Huffing and puffing, we took the last few steps up the steel ladders leading to the apex of the El Nido Canopy Walk. The town spread out a hundred or so meters below us, lining the shore like toy houses leading to the blue green waters of Bacuit Bay. Outrigger boats used for island hopping bob lightly along the water, hemmed in by a soaring cliff carpeted in greens on the left and a wooded hill on the right. It was a fantastic view best enjoyed alive and unscathed.

A VIEW OF EL NIDO’S BACUIT BAY FROM MOUNT TARAW

Climbing the Taraw Cliff or Mount Taraw is usually on the bucket list of most climbers visiting El Nido. Even D, one of our friends who was with us during the trip was planning to scale it, only to find it closed due to a recent accident. Apparently a guide has fallen while trying to save a climber who had just proposed to his girlfriend right on the mountain. Besides this incident, there has been other accidents and even deaths involving climbers trying to conquer Taraw’s Peak.

►BOOK YOUR EL NIDO TOURS WITH EASE, GET INSTANT CONFIRMATION

I was panting like a dog as I reached the peak of Matukad Island’s jagged karsts, I’m definitely not a mountaineer, let alone a rock climber. This relatively low climb at the northeast corner of the island was totally dangerous. As I rested my unwieldy legs, I was thinking to myself how I got myself into this situation.

We started off from the town of Caramoan earlier on six-seater tricycles then transferred to a middle-sized outrigger boat at the mangrove-speckled port of Bikal. It was already pretty late and the sun was already high up. We circled the coasts of Bikal and Paniman, and after more than an hour of being splashed with saltwater, our boat docked at the wavy shore of Matukad Island.

Matukad, according to our guide means mataas, and I can definitely see why. The island is dotted with sharp rocky outcrops.