Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Coron. Where to visit in Palawan and how to get there
Palawan is an island an hour southwest of Manila. There are three main destinations in Palawan: the capital city of Puerto Princesa, the north-island village of El Nido, and the town of Coron, located on Busuanga Island, about an 8-hour boat ride north of El Nido. This post should help you make sense of what these places are and how to get around. Monthly rainfall info just added at end of this post. (At 72,000+ views, this is now my most viewed post ever. Thanks for reading, everybody!)
Before starting, here’s an overview of where these places are located.
Overview of Palawan: Puerto Princesa, El Nido, Coron
Puerto Princesa
Puerto Princesa is tiny for a regional capital city, with only 3 or 4 primary traffic roads. Although it has an airport with daily direct flights from Manila, it is incredibly provincial. People are friendly and welcoming and have that charming uncertainty you feel from people not quite sure how to deal with strangers. The city center is not anything special and is primarily a trike-congested series of dusty roads and run-down shops. For most people, the main reason to visit Puerto Princesa is as a gateway to the now famous Underground River on the west coast of the island. (Pics, intel and a video here). Other than the Underground River tour, there is precious little to do around Puerto Princesa.
Where to stay: Acacia Tree Garden Hotel
I stayed at the Acacia Tree Garden Hotel. I liked it a lot. Huge bed, good shower, nice staff, and nice at night. They also did great at helping me organize the transport I needed when I headed up to El Nido.
Verdict: If you are going to Puerto Princesa to see the Underground River, then it’s worth staying a couple of nights. Otherwise, just use it as a gateway to El Nido.
El Nido
El Nido is on the northwest coast of Palawan. (See the “getting around” section below for details on how to get here) and is most famous for the island hopping tours that originate from there (Click for post about Tour A.). It’s also where I had my 48th birthday with some awesome travelers I met on the tour — check out the restaurant we ate at — Altrove — if you’re hungry for amazing pizza!
Looking into El Nido with my back to the beach
In spite of popular belief, El Nido is not a super expensive resort. Instead, it’s a fairly quiet beachside town that is populated almost entirely by tourists, or former tourists who have set up shop there. The streets are narrow and lined with shops, tour agencies, cafes, hotels, guest houses, and some pretty decent restaurants. Surrounding the city are sheer mountains, both on the road into the town, as well as lying in front as islands you can see as you have your morning coffee, thanking your lucky stars that you are lucky enough to experience such impressive beauty.
The view from my hotel in El Nido at dusk. Even with my crappy iPod camera, it looks great!
Verdict If you have to choose only one destination on Palawan to visit, get your ass to El Nido. The view is amazing and the islands you’ll visit are beyond gorgeous.
Coron
Coron is a town on Butsuaga Island, about 8-9 hours boatride north of El Nido. It’s a part of the Palawan region, but an entirely separate island. As with El Nido, Coron is a gateway community for people planning to island hop. Coron city itself is like a very tiny…and expensive…version of Puerto Princesa. It’s cluttered with trikes and doesn’t have much in the way of flavor or entertainment. This might change, however, now that there are direct flights available from Manila.
Near the waterfront in Coron
Or maybe not. Coron tours are more expensive overall than El Nido, as you have to pay 100-200 pesos to the local government for each and every beach area you visit (in El Nido you pay 200pesos for an all-areas 10-day pass). While some might be just fake charges, anything where you get an official receipt means it’s government supported. This money clearly isn’t being channeled back into the Coron infrastructure. Which, in the Philippines, means that is IS being poured into the new houses in Manila, swimming pools and high end cars of high ranking local politicians. This actually pisses me off beyond belief since The Philippines SHOULD be kicking the tourism ass of Asia given its abundant natural wonders. I really hope this changes. If politicians would ensure that revenue is heavily re-invested in their community, things would improve quickly and dramatically. More people would have a reason to stay longer and spend more in the town instead of just for the tours. This kind of spending would go directly toward the local community.
A view of Coron town, a few minutes trike ride from the port. Not much going on, but still with some small-town charm
Where to Stay: Sunz en Coron
I stayed at the Sunz en Coron Resort. AWESOME pool. Super quiet and a great shower (my usual standard of excellence) lol. I have more details about Sunz in this post.
Verdict If you don’t have the time or stamina to get over to El Nido, Coron is a great place to do some island hopping mostly because it’s an easy direct flight from Manila. Check out the Sunz en Coron hotel for a quiet and atmospheric place to stay.
Getting around Palawan
To Palawan and Coron Fly direct from Manila El Nido to / from Palawan: Daytripper Van I went to El Nido using the 6-hour Daytripper van ride. Charging 900 pesos (approx $20) one-way between Puerto Princesa and El Nido, these guys have a very well run booking system. They pick you up at your hotel (if you’re going from Puerto Princesa) and they even give you a call the next morning with the exact pick up time. The van itself is pimped – very comfortable and has a great suspension – which you’ll appreciate on the VERY windy and bumpy bits of road. Minimal bobblehead action all the way! It was a safe, comfortable trip that got us to El Nido on time. El Nido to / from Coron: Ferry The other option to get to El Nido – one that I don’t recommend – is the 8- or 9-hour boat ride from Coron port. It costs about 1800 pesos. Be sure to do it on a nice-weather day. I don’t even want to think how bad it would have been in rough seas. And go after your morning bathroom routine and without drinking too much coffee before the trip. Believe me, you don’t want to be using the on-board toilet if you don’t have to, particularly if you’re a woman. Palawan Rainfall Info I must apologize to a dedicated reader who asked me about the weather…and I said that January is the best weather month in SE Asia. I was so wrong!!! It turns out she had a lot of rain in January…and when I checked…yes, January is still a heavy rain month. My deepest apologies for giving bad intel on that. Sorry, Leni!! Here is the actual average monthly rainfall for Palawan. April and May are now officially the best-weather months for Palawan.
Average monthly rainfall for Palawan, Philippines
Our friend just visited us in China and he traveled around the Philippines for more than a month and he also highly recommended us to go to El Nido and Coron. I saw the photos and just can’t wait to go there!!
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Yeah, you’ll definitely like it there. It’s still off the beaten track a bit so it’s the kind of place you can totally connect with other travelers. The best people I’ve met in a long time on the road were all in El Nido. I wish I had some more pics to put up — it’s pathetic how few I have. I have some video of the tours to put up…simple, but at least you can see what it’s like without the perfect photo touch — even in the cloudy weather it’s pretty awesome. I’ll put them up in a week or so. Happy travels!
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I am from El Nido Sir, From Serena Street.. Thank very much for commendation to the people of El Nido… We are so happy to know for that..
We hope all tourist want to visit El Nido have the same perspective about us..
once again thank you..
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Hi Cedric. I can’t imagine anybody not having a positive perspective about staying in the El Nido community 🙂
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Thank you very much sir.. We are proud to be part of small town of El Nido..
Hope you will keep coming back to my hometown… Thanks a lot..
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I’ll definitely be back. You can count on that 🙂
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And thanks for the RT BTW. How do you say thanks in your language, anyway?
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Don’t forget Linapacan, half way between El Nido and Coron. The public ferry between the two stops in San Miguel, Linapacan. Tons of paradise, undeveloped islands in this area, really clear water, off the beaten path. You can go on island hopping tours for as little as 1000p for the boat, combine with fishing, some caves to explore, diving too. Can even camp overnight on your own island, hiking on jungle trails and much more: http://www.islandhoppinginthephilippines.com/palawan/services/
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Excellent comment and info. I appreciate you’re adding another great thing for me to do next time I’m there. Linapacan sounds great. I’m hoping to get back to the Phils some time next year for sure. I’d love to check that out.
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cool, welcome any time. hopefully i’ll have my kitesurfing resort developed nicely by then. 🙂
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I hope so!! That will be awesome!
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Hi – thinking of driving motorbikes from PP through to El Nido for a couple of days – would you have any suggestions of places along the way to stop off at / spend the night?
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Thanks for posting. I think doing a bike trip would be cool — lots of winding roads to keep in interesting. But just be aware that there are some seriously bumpy sections along the way, particularly north of the half-way point, that are unfinished gravel roads. Bring something to cover up your face with.
In terms of where to stay, I didn’t see anything along the way that screamed “this is a must-stay place.” Off hand, I would suggest that if you’re looking for 2 places, I would check out Roxas, which is about 1/3 of the trip north. I think it was around there that we got some pretty impressive views of the ocean at a distance. The next logical stop would be in Taytay, about 2/3 the way up, and right at the split where the El Nido highway starts. Manguao lake looks doable from there, which might be a nice side-trip. Then you would have the last leg of the trip up to El Nido fresh and ready for bumps, but also a few nice views over the islands along the way. Let me know how it goes. And if you post any pics, send me a link. I would love to know if there are any cool finds along that road!! Safe travels!
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I wish I had known this Daytripper when we went to El Nido a few months ago. Argh! The regret! We had a very bumpy ride with this van company called Lexus (yes – even infringing on name copyrights!) with no inkling of customer service. Anyway, there’s still next year. Thanks for this informative piece and recommendation.
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Hi Desmond. Yeah, I’ve read reams of bad reviews about Lexus. I was pretty lucky to find Daytripper — but I have good spidey sense about find cheap, quality stuff. lol
And one thing about customer service — something else about Daytripper, they even give you a bag with a banana and some banana chips when you get underway. Booya! 🙂
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hellow.. may i ask, if we could rent a van and how much?, is it really true that vans are not allowed in the town proper of ELnido.. I had a friend who just got at Elnido last April 2013 and their hotel tranferred them From Puerto Princesa to their hotel at El Nido. It means that, van can enter into town proper of El Nido.. That is our main concern because we will be in EL Nido at around 10pm, and if we could not get any van thatt could transfer us on our hotel, it is really a hassle on our group. We will be in PP on July 23, 2013. THank you..
