置而來的. 這裡的四十五個島嶼及其周邊的海洋另你有著探險, 欣賞自然環境和純粹享受的機會.幫您安排一些休閒活動, 例如: 在隱密礁湖自行操舟, 遊覽紅樹林, 與五顏六色 的熱帶魚類潛水游泳, 步登至海島的最高峰, 釣魚, 賞鳥, 探索荒島, 野餐午餐或者是日光浴, 等等.

蜿蜒四公里的海蛇:這個島雖名為（蛇島），事實上島上並沒有蛇，純粹是以島形似蛇而得名．當遊客搭飛機快扺達佩多公主城時，如果留心一下窗外景致，就會看到海上一條四公里長的大白蛇熱情地擁抱著公主城，那就是蛇島了．
相傳這條大蛇是佩多公主的守護神，為了能夠長久庇佑當地居名，而幻化成蛇島．這個漂亮的純白砂島，島上的砂不僅顏色美麗，而且砂細如粉，赤腳踩上去的感覺十分舒服，目前島上無居民，如果有人的話都是觀光客，非常靜謐安詳．
蛇島後方除了有一大片被台灣人視為國寶的水筆仔林，還有數不清的螃蟹，貝類及珊瑚，島上日落景色更是美得不像話，這是一座適宜親子遊及生態之旅的寶貝島．
值得一提的是，泰國普吉島以半月灣特殊造型豔驚全球，這兒的蛇島雖擁有更特殊的三月灣，卻因菲國官方不懂推銷而沒沒無名，十分可惜．

References sources : wikipedia, farfartour.com