By Cameron Ruh

Above me, a family of monkeys plays and relaxes in a tree. Below, in the brilliant blue water, I see rainbow-colored parrotfish and rapidly-swimming giant trevally jacks. All around, massive limestone cliffs jut out from the sea. 

This past June, my family and I visited the Philippines, the birthplace of my maternal grandparents.  With the exception of my mother, who traveled there with her family as a teenager, this was our first time visiting the country. The Philippines is home to over 7,000 islands, and my family and I were able to visit quite a few of them and experience different aspects of Filipino life and culture. We first arrived in Manila, the capital, after nearly 48 hours of stressful traveling. We were warmly greeted by my great uncle and his wife and daughter, as well as my second cousin and his fiancée. While we had never met them before, we soon began to connect and bond over our shared ancestry. Together, we explored the crowded and lively city. On the next day, we moved on to the island of Bohol, which offered a drastic change of pace from what we had experienced in Manila. We relaxed on the beaches and enjoyed snorkeling in the crystal blue water. We then traveled to Cebu, a city rich in history. There, we visited several historical sites and also spent time on the beach near our hotel. Our next stop, however, was my family’s favorite and the most relaxing destination on our trip: the archipelago of El Nido. 

After exiting the airplane, we found ourselves at an airport of sorts: a single room right next to the runway. Our boat ride to the island proved to be more exciting than expected, as we were met by torrential rains and wind. We could barely see the surrounding rock formations through the storm. After nearly an hour of traveling, however, the rain began to stop as we slowly approached an island. This was Miniloc, one of the islands that make up El Nido, a municipality in the province of Palawan. As the boat docked, I could see the sun beginning to set over the dazzling ocean and the island, looking mystical through the hazy pink sky. 

We booked our stay with El Nido Resorts, which offers the only lodging option on four of the larger islands in El Nido. When we arrived, we were welcomed warmly with a song, and one staff member proceeded to tell us a little about the island. She stressed the value of ecotourism and the protection of El Nido’s vast biodiversity. Most of the beaches in Palawan remain untouched, but El Nido is a popular destination for visitors. While this increased tourism is beneficial to the island in many ways, it also can cause harm to the local environment. To combat this, the resort implements several sustainability efforts, encourages sustainable practices for tourists, and provides guests with opportunities to explore and learn about the surrounding environment without inflicting harm on the wildlife.  

The resort staff informed us about a number of sustainability efforts which the resort practices and encourages for their guests and staff. For us, the most notable of these efforts was the elimination of plastic water bottles. Tourists are strongly discouraged from drinking tap water in the Philippines, so my family and I had been drinking mainly bottled water on the islands we had previously visited. To prevent the risk of getting sick, we had created a frustratingly tremendous amount of plastic waste along the way. We were pleased to learn that El Nido Resorts operates a desalination plant that converts saltwater to freshwater, allowing us to drink unbottled water freely. 

The island implements several other sustainability initiatives, which are explained in detail on its website. The website explains their use of a rainwater-storage system and water-saving showers and toilets, “eco-friendly boat engines,” and the installation of solar panels on several lodging areas. The kitchen mainly purchases locally grown organic vegetables and “locally reared livestock,” and they have stopped serving grouper in an effort to combat the visibly declining local population of the fish.

The resort puts great effort into educating guests on the issue of environmental protection. One afternoon, there was a presentation given outside to teach guests about the different kinds of marine life in the surrounding waters. The El Nido Resorts website also explains the restrictions they enforce for the protection of wildlife: “Guests are actively discouraged from touching the animals… collecting shells, corals, starfish, and other animals is not allowed and is specifically stated in our welcome message.”

During our stay, we enjoyed exploring the ocean and the surrounding islands. As stated on their website, the resort is “committed to promoting nature-based activities that showcase yet protect the richness of this biodiversity” so there are “no jet-skis and other motorized marine sports equipment.” My brother Dalton Ruh (’16) claims that “the best activity to do in El Nido is kayaking, especially in The Big Lagoon.” In the lagoon, visitors can travel through the magnificent limestone rock formations and peer through the clear blue water to easily see corals, stingrays, turtles, and many other organisms. Additionally, we snorkeled several times in the water close to Miniloc Island. One afternoon, we took a short boat ride to a nearby island, where we were able to climb inside a small entrance to a cave. We also met with some of our family in El Nido Town and experienced the Canopy Walk, where we climbed Taraw Cliff. Even though we faced more torrential rain during this walk, the view from the top of the cliff was absolutely breathtaking. 

El Nido was unlike anything I had ever seen before. My brother Ethan Ruh (’18) claims that it was “the most stunning location (he’s) ever been to.” When seeing a place so beautiful, many tourists take it as their own responsibility to do their part in protecting it. My brothers and I were always sure to find any pieces of trash in the water and put it in our kayaks for later disposal. My mother, JoAnn Adrales Ruh, says that she is “grateful that the people there have made sustainability a priority so that the area is better protected and so that tourism continues to be a source of income.” As my family enjoyed exploring the area, it was admirable to see the efforts that both local Filipinos and tourists put into the protection of the stunning El Nido.