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Hi Lissa,
I’m not the best guy to ask about the current situation — at the time I wrote the article, they had made it official that vans were no longer allowed in the township proper. But it might have changed, I’m not sure. Actually, if you want to hire a van, there’s a service called Daytripper that is listed in the blog post. They would probably know if you can drive right in.
Actually, when I got there and saw our driver talking to the guy at the final entry point into El Nido, I was thinking that if a bit of money changed hands they might have let us in. lol But officially, the policy was no vans. It might be due to pressure from the local trike drivers — it forces people to use them in and out of the town. Anyway, sorry I can’t say for sure what the situation is, but Daytrippers will probably be able to tell you.
Did that help at all?
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hello… I wasnt able to read your reply.. Actually we got at Palawan in Puerto Princesa and El Nido Last week.. and I can say that our driver to El Nido was so fast.. and he was able to enter at the town proper.. particulary our service van.. Its good t know taht you replied, but I think it all depends on the driver if he could enter the van on the town proper.. Because we do, and walking distance on our pension inn.. 🙂 Thank for replying anyway.. Im looking forward to travel at Coron Palawan.. hope you can give us tips about that place.. 🙂
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I’m glad you had a great trip and that your travel experience was a good one 🙂 I agree with you — I think the rules about vans going in probably A) has to do with the company and weather they are willing to pay the “fine” to the guy at the checkpoint and B) to the fact that rules and regulations in the Phils typically change about as often as I clean my apartment…which is about every two weeks. So you never know from one trip to the next what the lay of the land is. I’m just glad you got to El Nido! How was the island hopping?
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The island hopping was so good!! I super enjoyed it. We came there during off peak season so our tour guide offered us Tour A and C for only 1000 (it usually cost 1600 both),. You know im a budget travel pal!! haha.. But we were not able to go to Secret beach because it was so high tide, and it was delicate that time, because the island is so rocky.. But nontheless, El Nido is a paradise.. If im given a chance, ill come back at El Nido with tour B and D trip on my list.. 🙂
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I so agree. El Nido is breathtaking. A paradise, indeed. As for secret beach, there’s not much secret about it. And after all of the lagoons in the morning, it’s kind of anti climactic. Anyway, you got a great deal at 1000P. Well bargained!!
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Coron will be my next destination. any suggestion where to stay there?? 🙂
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I stayed here and loved the room I was in: https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/05/27/hotels-in-palawan-sunz-en-coron-plus-a-makulit-t-shirt/
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the place is so cozy and sossy. and looks costly also..:) I hope i can afford that.. haha.. thank you anyway.. 🙂
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Yeah, it’s not cheap. In fact, it was pretty expensive given how far out of town it was. For a wider search, you could try Agoda just to see what’s available…then call hotels directly to see if you can get deals.
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Hi.. thank you for the blog, it is very useful. Anyways, is it really better to stay in El Nido rather than Puerto Princesa? We will be having our trip on Aug 3-6, my main concern is the time spent in travelling from PP to El Nido and vice versa. Are we going to have a hard time to budget our time? especially that one of my friends really wanted to go in the Underground river of PP.
Help please.. Thank you 🙂
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Hi Jimski, thanks for the post!
If you only have 3 nights and you are planning on doing the Underground River, then I would just do Puerto Princesa. There’s no way you’d be able to comfortably do both places in that short of time if the Underground River is high on your bucket list. Which it should be — it’s very cool to see.
Actually, I have yet to post the video and pics I took when I did the UR — I should have done it first, but I wanted to get the El Nido stuff up first. I’ll make a promise to you that I’ll have it up by July 5th…one week from now.
Regarding PP, I think one reason I was bummed about it is because it actually has waterfronted area in the city, but nothing has been done to make it a place you would want to sit and look at over a beer. Aside from the UR, it’s like the Land that Tourism Forgot. Having said that, there ARE a few places you can see from PP — Honda Bay being the most well known. I talked with some people who went there who said it wasn’t WOW beautiful, but it was quite nice.
With that in mind, if I were you, on the 3rd, I’d just chill. Do the UR on the 4th. Honda Bay and maybe a beach tour from there on the 5th. Then you head home on the 6th.
Note that the UR has limited places / day…so BE SURE to have your tickets secured for the 4th LONG before you travel. I was lucky to be able to sweet talk my way into a spot at the central booking office in PP, but I know people who had to wait days for an opening. So book it before you travel. And enjoy Palawan!!
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hi,
me and my fiancee is planning to have our honeymoon in palawan.We want adventure so we’re thinking about going PP,El nido and Coron.Is it possible that we can do that for a week?Any suggestions for some affordable place to stay,food,and some tour packages?We’re very excited about Palawan but we dont know how to start.we’re from Cebu and I know there’s a plane to Coron or PP only from Cebu.So,we need suggestions for this trip because we also want to go to El nido.Please help.thank you
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Thanks for posting! Yes, I think you can do all three, but I guarantee it will feel too rushed. I did all 3 in about 8 days and I didn’t have time to see anything in Coron. Plus, if you’re going in this bad-weather season, I would NOT suggest taking that 8-hour banca ride between Coron and El Nido. That would just be too scary.
If I had a week and it was a honeymoon, I would just do PP so you can do the Underground River, then spend the main part of your trip up in El Nido. The town proper is just a huge series of guest houses with mostly foreign backpackers / tourists. But if you look around online there are places that are located away from main area.
For accommodation, I don’t know anything cheap in El Nido (…there is cheap accommodation…I just don’t have any intel on it). As for island hopping tours, El Nido is WAY cheaper than Coron for that, so you can go every day for about 800P all-in. If you look around my blog, I have a few more posts about hotels in PP, El Nido stuff etc. Have a great trip!
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Coron is too far from PP and El Nido.. it has its own airport at Busuanga… I guess tokyomike55 is right… you can concentrate at PP and El Nido.. Theres a lot of places to go there.. 🙂
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Do you have to stay overnight in Puerto Princesa if you choose to go to the underground river on your way to el nido or can you do it as a day trip?
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It’s not impossible. If you had your park ticket and tour booked in advance for the first tour of the day, flew in the early morning flight…then you could probably be back in PP by 3ish…then an hour to get to your other transportation (I’m allowing ample time here for late vans and so on), that would put you in El Nido by 10pm at the latest. So it would be a heck of a long day…but doable.
On the bright side, there’s not much to do in El Nido at night, so as long as you have a place booked, you just have to find it and get to sleep. As for island hopping tours, most of the shops open early, and you can just go in the morning and book the day’s tours that morning…so there’s no worry about getting to El Nido early enough in the evening to buy tickets.
Hope you have a great trip. And please post here if you do it all in a day. I would love to hear about it!
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Hi! How long is the journey from Puerto Princessa to El Nido? Thanks!
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Hi Kimberly. We did it in about 6.5 hours, but it can take a bit longer. Enjoy El Nido 🙂
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Hello Kimberly, we manged to get to El Nido for 5 hours only. Our driver, Kuya Henry was the fastest driver i’ve ever encountered in my entire life. Despite of the bumpy and rocky road way to El Nido, he managed to drive faster than normal guy. When it is in smooth road, he drives 80-90kph. I can say it is not an enjoybale ride, however, he was a good driver, he really knows how to keep his passenger safe. In addition, i didnt slept on the van, beacuse of the bumpy drive. But it was good and tolerable.. We left Puerto Princesa at 3:30 and arrived at El Nido at at around 8:20pm :)Fast and Furious driver.. 🙂
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Yikes. Fast and furious indeed. But he got you there in one piece! Nice driving, Kuya. lol
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Yeah right.. 🙂 And thank God were not broken into pieces..haha.. I had my motion sickness that day.. terrible.. but when we got at El Nido, even by night.. I just walked at the sea side.. and I’m fine again.. One of a kind experience thou..
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Yup. A seaside walk in that kind of beauty will cure anything 🙂
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Hi tokyomike55,
any flight from El Nido to manila?
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Hi Jess,
To the best of my knowledge, the only direct flights to and from Palawan are via Puerto Princesa or Coron. There is, however, a small airport near El Nido — so I would check if it’s possible to fly direct to Coron (Busuanga) and take a small prop-plane over to El Nido. If you find any intel about the possibility of flying to and from El Nido, would you mind posting it here? I can only access online intel, but if you have any way of getting intel in Manila from a travel agent, that would be the best. And have a great trip to El Nido!!! 🙂
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Hi, do you know what the diving is like around El Nido? I see that lots of the world class diving is around Coron, do you think it would be worth going there for that?
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I know there are dive shops there in El Nido…but I don’t think it doesn’t have much to offer. Most of what you’ll see you can see with a snorkel anyway. If you want something to write home about, try diving with the thresher sharks on Malapascua Island 🙂
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Hello! I’m travelling to Palawan on this period September 24-28 (inclusive of flights back and forth). I am seeking your advice please on places I should be in those few days. Actually a high-level itinerary would be really nice (I guess that’s too much to ask for though). Additional details to consider are the ff.: (1) I am travelling with my bf, my mom and sis. (2) I could do medium range financially. Thank you.
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Hi Lanie,
I’m sure you’ll love it. As for an itinerary, I don’t know much beyond what I’ve written here. If you look at the other posts I have on El Nido and PP, you’ll find more details plus some hotel info. Just make sure you have enough time to make it to El Nido and do Tour A of the island hopping. It’s amazing!!
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Hi,
My fiance and I are travelling to Palawan for my honey moon in late April 2014.
We fly into PP and the plan is to stay one night there, rent a motorbike and drive to El Nido the next morning, where we will stay for 6 nights. We want to do a dive course and some island hopping.
We will then ride back down to PP, stay one night and fly out.
I am hoping you could help be out on a couple of things?
– Is there opportunity to buy fuel on the way up?
