Tao Experience Review + 13 Reasons Why It Was SO Good
I wanted to write a Tao Experience review, because, honestly, it was one of the best weeks of my life. The whole Tao expedition was just incredible from start to finish. I loved every minute.
The Tao Experience will stay with me forever, I hope.
Featuring… desert islands, coconut wine, killing a pig, spit roasting a pig, awesome people, jumping off boats, snorkelling, wrestling, charity, food, rum and drinking games.
This article will show you what to expect from the Tao Expedition. Here’s my Tao Experience review from food, to accommodation to the staff. Any questions, ask?!
– One of the islands you can expect to visit on the Tao Philippines experience.
My Tao Experience Review
One of the first things our Tao Experience leader Mikki said to my group of 13 on our boat, was that he was happy to be out at sea again and got landsick every time he moored.
I now know how that feels, as do the rest of my Tao expeditioners according to our new Facebook group.
I actually only discovered the Tao Experience a week before I went on it when I was looking at my friend Chris’s blog at Backpacker Banter. I wanted to know how to get from El Nido to Coron and he’d suggested the trip so I jumped on the opportunity to have someone else plan my days, accommodation, food and travel for 4 nights and 5 days.
Chris has officially achieved his purpose in my life.
I could separate the days out, tell you exactly what happened, where we slept and all the surprises that came along but one of the things I liked best about the Tao Experience was the mystery. So I’m just going to give you a quick overview of the incredible Tao Experience.
Tao Experience induction
– Hope my Tao Experience review helps you decide to do this!
The Tao Experience began at our induction at Tao HQ in El Nido, Palawan, the Philippines. We had a large group of 25 and so they decided we’d take two boats.
“Have you seen Hook? We’re like the Lost Boys” – Jem, the other boat’s leader, above.
After an introduction to each other, the beginnings, ideals, present and future of Tao we knocked back a few rum and coconut juices and agreed to meet at 8:30am the next day.
My new friends were from around the world and after having travelled solo for the last two months I was excited to have a whole bunch of people to travel with.
Our Tao Experience boat
The next day we sailed out from the harbour for our first taste of life at sea. Before long we anchored down for breakfast on the boat.
Our group had the bigger vessel of the two, with a lot more space. Over the next few days I sampled lounging on the bow for maximum tanning and that life-is-awesome feeling, under the canopy and around the table for feeding time and for getting out of the intense sunshine rays. My favourite spot soon became the cushioned area up top.
Not the very top though, that was where my fellow Tao Expeditioner Anton got burned to a crisp and was unable to move for three days.
Good one Anton.
We also had a toilet – prohibited while we were stationary and never swim behind it – and also riggers where you could hang out and sunbathe or just stand and feel like a sea warrior. This was also the location for the many wrestles we had too.
Snorkelling on the Tao Experience
– Tao Expedition review of the food? Amazing. And SO fresh.
Over the five days and four nights we went snorkelling so many times. To be honest they’ve merged but they’ve merged into a ball of awesomeness.
I saw more marine life around the islands and wrecks between El Nido and Coron than I have on many scuba trips, including my recent one in Malapascua. There was so much colourful coral reef and endless schools of fish swimming in and out. There was a particular pinky fish which would swim straight towards your face, menacingly, and then dart off the other way. I’ve officially stared out a fish – what a hero.
Over the days of snorkelling I saw loads of nemos, puffer fish, barracuda and plenty of fish I don’t know the names of.
It’s all sushi to me.
Food on the Tao boat
Our first breakfast was awesome, but it wasn’t until our first lunch that I realised that as well as an island tour this was going to be a gastronomical tour too.
That first meal we pulled up to an island with a long table. The Tao Lost Boys fetched some huge banana leaves, cleaned them up and set them down.
Then they spooned rice down the middle of the table and huge prawns and ratatouille down the sides. We all had to stand in a line, right hand behind our back and with our left hand we could shovel it in our mouths. And shovel it everyone did. The delights on that table were devoured in minutes.
As the bigger boat we had the kitchen where enough food was made for around 30 people, with extras, in case anyone was hungry. After tying our boats together we passed the food cooked on our boat over to the other one.
Every meal was a highlight. But one of the other highlights of the highlights included buying a pig from some islanders, bringing it back to the boat via kayak and spit roasting it for dinner.
A few of my fellow Taoers were all “I’m never eating pork again”, but come 9pm, when the pinky pig we’d nicknamed Sausage as it trotted around our boat kitchen started to brown, and look a bit more like the kind of pig we knew and ate, their attitude changed. They were last seen gnawing on the porky crackling.
Amazingly none of our group of 25 were vegetarian – something they said had never happened before. I’m not sure how a veggie would’ve fared on kill-a-pig-day – I’ll never forget those squeals, or even worse, when they eventually stopped.
– Tao Philippines review for food? AMAZING.
After failing at trying to catch fish on the boat we bought some from another island and cooked them up in our boat kitchen. I can’t believe the incredible food that came from that tiny stove. We had more fish than you could think about eating along with rice and delicious veggie sides.
And a new for me, one day we were even served Stingray. We took a few seconds to remember the late, great Steve Irwin, before scoffing the plate full.
In the afternoons they gave us some welcome snacks – banana fritters and then desiccated coconut that they had a special machine to extract, and on the final day, chocolate donuts.