– Do i need to book accom at that time or is it cheaper to turn up and shop around? (looking for mid range accom $50-$100 p/n)
– Where is a nice place to stay? (pref beach front)
– Can I rent a bike in PP and not get ripped off on returning it? e.g passport held for ransom for damages $$.
– Is one day enough time to travel between PP and El Nido each way on a motorbike?
Thanks heaps for any tips, much appreciated.
Brendon
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Hi Brendon, thanks for posting. Regarding gas, there’s not much between PP and El Nido, but I’d bet that if you rent a bike they’ll have intel on that. And no, in most cases you don’t have to give over your passport. Just come with a decent photocopy. And yes, you can definitely do the trip in one day. It takes 6ish hours by mini van, and you’ll be able to make that I’m sure. Just leave very early in the am to give yourself time in case you get some inclement weather — which is definitely a possibility…or a probability…at this time of year.
For hotels, I’d definitely NOT book ahead. Or if you do, just book one night via Agoda or Orbitz and then look around from there. In most cases, those sites will give you better rates than hotels at the range your looking at spending. For more budget places, you can save huge by just walking in and negotiating. But for a 6 day trip — especially one where you’ll really need your sleep (doing your PADI is exhausting, so be prepared), I’d spend the first few hours in El Nido just walking up the beach strip and asking to see rooms so you can find a place you’ll really be happy with. And don’t stay at the Solangane. It’s run by a nice French guy, but it’s super overpriced, hella noisy, and basically fairly crappy in terms of the rooms. I’d go a bit farther down the beach (ie, with your back to the town, go right down the beach). Have a great trip.
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Awesome thanks alot for your help!
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Happy if anything I said ends up being useful. If you post a blog on your trip, let me know!
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Hi I’m Planning to visit Philippines next month and give a surprise trip to my BF before he’ll go back to States. He’ve been to PP and El Nido before so I’m thinking to bring him to Coron… Pls. do help me any suggestion of hotel and activities? Plan to have 4D/3N. Thanks 🙂
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Hi Claire. I stayed here in Coron and had a pretty good experience. It was away from the city center and quiet, but the atmosphere at night was super chilled thanks to the central pool. Plus the woman who owns it with her husband has worked as a travel agent within the Phils, so she really can help you organize anything.
I didn’t do any island hopping, but I’ve heard it’s almost as nice as El Nido. Enjoy!
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Hi Mr.Helpful (he he he you are so kind give us this valuable info),
my flight Jakarta-Manila-Jakarta 23-30 Jun 14, is it possible to visit Coron, El Nido & Puerto ? also can email me at mariatjoe@yahoo.com
TQ Sir
^-^
Maria
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Thanks for stopping by, Maria 🙂 Sure, you can do all three, but it depends what you want to do. Also, I’m not sure I understand the dates you wrote. But you can do everything in less than a week if you plan it right. If you fly in early to PP and do the underground river that day, then do the van to El Nido the next day…2 days of Island hopping, then over to Coron for a day of island hopping, then fly out of Coron, you could do it…but there’s always the problem of that Coron ferry. There are days it doesn’t run, or you just can’t get a seat because they’re all booked. So if you don’t mind small aircraft, I think you can fly from El Nido to Coron. So you could actually do a day of island hopping then head to the small airport and be in Coron for sunset!
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Hi there,
I am taking my husband to the Philippines over Christmas and he loves Filipino food – but I want to see Palawan as I have heard great things. We only have two full days before we have to be in Manila. (We do have 1/2 day to travel there and 1/2 day to go to Manila.) So we only have time for Puerto Princesa and check out the Underground River (and maybe Honda Bay). That said, what is the food situation in Puerto Princesa? We eat street food to fine dining, and we eat everything. Also, do you have any accommodation recommendations?
(Alternatively, is Boracay a better option?)
Thanks in advance.
All best,
Syb
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Hi Syb,
Thanks for stopping by. For hotels, I liked the Accacia Tree. There’s a post about it in my blog. Regarding food, I’m not a foodie when it comes to the Philippines, but off hand, I didn’t see much of a street-food scene, nor a high end scene, so I can’t help you much there. Near the City Colleseum — which is where the Underground River Tour tickets are sold — we stopped at an outdoor restaurant that had Pinoy food, but we just had the calamari. Again, not much help. Sorry.
And is Boracay a better option? Well, if you want to chill by a beach for two days, Boracay is one of the best beaches in the world. And it has a wide variety of OK restaurants, although it’s more international cuisine than Filipino. I’ll be back in Boracay for New Years. This time I plan to do less drinking and lounging and a bit more exploring.
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Hi,
What tour would you recommend in El Nido? I heard ther are four tours available namely A,B,C and D and I have no idea what these tours are…
Thanks.
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Hi Topaquits. I did A and B when I was there…but A was definitely the best. Little Lagoon (or was it small lagoon? My memory is terrible. lol) was Amaaaaazing. You put on a life jacket and just float around in a lagoon that feels almost too cool to be real. Here’s some more intel from when I did Tour A. https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/05/03/el-nido-island-hopping-tour-a-2/
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hello- currently living in Dauin- but really need help,because I want to move to PP or El Nido & will be going there 1st week ofNov.definite needs good,capable wifi/small inexpensive(10-12k) furnished house,near local lifestyle/living.I don’t own any means of transportation,pls keep that in mind-ANY GUIDANCE/SUGGESTIONS on where to look/referals would be greatly appreciated- thom
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Hi Thom,
I don’t have any intel on housing in those areas, sorry. But for furnished houses, you could start with airbnb.com — people usually ask too much, but if you contact them directly they will often cut you a deal for long stays.
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Hello,
I have been searching for good itinerary because my husband, a teenager daughter and I will fly to palawan by next year of may for 3 days. It will be our first time to explore Palawan and we got good airfare roundtrip via Manila to puerto princesa that’s why I didn’t pass up the chance. My major concern is to get a good but not so expensive travel or land arrangement. I am thinking if below itinerary is possible:
arrival from puerto princesa airport is past 7 am, go directly to El Nido, hopefully arrive there before 2 pm, spend overnight, then by next morning, make island hopping. Leave el Nido at 10:30 am for puerto princesa and take flight back to manila at 6:30 pm.
Do you have any suggestions? I will gladly appreciate your feedback, just want to make sure that our vacation will be a memorable one. thank you
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Hi Grace.
That’s great that you will get to explore El Nido. I’m sure you’ll love it. In terms of getting there, the van service on this blog post — Day Tripper — was great, but it’s more expensive than some of the others. I know that if you arrange to go with them, they will actually come right to the airport to pick you up, which would be convenient. For a more economical route, you could take a taxi to the bus terminal and do a bus trip up there — but I have no idea how long it would take.
For the return trip, the earlier you can leave the better. With Day Tripper it took about 6 hours between Palawan and El Nido. But if you hit traffic coming into PP, that could add time to your trip. Having said that, I don’t think I’ve ever taken a local flight to Manila from anywhere in the afternoon in the PHils that wasn’t seriously delayed, so I’m guessing your actual flight time will be more like 7:30PM. lol Hope this helped. Have a great trip!
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Hi Mister 🙂
A very sweet of you to give a detail answer to everyone..
I have honeymoon plan on January 21-25, 2014…Can u give me advice about the weather in Puerto Princesa, El Nido, and Coron on January?
And since I want to go to all those pretty places; do you think it will be possible within 4-5 days there? Please help me with the itinerary…
Thanks a bunch :))))
Regards,
Leni
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Hi Leni,
Thanks for the comment. And yes, I try to answer with as much detail as possible. If people are nice enough to stop by and say hi, I’ll try to help them out 🙂
As for your plans, first, January will be awesome weather. It’s generally the best-weather month for SE Asia. So expect calm seas and sunny skies. But as for doing all of that in 4-5 days, it would be tough. I mean, the point of PP is the Underground River, El Nido is the Island hopping, and likewise for Coron. If I were you, I would just do PP and El Nido this trip and save Coron for a future visit. Why? Because the ferry between Coron and El Nido is LONG and seat availability is unpredictable, so you could really be stuck if you’re on an inflexible schedule.
Did that help?
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Hi, sir.. thanks a lot for your answer..sure it’s a great help..and really such a big relief..since i’m not sure about the weather but still dying to see that place hehehe…
anyway, i haven’t gotten the email notification that you’ve replied my question… so sorry for my late reply to thank you…
I think i have decided to go to PP and El Nido only.. and yes Coron for the next trip 🙂
Once again .. THANKS a lot 🙂
^^Leni
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Hi Leni,
Well, after you get back from you honeymoon, if you post any pics be sure to ping me here so I can see the island hopping pics — I plan to go back so I love seeing what other people did! And congratulations on your upcoming (I assume) wedding – and have an amazing honeymoon in this gorgeous place!!!
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Sure Mike (hope i could only call your name without Sir haha),
i’ll ping you if i successfully reach El Nido for my honeymoon.
Thanks Mike for congratz me 🙂 The wedding will be on Jan 18, 2014 .. a month to go..
Anyway, any suggest for hotel/resort to stay? Lagen/Miniloc is too expensive..but as i searching through Agoda.com there’re seem no other better than Lagen/Miniloc.
Thanks 🙂
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Yes, no need for “Sir.” lol I still tell my Pinoy friends in the Phils not to use that with foreigners. Not only does it make us feel old, the title of “Sir” before a name actually is a title bestowed by royalty — like Sir Elton John. So yeah, you never need to use that with non-Pinoys 🙂
As for hotels, in PP I really liked the Accia Tree: https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/04/10/favorite-hotels-in-palawan-part-1-the-acacia-tree-garden-in-puerto-princesa-and-tiki/
For El Nido, I’m not sure what to recommend. I kind of hated the place I stayed — the view was awesome, but beyond that it kind of sucked. La Solangane. I would stay in the El Nido beach area just because it’s so convenient for island hopping — plus you have the Art Cafe and that Pizza place on my blog in the El Nido birthday post to chill at at night. With your back to the beach, if you look at resorts to your right — they have the best beach-fronted area and I saw some places that looked great, although I don’t know the names.
One month to go. Awesome!
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Is it possible if i only have 4 days to spend 3 places in Palawan El Nido and coron .
My flight is from manila on this coming April 11 and fly back to cebu from Coron on April 15
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So flying to PP and flying back from Coron? If you want to see the underground river, then 4 days would be possible (anything is, right?! lol), but suuuuuuper tight. I mean, you would have to fly in super early to PP (and hope for no delays), have your tour pick you up at the airport or some other place, do the tour and be back by the early afternoon, then do the 6-7 hour van ride to El Nido on the first day. Then up at 8 in El Nido to do a tour (they start around 9). The 3rd day would be the 7-9 hour boat ride to Coron….basically, it takes an entire day to get there…and you definitely can’t rely on the boats. There are often days when no service is available.
So is it possible, yes. Would I recommend it? No. With 4 days, I would do PP Day 1, island hop in El Nido Day 2 and 3. Then Day 4 early AM find my way back to PP for a night flight back to Cebu 🙂 Let me know what you end up doing. And if you do it in 4 days, then definitely let me know!!! 🙂
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Hi Mike
Thanks for your very informative blog about Palawan. Our group intends to visit Puerto Princesa and El Nido in July.
But some of us have terrible motion sickness problem even after taking the meds for dizziness. Are the roads going to El Nido from PP winding or zigzag like the ones going to Banawe and Sagada in the Mt. Province? Your reply would be a big help. Thanks a lot in advance. Ro
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Hi Ro. Thanks for writing. Check out the van service in the post — they have great vehicles that don’t toss you around so bad. It’s actually more bumpy than the back-and-forth motion that makes people sick. I actually found the van trip to the Underground River a lot worse than the ride to El Nido. In your case, as a group, if you rent a decent van, you can tell the driver to take it easy, which would help. But yeah, there are some curvy roads on the way! And a bit of zig-zag going up a few steep hills I seem to remember — but I don’t remember it being too bad. Hope that helps!
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Hi Mike
I really appreciate your quick reply and the info/tips you’ve provided. Such a big help! I’ll surely visit your travel blog more often (and will even share it with friends) as I truly enjoy reading your travel adventures. More power to you! Till then…Ro
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Thanks for the kind words, and thanks for sharing, Ro! Sharing is always appreciated! I’m not a blogger who monetizes or does it for $$ — I just write about stuff that I think is cool and other people should know about. So readers motivate me to get off my a&& and post more. lol So thanks for that!
Interestingly, about 100+ views a day are from the Philippines — and are Filipinos looking for travel info about Palawan mostly. I love it that Pinoys love exploring their own country so much. I’m from Canada, and we don’t venture too far from home in Canada that much, which is a shame. Anyway, happy travels!
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Hi, your blog is so informative I read most of the questions and your responses. Very helpful. I’m taking my family in the Philippines to PP on June 16-21. The current plan is to do the UR and island hopping the first 2 full days (17-18) and then off to El Nido on the 19th-20th. Is overnight worth the trip? I understand that it takes about 6 hours to get to EL Nido and island hopping starts at 9 am. Should/can we leave PP at 3 am to get there in time for island hopping OR get there on the 19th and do the island hopping the next day and go back to PP late afternoon? Help? Thanks in advance.
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Hi Kay,
Thanks for writing. Glad you’re finding my blog useful! That’s always good to hear!
Personally, I wouldn’t do the 3am trip to El Nido for two reasons. First, the road is pretty bumpy, and you’ll be sitting in a van — and that means little or no sleep. And that leads to the second reason, which is that you don’t want to go island hopping exhausted. Most of the tours involve either snorkeling, swimming, climbing or something else that takes a fair bit of energy, and it will be more fun and safer if you and your family are well rested. I’m a firm believer that seeing less well rested is better than packing in too much but being too tired to enjoy it.
With that in mind, I would actually plan to fly in on the early-morning flight to PP on the 16th, drop your bags off at your hotel, and have a van service ready to take you all to the UR on the 16th. As long as you have arranged the UR and the park passes you need ahead of the time, this is doable. Plus, the entire trip is just sitting down, so you can catch a bit of rest here and there. Then do the island hopping around PP on the 17th. Then do a morning pick up and the trip to El Nido on the 18th and get there in time to have some dinner and a few beers on the beach enjoying the amazing view at El Nido. The El Nido community tends to get to sleep pretty early (everybody is exhausted from the island hopping)…so by the AM of the 19th you’ll be well rested, loving life, and all ready to do your tour!
Anyway, that’s my take on it. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Cheers,
Mike
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Thanks for your quick response! Wow! I do agree about getting too tired before going island hopping. Also, I don’t want to be too tired to enjoy my hard-earned vacation. I’ll take your advice. I did contact someone for a possible place to stay. They were so nice and said that the time we will be there will be off season so their price for an overnight stay will be cheaper AND will even contact me just in case the weather will not cooperate. That was nice! Keep doing your blog. So helpful! Appreciate it.
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Nice! Looks like you really have things sorted. And glad I was of some help. Have an amazing trip!
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hi Mike.. finally i came to El Nido haha. and now i am in PP. i get wifi here..so i can say hi to u 🙂 anyway we arrived at El Nido on 20th Jan and stayed there for 2 nights. on the 1st day we took Tour A with kayak. That was amazing.. eventhough the weather cloudy n rainy with big waves. the 2nd day we took tour C.. but….. due to bad weather we couldnt go 😥 so we changed the tour into tour B. well..it didnt dissapointed me actually.. since the snake island,and others destinations still amazed me. plus we have the best tour guide and a couple of new friends in the same boat. after el nido we went back to PP and stayed here untill today. sadly.. again.. due to bad weather…we couldnt go to underground river yesterday. all of the tour in PP havr been canceled the underground tour for 2 days. today i will fly back yo manila. and i am sure i will dismissed the underground river this time 😥 so, Mike..maybe Jamuary isnt the best weather to go 🙂 But we still enjoyed our time here anyway. thanks a lot mike. maybe if u want to come back to PP next time..u can tell us.. so we can meet there haha bcoz i am still curious about tour C and underground river. hmm.. before i forget.. yesterday i took coty tour in PP and also fireflies watching tour. it was nice.. we love it 🙂 once again thanks a lot mike.. 🙂 🙂 🙂 nb: for our pic.. i will send u via email if u want.. or if u want to follow my Path just search Leni Lebond and invite me as ur friend 🙂 then u can see the pictures there.. (resend..bcoz the 1st comment wont shows up)
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Leni! Thanks for the follow up post! First, congratulations again on the wedding! And my apologies on my terrible suggestion of great weather in January. I assumed Palawan would be the same as Thailand…how stupid is that. It turns out that January is one of the higher average rainfall months. I should have checked, as this post actually gets by far more daily hits than any other on my blog…over 100 a day at least…so I should have checked that info better. I’m going to amend my blog to reflect this information, so thanks for getting back to me on this, and again, my sincere apologies.
Also, I just sent a mail to the gmail account that you used when posting. If you could send me a pic and some intel on the firefly tour, I’ll add that to the blog if it’s ok with you. As for Tour B, I also did most of that in the rain…and I still loved it, too! The sunshine makes the colors pop and calms the seas, but it’s amazing in any weather! Very sad, however, to hear that you weren’t able to do the UR. It’s actually not the most amazing thing ever…it’s cool, but it’s a lot of work for a very short ride in darkness. But it’s always close for you guys in the Phils to zip down there. And yes, I definitely plan to return 🙂 Not sure what Path is. Is that a SNS site? Anyway, thanks again for sharing! Looking forward to seeing pics!
Mike
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hello.im planning for a trip to PP – EL nido. We plan to leave on 14 and return on 16.Is it possible to have a trip to elnido and at the same time can visit the Underground River?if not. then pls. give me some advice when is the best day to travel to el nido i mean on the 14th or the next day after our arrival.
Thank you your blog helps a lot.
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Hi Annie. Thanks for writing. Personally, I definitely would NOT do both PP and EN in such a short trip. Of the two, El Nido is, in my humble opinion! the must-see destination. So I would suggest taking an early AM flight to PP, have day-trippers pick you up at the airport, and go straight to El Nido the 14th. You’ll have time for some sunset beers and dinner on the beach. Then do Tour A on the 15th…and back to PP on the 16th. Just to be sure, book a later flight out. Anyway, flights are always late in the Phils, as you know, so any flight will be a late one. Lol Have a great trip!
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Hi! Such a great post. We’re planning to spend our honeymoon in either El Nido or Coron in December but I’ve just read your post and concerned about the weather, is December a bad time of year to visit in terms of rain? If so, when is the best time of year to visit? Thank you!
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Well, the rain chart at the bottom of the post says it all. Avoid December! And congratulations on the wedding!!! 🙂
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Hi! I just read the comments. If you need help with bookings for Palawan tour packages, please let us know how we can help you.
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Hi mike…family were planning for a Coron Trip on June 21-23…I know weather changes but this is the time we are in PI. Any suggestions:
1. Coron tour package -things to do
2. Coron best/good place to stay
3. Best time to leave Manila for Coron
4. Budget for group of 14
Thanks and I’m happy found this blog….very helpful
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Hi Jo,
I actually just did Coron for a day, so I know very little about it. I put a post on my blog about the Sunz en Coron hotel that I liked a lot. It’s a bit outside of the main area, which is nice because Coron itself is a bit of a hot dustbowl. Plus, the Korean owners — the wife, to be exact — has years of experience in tourism in the Phils, so they can set you up on package tours for sure. Happy travels 🙂
Here’s a link to the blog post I mentioned: https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/05/27/hotels-in-palawan-sunz-en-coron-plus-a-makulit-t-shirt/
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Hey There. I found your weblog the use of msn.
This is a very well written article. I will make sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your helpful information.
Thank you for the post. I will definitely
comeback.
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Wow, thanks very much for the positive feedback. I’m glad you found it useful! I’ll try to keep the posts coming!!
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Awesome blog, Mike. Very informative. Me and my wife will be arriving in puerto princesa on May 5th for our 10th year anniversary. Do you know if they offer rental car that I can drive to El Nido or just public transportation? Also, I wanted to be more spontaneous with our trip and not commit so much with booking the hotel and tours. Do you think that would be okay during May (peak season) or do you recommend booking everything ahead?
I also read your post about chartering your own private small outrigger boat to do island hopping. I would love to do that. Do you think that option is always available? I was also thinking of taking a ferry to Coron. Any recommendation.
Thank you.
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Hi Don,
First off, happy anniversary! Hope the next 10 are as good as the first!
When traveling, I’m similar to you — I like keeping things as spontaneous as possible. In terms of rental cars, just google “Puerto Princess rental cars” and you should have the answer to that for sure, but off hand, I would be really surprised if there aren’t any. And it would be a very cool way to explore the island. If time is not a pressing factor, I would try to find a place half way and do a night in a place like that to see something that most people don’t (no intel on that, however).
For hotels, I tend to always book at least one night in advance with Agoda so that I have someplace to dump my stuff while I look around. Palawan is not a premier tourism destination (although it should be), so I doubt that there will ever be 100% occupancy on any given night, but for me, I always try to get the best room at the lowest price — which you can do if you book a bit ahead. If you find stuff on the ground, then if lots of rooms are available, you can actually get better deals. If things are full, expect to pay rack rates for everything. The one we stayed at in PP, the Acacia Tree Garden Hotel (there’s a post about it on my blog) was great, and I’d have happily stayed there a week — although it was a bit of a trike ride from the center. For El Nido, I got the impression that there are some pretty crappy hotels passing themselves off as luxury hotels, so doing one night booked and then walking around looking at rooms would be a fun way to see the city, and get exactly what you want for this important trip!! Whatever you do, don’t stay at Le Solangane. I stayed in their waterfront room — which had an amazing view…but otherwise was loud and basic as hell.
For tours, you don’t need to book anything. There will always be room on the tours. El Nido is still mostly populated by young backpacker types, and so nothing is booked in advance. For private boats, that will always be an option. If the booking office you’re talking to doesn’t have a boat, they’ll call the cousin of a cousin who does and you’ll be ready to roll. lol
As for the ferry to Coron, I wouldn’t do it. I did it on super smooth waters and it wasn’t a problem, but the boats are pretty crappy and if there had been any serious wind or chop it would have been a 9-hour hellacious ride. And you really are in the middle of the open water for part of the trip, and given the dodgy maritime safety record of the Phils, unless it’s a perfect-weather day, I’d leave Coron till you can fly there from Manila. Besides, Coron, from what I’ve heard, is similar to El Nido in terms of island hopping — and after you’ve seen El Nido, it might not be worth it. But you will LOVE El Nido!!
Happy anniversary and happy travels!
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Thank you so much for the tips. You’ve been very helpful. I’ll keep you posted with our trip experience.
Sent from my iPhone
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Awesome! Looking forward to hearing about it!
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My flight arrive at manila on 25 June at. 11.40am and back on 30 june at.20.55pm. I plan to go to PP and El Nido and also wouldlike to explore manila, could you suggest the best itinerary for us? I go with my husband, and 2 children. Thank you
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Thanks for commenting. To be honest, there’s not all that much to see and do directly in Manila. I would head over to Intramuros on the 25th and explore there. Kids will like it because it feels kind of old and mysterious. As for PP and El Nido, with the very limited time you have, you might have to choose one or the other. You don’t want to take a chance of missing your PM flight on the 30th, so even if you fly from PP, you’ll have to leave in the morning, leaving you effectively the 26-29 to do both PP and El Nido, which isn’t really enough. Personally, I think El Nido is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to, so I would either fly there directly from Manila, or take the van up from PP and do two days of boat tours. Have a great trip!
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Hi..which is a nice place to go in palawan?PP or el nido?where planning to go their end of this month.but want to visit the PP and el nido..or which is nice?
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El Nido is unforgettable. If I had to choose just one, El Nido would win 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. You’ll love it!
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Hey Mike! Just wondering if we can bring kids with us ( 10month and 2yr old).
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Bring them where? To El Nido? I wouldn’t. You definitely don’t want to bring a 10-month-old baby on the boat tours.
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How much do you think they’ll charge for a private boat? Mom, dad, five siblings (18-32y/o) and and the 2 little ones.
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I’m not sure. If I were to do it, I would find a boat owner directly. If you bring your own lunch, I’d bet you could get them to go for between 2~2.5K. But that’s just a guess. I have no direct intel on that.
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where di you stay in El Nido?
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I was at a hotel by the beach, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It was really expensive and really not very good. If I stay again, I would stay farther down the beach away from the main boat pier.
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Hi Mike, let me thank you for your generosity and kindness in helping out all the people who would like to travel to Palawan like me. Thank you really! plan to go to Palawan next year around April 2015. Just want to know about the practicality of travelling to Palawan where I can maximise my/our holiday. I am travelling with my husband together with our 13y/o daughter coming from a European country. Considering the travel time and exhaustion to Manila, I would like to ask your opinion if where to go first? PP or El Nido? My husband is a free lance photographer and I want him to enjoy the beauty of the place? Is there an airport in El Nido that can fly us straight to El Nido from Manila? Or do we have to fly first to PP fr. Manila to reach El Nido and vice versa? Is it worth to stay 2nts in PP for the underground river etc..? And another 3nyts in El Nido? Please help me to fix our itinerary, as we intend to proceed to Boracay ( we’d been here many times but still would like to come back)before finally going back to Europe. Lastly, I will definitely consider Acacia Garden Hotel if we will be in PP. How about any suggestion from you where to stay in El Nido where my daughter and my husband will truly enjoy ( family friendly place). Again, with grateful heart, thank you and may our Almighty bless you more especially health and wisdom so you can continue to help. Godspeed! Beybliss
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Hi Bing,
Thanks for your very kind comments. Much appreciated 🙂 Regarding the airport question, I know a small airline exists that flies directly from Manila to El Nido. I forget the name, but there’s only one so a Google search will find it.
As for the itinerary, if you decide to fly directly to El Nido, I would do that one-way, spend a few nights and get some amazing photography done island hopping, then take the van down to PP, catch the underground river early the next day and fly out of Palawan that evening to Boracay (I don’t know if there are direct flights, but you could probably bounce out of Cebu).
Finally, regarding hotels in El Nido, I can’t really recommend any as I didn’t like the one I was at, and I never looked at any others. But there is TONS of accommodation in El Nido — that’s really all there is there: Hotels with a few tour shops and restaurants here and there. Usually I search on Agoda for deals, then cross reference that with reviews from Tripadvisor.com to find a place. Anyway, you’ll love Palawan and you’ll love Boracay — definitely the most beautiful beach I’ve seen in SE Asia. Enjoy!!
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Hi Mike. Nice blog you have here and I appreciate it. I just hope the Philippine Government to wake up and put more investments back into these tourist destinations in the Philippines before these become big rundowns!
Going back helping Bing, there are many accommodations at El Nido. Quite a number have beach front accommodations from the main island. And the more expensive ones are in the smaller islands.
We fly out to PP because the planes are bigger compared to planes going to El Nido. The planes flying out to El Nido is operated by ITIAIR or ISLAND TRANSVOYAGER, INC.
Two nights is more than enough in Puerto Princesa. On first day, you can do city tour and then the firefly watching tour on night time. Then on second day, do the tour to Underground River takes a whole day – on our tour we left Puerto Princesa around 7:30AM then came back to our hotel in Puerto Princesa around 4:30PM.
The last trip of shuttle vans going from PP to El Nido is at 6PM. We left PP actually around 7PM due to many pick up points and then arrived at 12:30AM in El Nido.
3 Nights in El Nido can be quite good too. You can mix and match the Island hopping tours our of the four packages. The tour operators in El Nido can make it for you for a price. If you want to join groups then better to take island tours each day. The most popular tours are Tour A and Tour C.
Hope this helps.
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Thanks for the intel on the airlines that operate out of El Nido 🙂
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Oh, and one new bit of intel just came my way. The El Nido municipal government has doubled the cost of tours, which sucks. The prices are listed in the El Nido post here:
https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/05/03/el-nido-island-hopping-tour-a-2/
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Hello Yeliah, i just saw your question today, actually this 2014 the local government of el nido had made a lot of changes like tours, last 2013 the tour cost only 700 to 900 only (Philippines Peso )depend on your tour destination but this 2014 they made it like twice the price of the last year from 700-900 it become 1200 to 1400 PhP thats the package, but for Boat hire only it cost PhP5000 to Php 6000 exclusive of tour guide & lunch this year, last week i sent 16 persons in el-nido include 5 child and they want a boat hire only for their island hopping, For 16 persons it cost Php6500, if you are 10 maybe its only Php5000 or Php5500. price cannot be guaranteed but it closer to that. palaweneo’s are looking forward to see you here in Palawan :).hope it’ll help a little thanks
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Ella, thanks for the intel about the price hikes. I’ll put that info into the blog. I have to say though, why does the Phil government just keep on raising prices of tourism destinations — it’s getting harder and harder for locals to travel in their own country. And for foreign tourists, many who consider the Phils to be something like adventure travel (compared with more well travelled destinations such as Thailand or Bali — both of which are, incidentally, cheaper with better quality in general than most tourist destinations in the Phils), well, tourists will start to go elsewhere. I wouldn’t mind so much if the local governments used this money to improve infrastructure and the quality of life for locals — but they don’t. Coron is still a run-down dustbowl, in spite of the huge amounts of pesos the local government gets from the tourism industry. You guys really do need a strategy if you ever plan to compete with the major tourism destinations in SE Asia.
Anyway, having said that, thanks again for the intel. Regarding hiring a boat, I am sure you could get it for less than that if you just walk up the beach and talk to people. I pinged a British guy I met in El Nido to ask and he got one for 4 people for 2,500P for the day, but they only went to two of the destinations and they brought their own food. So again, shop around and wheel and deal. 🙂
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OK, I just updated the prices in the El Nido post here:
https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/05/03/el-nido-island-hopping-tour-a-2/
Thanks again for the intel! Maraming salamat po 🙂
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Mee too, I dont even know y’d they keep it higher, all I know is, they have a new project here, a Zipline adventure to attract More tourists, well anyways youre very welcome 🙂
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Just what El Nido needs, the least creative tourist attraction employed by every municipality: The Zipline (*yawn*) El Nido has enough already!!…as long as they keep it affordable. Seriously, I love the Philippines like you can’t imagine, but the ability of business owners and politicians to completely screw things up there is amazing. How about this: Instead of always raising the prices of the REASON why people visit a place…why not ADD things to generate extra income? By this I mean if they keep the tour prices low…or rather, let the market determine them…then people will come…because that’s the ONLY reason to visit El Nido. Instead, they will push people away all because of typical political and business stupidity and greed.
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The zipline is one of the longest in the Philippines at 800 meters. The cost we paid for it is around P1,500 pesos per person. Thanks for liking the Philippines and doing small things for bigger change.
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I’m sure zip lines are fun. But the point is that people won’t go all the way to El Nido — which is not easy to get to — for a zipline. They will only go there if they plan to take the tours. The zip line will be an incidental attraction. And given that a VERY large percentage of the tourist demographic there are backpacking young people trying to survive on $30 a day, if they find that it costs $35 for the tour just for one day, I’m willing to bet that people will change their minds. And for a family of 5, suddenly the prices are doubled…and you know what they’ll do…they’ll go elsewhere. In fact, the people who should be protesting these increases are local businesses who survive on tourism. Instead, it will be the government just taking a bigger piece of the pie. As for the guys actually on the boats doing the work, I bet they don’t see more than a 20P / day raise in their daily salary. It’s sad to see stupid people running Phil tourism into the ground.
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Very well said Mike. Yes the prices here are quite steep if you ask me. I have been around south east asian regions too and prices in other places have more value. Actually the zip line is at Sabang which they call X-Zipline Sabang which is over water. Anyways, some tour operators have put it as part of the itinerary. Yes the backpacking people won’t normally shell out that amount in exchange for a 1 minute zipline. What I saw it popular for is for the rich families staying at Sheridan Beach Resort or Dinaloyan, both at Sabang. SM is said to have bought a beach place there too at Sabang.
The government is at it again – getting more money once again. Maraming salamat Mike 🙂
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Well, that’s the other thing you see with places like El Nido and Amanpulo. Exclusive resorts and foreign-operated high-end resort hotels come in…pay peanuts to locals, raise prices, and then export all that money out of the region. The beauty of the less glossy version of El Nido as it has been so far is that it’s full of travelers who go there and buy from local shops, pay for local tour guides, and ride trikes driven by locals. The more high end things become, the more the rich get richer and the locals just get pushed out, unable to afford to live in their own city. I reallllllly wish El Nido and other municipalities would think of ways to get the community to participate and benefit, instead of just trying to make a quick buck. Everybody can win when you have a place as beautiful as that that everybody on earth would LOVE to see 🙂
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Hi Mike, do you think the example of itinerary will work? Mla-PP (stay for 2 nights), en route to El Nido land trip (3 nights)?….how about going to Coron to El Nido. What is the mode of transport going to Coron fr. El Nido. I am planning to do or to take by air fr. Busuanga to Manila then to Boracay. Or, do I have to go to Coron on a separate visit next time? I will only be in the Phils. for 3 wks. Thank you!
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Yup. A 2 / 3 night split between PP and EN would be good. As for Coron, you might be able to fly there. But most people take the ferry…something I wouldn’t recommend. It’s a LONG ferry ride, and if you have any bad weather at all, you’ll regret it. I didn’t mind it, but it was perfect weather. Still, I was a bit worried given the fairly high maritime accident stats in the Phils.
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Hi Mike thank you! Any flight from El Nido going to Coron/Busuanga for that matter? Thank you soooo much!
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Yeah, I have no intel on that. A google search will give you more info than I can on that one. But if there is one, I’d do that rather than go on the boat. If for no other reason than if you’re on a time-limited holiday, the plane will be an hour out of your day…but the boat ride is the entire day lost.
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Hi Bing sorry for answering for Mike. Allow me to answer if I may. Unfortunately there are no flights between El Nido and Coron/Busuanga. Since you plan on travelling to Boracay as well, you may want to consider this route:
1) Manila to El Nido (ITIAIR)
2) El Nido to Puerto Princesa (shuttle van)
3) Puerto Princesa to Boracay Caticlan/Kalibo (FlySeaAir or CebuPacificAir)
4) Boracay Caticlan/Kalibo to Manila (CebuPacificAir)
5) Manila to Coron (CebuPacificAir)
Hope this helps.
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Thanks Q10 for stepping in and answering that. That is an amazing itinerary! I kind of would like to do that one myself. Hit all my fave places 🙂 I actually hardly saw anything of Coron, so I have to get back there for sure as well. Thanks again. You rock 🙂
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You’re welcome Bing and Mike 🙂 Pleasure to help and share. Next time you go on a visit here in the Philippines don’t bring and wear expensive jewelries even rings and earrings.
I haven’t been to Coron and hope to get to know the place soon too 🙂
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Well, I usually dress in shorts and sandals with, and I don’t wear any bling, so nobody bothers me lol
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Hi Q10 and Mike, how nice both of you to answer my query in a most practical way. I hope to maximise my/ our holiday and be able to explore these places before I come back to EU. By the timei come back it’s almost summer….thank you guy and may God bless you both.
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Have a great trip!
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I’m planning to travel to el nido on 30th for 5nights to chill and relax… Will the weather be rough? Is it a good place to meet locals and other travellers? Because i’m going to travel alone. Can’t wait to go there! So the photos they are so gorgeous!
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The weather should be OK, although as it gets into June you’ll be getting more and more chance of rain. As for meeting travelers, the best place for that is El Nido. Have an amazing trip 🙂
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Hi, I have plan to go PP on 26 – 30 June 2014 and I would like to do Underdround River and El Nido. can I do both of this place? I arrive at PP airport 07.25pm, are there still any van going to El Nido? TQ
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Hi Sri. Shuttle Vans, the latest departure from PPS to EL NIDO that I know of are until 6PM, Eulen Joy. You may ask Day Tripper too as I am not familiar with their schedule. While RoRo buses depart at San Jose Terminal in Puerto Princesa for El Nido every 2 hours during the day until 6pm and then starts again at 4am and a 10pm trip at night. Travel time is longer than van, may take 7hrs.
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Hi Sri,
Even if there were vans running after 8PM to El Nido, I wouldn’t do it. El Nido becomes a ghost town and a lot of hotels don’t even run reception after about 11PM, so you might find yourself stranded in El Nido. Instead, I would do the underground river the next early morning, then get on the van by about 2PM. I mean, even if you go straight to El Nido super early on the 27, you still won’t get there in time to do any island hopping anyway. So might as well get the UR out of the way on the 27th.
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Ok, thank you for your reply Mike. So I will stay at PP first, If I arrive PP airport at 07.25pm
1. What kind of transportation better for us to go to our hotel at that time?
2. What hotel in PP and El Nido that you recommend?
3. Do Daytripper can take us going to Sabang for UR and El nido at the same day?
4. How we can get the permit for UR? Can we ask from Daytripper to get UR permit?
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There are always trikes running from the airport to the hotels. For hotels, we stayed at the Acacia Tree (Blog post here: https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/04/10/favorite-hotels-in-palawan-part-1-the-acacia-tree-garden-in-puerto-princesa-and-tiki/). As for the UR permit, you definitely need to get that in advance. You could google a tour agency and they’ll sort you. For general info on UR, I put a bit of intel in this post: https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/07/02/the-underground-river-puerto-princesa-philippines/
As to your last question, you’ll have to talk to Day Tripper about that. Have a great trip!
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Interesting take on Coron. I never went there, but had heard from some people that it was apparently even more beautiful than El Nido and was a “must see”. Might have to think twice about planning a trip out there!
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OK, I hadn’t heard that it is better than El Nido, but that’s good to know. Oh, wait a sec. Did you hear that from the same people who told you that Gili was utopia? lol Well, there’s only one way to find out. I wish I’d had a few more nights to spend in Coron to do a tour or two, but I’d been on the road living out of a gym bag for a week or so and needed to get back to my place in Manila. Didn’t want to be the stinky kid on the tour.
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Haha, actually was from some people returning to El Nido who had done one of those week-long island hopping camping trips from El Nido to Coron. They raved about it, though they said it was quite pricey.
Fair enough. Wouldn’t be too happy if you were the stinky guy on my tour! Ha
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Actually, it might be cool to do a week long slow-boat-to-coron trip, but I did it in one go. It was OK because of the perfect weather. But being the Phils and all, where sinking boats is a national pastime, I wouldn’t want to be out in open water in a squall in one of those old clunkers.
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Thank you for this amazing site you have, it helps a lot of people including me a first timer to visit el nido palawan by summer next year.
As mentioned, its mostly island hopping to enjoy the area to the fullest but I was having second thoughts. I’m fat or chubby and it will be a little hard for me to ride a small boat from island to island to think one tour takes almost all day. It will be tiring for me though delicious lunch would be my fave portion in the travel lol. If i plan to take all tours from A to D plus the twin beach nacpan-calitang beach, i need 5 full days to stay at el nido and 4 nights to snore whole night lol.
Also, 5-6 hours travel from PP to El nido via land is too long for me. Flight option is fine but only small plane is flying from manila to el nido which is scary.
I think instead of fun it will be the other way around. I love nature but the access is hard I think lol. I saw your pics and most of the goers are slim and sexy, I pity myself already lol.
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Well, if you go by that van service I have linked to on my site, they are pretty comfortable. And no need to see every tour. Anyway, size doesn’t matter — only how many cool experiences you can fit into your life 🙂
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Your article has been very helpful in planning my getaway. Thanks so much!
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Happy I could help. Have a great trip 🙂
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I want to stay in EL Nido but at the same time I want to see the underground river, I am planning to stay for 3 days and two nights. I am planning to go next month Nov 21-23
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Two nights only? If you’re flying into PP, arriving super early, you could arrange a van to pick you up at the airport and take you to the UR, then go directly from the UR to El Nido (The UR is kind of in the same direction as El Nido, so it would save hours if you don’t go back to PP). Then do one island hopping tour after the first night (they take pretty much a full day). You could arrange a half-day tour the next day and then drive back to PP for a very late flight.
Note that this all depends on if you are willing to spend the money for things like private vans and half-day tours. If you plan to use public transit or even regularly scheduled groups stuff, you’ll never fit both in in 3 days.
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Me and my bf booked a flight from manila to PP, april 14 (our monthsary) til april 18 , 2015.. we want to go to UR, honda bay, and what more places are must to visit in PP? And also we want to explore El Nido, can you give the itinerary for these days? Thank you so much, your blog is really really helpful… 😁
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Other than those places, I don’t have much else to add. If you can get there very early on the 14th and do either HB or UR the first day, then El Nido should also be possible. But it would be tight. With only 4 days, I would do UR the first day and go straight up to El Nido. Happy monthsary 🙂
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Thank you so much..😃
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HI, this site is very helpful, especially to all the travelers …me and my bf is planning to have a vacation in puerto princesa, el nido and palawan this coming december 22, 2014 until January 3, 2015. Anyone can give us the itinerary for that day? Thank you..:-)
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Wow. That’s a nice amount of time for Palawan! You might want to consider flying first to Coron and doing the island hopping there first, then fly down to PP and do the Underground River and Honda Bay, then spend a week chilling and island hopping in El Nido (definitely the icing on an already beautiful cake).
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Hi, is there anything in Puerto Princesa besides the underground river? I’m guessing most the the exciting stuff is in El Nido? I plan to stay one night in Puerto Princesa and then the rest of the time in El Nido. What would you recommend? I will be in Palawan for 5 nights.
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Yeah, that’s pretty much how I saw it. The main selling point of PP is the UR. Some people go to Honda Bay, but I don’t really understand why people do that instead of going straight up to El Nido to see what is arguably some of the most stunning scenery on earth.
As for the UR river, if I go back, I would try to do a longer tour, where they take you farther inside. Not sure how to arrange that, but I know it’s possible. The group tours are cool to see it cheaply and easily, but the guides are super annoying and the actual tour feels quite rushed.
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Thanks for the reply. How many nights would you stay in Palawan altogether?
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Well, given a perfect world, I would probably chill in El Nido for a week at least. But on a schedule, I gave it a week total on Palawan, including a night in Coron.
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Going to Coron in February we are traveling as a family of 4, where would you suggest staying and for how long. How painful is the boat trip to El Nido.
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Hi Travel Family! I stayed at Sunz en Coron — https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/05/27/hotels-in-palawan-sunz-en-coron-plus-a-makulit-t-shirt/. As for the boat trip, I mean, it wasn’t so bad when I took it. But the bathroom was pretty awful, so if I’d had stomach problem or anything, it would have sucked. And you basically have to just stay put on a wooden bench for 8 hours, which could be difficult if you have young kids. The boat service, at least when I was there, was kind of unreliable. For a few days, all of the boats had been broken down, so there was no service at all. So if you do it, pick the biggest, newest boat possible. El Nido is actually worth the trip — it’s amazing!!
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Hello everyone, me and my fiancee will be going to Coron by ship…We start travel from Tagbilaran to Cebu, Cebu to Iloilo, then San Jose de Buenavista to Coron… Is anyone here knows the ship schedule of San Jose de Bienavista to Coron and how much will be the fare…Thank you… Best Regards, Geraldine
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I hope somebody can help with this info. Have a great trip!
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planning to go to elnido,conron palawan this coming holyweek 2015,,,any travel agent to recommend ? the cheaper the better ,,hehehe im from bacolod
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I actually never use agents. I just get on to Agoda.com and look for cheap, good places. 🙂
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Hi. My only daughters (18 y.o)wish is to live and retire in Palawan someday even if she have not seen the place yet. I am planning to spend Christmas, my birthday and New year from Dec. 24 to Jan.2 just the 3 of us. I usually do the itinerary of our trip but this time I don’t know anything about Palawan. I don’t like booking in a hotel then leave it for 3days and still charge us when u are in El nido and return. We wanted a practical stay in a or inn and utilize time and day for siteseeing and experience the main magnificent place of Palawan specifically PP, El nido and Coron. We are coming from Manila to Puerto Princesa or Manila to Coron to PP? Can u suggest the best itinerary and place to stay during our trip? I was thinking of booking in a travel agency for the whole trip but i think since this is our first family getaway adventure, i don’t want to rush. Please help. Thank u.
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I think seeing the whole region is a great idea. PP is mostly about the underground river, so I’d budget more time for El Nido and Coron. If I were to do this trip again, I would fly one-way into PP and do about 2 nights there just to see the town at night and to do the UR. Then I’d spend a solid week in El Nido. Either doing tours, or just chilling by the beach over beers at sunset. The scenery is just amazing. And the town is a cool place to hang out. Then I’d time the boat trip to Coron on a nice-weather day and do maybe 3 nights there. So the first night would be the arrival from El Nido by boat (you arrive in the late afternoon), then I’d do tours the next two days, then fly one-way back to Manila from Coron. As for where to stay, I always use Agoda. It depends so much on budget and what you need in a hotel, it’s hard to recommend anything. Have a great trip!
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Puerto Princesa and El Nido are reachable by plane from Manila. Coron is reachable by boat from El Nido and reachable by plane from Manila. Puerto Princesa and El Nido should be good for 5 days, probably go to El Nido on first 4 days, Dec 24 – 27 and then on the early morning of 28th go back to Puerto Princesa via VAN transfer to have a Puerto Princesa city tour in the afternoon. On 29th take the Underground River tour and next day 30th take flight to Manila and then a flight to Coron to spend your New Year there.
BUT since you will be travelling on high season, it is best that you contact your favorite travel agency now to check availability of the tours. During holidays Also expect that prices are higher at these times.
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I don’t know if I’d agree with your advice here, Q10. As much as I hate long boat rides, doing two round trip flights from Manila, with the guaranteed delays and cancellations that goes with those flights (as always in the Phils, as we are all quite used to lol), it makes more sense to just take the boat. You just have an early morning departure from El Nido, and you’re in your hotel in Coron by 4ish, just in time for happy hour 🙂
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Pingback: HOTELS IN PALAWAN: SUNZ EN CORON — PLUS A MAKULIT T-SHIRT | Going Road
Hi there! Thank you for the article, very helpful. My friends and I will be arriving at Puerto Princessa in the evening. Is there a night trip van to El Nido? We’ll only be there three days and we really don’t want to waste precious daylight travelling. 🙂
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I’m sure that somebody must offer that service, although I haven’t heard of it. If you find a service that does, then make sure that the place you’re staying in El Nido has 24-hour check in service. Many of the privately run ones don’t. They basically close up shop at 11 or 12 and so you’d be stuck waiting until they arrive to work the front desk again.
Personally, I would do the Underground River, and then take a late-afternoon van or bus. Again, you would need a hotel with a late check in service, but you’d get there in time to get checked in and get some sleep. Let me know how it goes!
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hi just want to ask it’s our first time to travel to PPS what’s the nearest in pps city is it coron or el nido and how do we get there ty:)we only have 3days 2 nights there. ty
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If you’re flying into Puerto Princesa, the closes place is El Nido — it’s about 6 hours by van or bus. Coron is actually on another island in the Palawan region, about 8 hours by boat from El Nido.
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any suggestions about cheaper affordable but comfortable hotels in el nido ty?
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I usually just check agoda. Deals change so fast it’s crazy. As for bus etc, the fares probably range from a few hundred pesos for a bus to about 1200 for the best van services.
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and one more thing do you have an idea regarding the fare
bus or van for el nido ty?
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Hello! My fiance and I are getting married in Boracay this December then planning on going to El Nido, Palawan with our family and friends after from 12/22-26. Can you please share the most affordable and nice hotels in El Nido? I am looking at Agoda and there are many available, but since it will be our first time, I would prefer recommendations on where to stay. Thank you!
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Congratulations on the upcoming wedding, Jam!! A wedding in Boracay will be awesome!! As for El Nido, I have no idea about which hotels are the best there. To be honest, when I travel I almost always use a combination of Agoda and tripadvisor.com. If the price is right, and if the reviews are positive on both of those sites, I book it. In fact, the hotel I stayed at in El Nido was La Solangane or something like that — it was overpriced and a really shitty hotel (just a great view). I only went there because a guy I knew told me about it. Which goes to show, agoda and the review sites are a better place to look that one person’s opinion 🙂 Hope you find something great! And again, congratulations!!
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Thank you!! We’re planning all the way from Los Angeles so we need all the help we can get! Do you know if it is cheaper to travel from Boracay to MNL to El Nido, or would you suggest Boracay to PP to El Nido?
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Prices change almost daily on airfare deals, so I can’t say for sure. But I can say that any travel though Manila will just add delay to your trip, so if it were me, if there’s nothing direct from Bora to PP, then I would bounce to PP via Cebu. Also, in terms of time, when you fly into Bora, your trip will be a lot smoother if you fly into Catalan airport, which is literally a 15 minute boat trip across from Bora. If you fly into Kalibo, the bigger airport, you’ll have a few hours in a van to deal with. Not fun. — Although if you go direct to PP from Bora, it will almost certainly be out of Kalibo.
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I will be arriving to El Nido via bus from Puerto Princesa around 3am. Would there be any tricycle taxi at that time?
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Hi Huy. If there are busses scheduled to arrive, then there’s a good chance that trikes will be there waiting. But at 3am, I don’t like taking chances, so if you have a hotel booked, ask them to have a trike there to meet you when you arrive — make sure they give you the trike driver’s telephone number. Bon voyage!!
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Hello Mike!
I plan to visit palawan, but somehow wasn’t sure about way getting there.
Please suggest which travel method travel to El Nido from Manila?
Or whichever economy way u would suggest.
Appreciate you reply to my email gabbieong@gmail.com.
Thank u very much!
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Thanks for posting, Gabbie! The standard route is to fly to PP and then bus or van it up to El Nido (about 6 hours if you take a decent van). There is a small airport near El Nido with flights from Manila — you could try a google search to see if the airline that used to fly there is still in business. Anyway, be sure to give yourself enough time in El Nido to not just do tours, but to have a day here and there just to chill! 🙂
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hi mike. thanks for your site. I have some relatives from Vancouver who are coming over in August and wants to see Palawan. I can’t suggest where and what to do there since I have not been there. They are an old couple (70’s) but still wants to see sights here in the Philippines. Can you suggest an itinerary for them on what to do, where to go – say a 5 days stay in Palawan. Considering their age, I don’t know if Palawan is the best place to go. Pls help
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Hi George. Thanks for writing. Well, as they say, 70s is the new 50s. People are staying fit longer and can handle quite a bit. Personally, I think that Palawan would be no problem. There were a lot of older retired couples going to the underground river, and perhaps fewer in El Nido. Whatever they do, make sure they are prepared for the heat. That trip to the UR is a LONG day, with a lot of waiting in the heat. El Nido is also a long one, but if they hire their own boat instead of going on a tour, they could just do maybe two of the main sights and return if they’ve had enough for the day.
Or if they want to do it red carpet – and I think they should! Then why not stay at one of the nice (and hella expensive) resorts in El Nido. Then they can see things fairly easily, but be really pampered.
As for Coron, I wasn’t too impressed with it. The best thing about it for older people is that they can fly direct and do island hopping tours from there.
Anyway, I can’t really suggest any itinerary as I don’t know anything about their health, interests or priorities. But I love it that at 70 they are still into experiencing exotic and gorgeous locations like Palawan!!
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is it good to go to elnido on feb?
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Hi Mei. I actually don’t really know. I would guess it’s OK because SE asia is usually in peak season from Dec – March. The best thing to do is do a google search for “monthly rainfall El Nido.” If the rain is low, you’re good to go!
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Hi Mike, What is your take on traveling with kids to Palawan. We’re going home in November and I really want to see El Nido. Kids are 10 and 7 and like adventure but i’m wondering if the heat and hiking around would be too much for them.
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Hi JJ. I’d say that the 10-year-old will find El Nido easily doable. 7 might be a challenge for Tour A, where there’s quite a bit of swimming involved. Yes, you could stay with the 7-year-old in the boat, but then it would just be a boat trip 🙂 For other tours, hiking around wouldn’t be much of an issue. For the most part, the boats go to a location, and it’s your choice how much you do once you arrive 🙂
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Hi mike! I just wanna ask some advise from you regarding hownwe would spend 4 days 3 nights in puerto prinsesa palawan, me my husband and 2 teenager daughters are coming thre sept 11 to 14.we dont wanna go farther just in ouerto prinsesa.please advis for super super low hotel rate as we have a tight budget.first in the list is the underground river. I would be waiting for ur advise and thanks in advance for ur reply?.by the way can we book ticket going to underground river directly from there once were there or we must book in advance while were not there yet? Thanks!
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Hi Mat. I’m afraid I can’t be much help in terms of hotels or booking info — things in the Phils change so quickly, it’s hard to give a clear answer. About hotels, if you have access to a Filipino travel agency, they would have better options price wise than international sites like Agoda, which tend to target foreign tourists.
For the UR, if you only have a few days, then yes, find a way to book the tour in advance. Some days it’s empty, and some weeks it’s fully booked, so there’s nothing you can do. As I wrote in my Underground River post (https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/07/02/the-underground-river-puerto-princesa-philippines/), the government site is currently down. So you’ll have to reach out to a tour agency in PP and they will have everything ready for you by the time you arrive.
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Hi. I have gone to PP many times and we always stay at 27 H Mendoza (corner Rizal Ave.). If you’re looking for a safe, clean, cheap, and easy to access kind of guesthouse/b&b, this is the place. They will pick you up at the airport (5 minutes away!) and they arrange for the ticket/permit and ride to UR, The folks who run it are friendly. This place has AC, rooms with own bathrooms and others with common bathrooms. No swimming pool or extra frills. Just basic quiet lodging place. Since you are basically away all day and just need a clean place to rest after the tour (you’ll be so tired for anything else after!), this place is great. There are many fast food/restos, banks, and shops that are at walking distance or a short trike away. A mall is across from the guesthouse door step! They even had a banner with all our names to welcome us! If you’re doing PP only, do the city tour (esp. Bakersville), Underground River AND zipline over the ocean, and of course, island hopping. You can do these in 2-3 days. FUN! They arranged for our ride (a nice van) and trip to El Nido – hotel and island hopping ride. We had the best time. My nephew from the US wants to go back again. There were 9 of us. You might want to contact them ASAP to reserve, esp if you want to go next week. They need to get the permit to go to the UR. Contact Richard at: 917 678 1985, 010 558 3885, or 916 319 5580. Enjoy! Kay
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Thanks for the detailed info. Awesome!
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Does it make sense for a short weekend getaway? i.e Arrive late Sat and return to Manila on Monday? Or is it better to just hangout in PP?
TIA
Chris
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El Nido is definitely not a weekend place, but you can fly directly to Coron and do some island hopping from there just for a day. Very doable, indeed!
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Hi! Thanks for this informative post. I’m a Filipina who lives in Central Luzon. I hope to visit Palawan’s jewels for the first time this coming April. What you shared is going to help me a lot on planning my itinerary and on preparing for the trip. 🙂 Thanks again!
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Hi Irish. Sorry for the late reply. I’m really glad that this post helped you with your planning. I think you’re going to love it down there. When you first swim into Small Lagoon…wow. You’ll never forget it! Have a great trip 🙂
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Hi Guys, So I need to make a decision between going to Palawan or not. My first idea was going to Manila, Palawan, Malapascua, Boracay and Donsol. But Im concious of the time as I only have 10 days + 2 days for the flights (24 feb to 6 mars). I wouldnt like to rush the whole trip unless I have to. Im goin to Philipines to do some relaxing and diving.. so I wonder what you would recommend me.
I heard amazing things about Palawan and the things you can do there but in terms of transport and time logistically it can be challenging to fit it all. So im thinking..Manila, boracay (beach n relax) malapascua (diving) and donsol (whalesharks).. What do you think? Or should prioritize Malapascua? What do you think? Thank you very much
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Hi Francisco. Sorry it took me a while to approve. If you have 10 days, doing both Palawan AND Malapascua would be challenging. But it’s really nice up there, and everybody likes the Threshers dive. You’ll need your advanced PADI for that. The dive shop I went to said that the PADI open water cert wasn’t enough. Anyway, then you can get the Whalesharks dive in even on a day trip out of Cebu. Adding Boracay is a good idea –it’s an easy stop. Pay extra to fly into Caticlan airport — and you’ll be on the beach in 30 mins. (Just make sure you do a morning flight — they will divert you to Kalibo if it’s getting dark. Only daytime landings allowed at Caticlan.) So I’d suggest Cebu+Bora OR Palawan+Bora, but not both.
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Thank you so much for answering.. Ye, I thought this was te most sensible to chose either Palawan or Malapascua. Thank you!
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Btw, do you know where the whalesharks are end of february begining of march?
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Hiya. Yeah, I’m not sure about anything seasonal. But if my memory serves, those critters are swimming around Oslob in the very south of Cebu island all year.
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Which ihas better beaches, island hopping and views? Is it puerto prinsesa or el nido? Im planning to go there on my birthday.
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Hi Meyn! Neither are particularly known as being beach places. But El Nido is clearly _the_ place for island hopping and views. And you’ll see plenty of decent beaches there while island hopping, too, so I’d go for El Nido for sure.
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Hello. We booked a ticket to Coron this September. Are we expecting heavy rains that it will affect our island hopping?
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Hi Bisyang. If you scroll down to the bottom of the post, there’s an average monthly rainfall chart for Palawan. I guess if you’re near the start of Sept, it probably won’t be too bad…getting slowly wetter as the month continues. Bon voyage 🙂
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Hey there
My name is Carmela Alvarez – the editor of LetsPalawan.com
I was devouring posts on Puerto Princesa, El Nido And Coron.
Where To Visit In Palawan And How To Get There and I found https://asiatravelbug.net/2013/04/21/puerto-princesa-el-nido-
and-coron-where-to-visit-in-palawan-and-how-to-get-there/
extremely helpful/engaging/captivating/other adjectives, so just
a quick thank you/congrats/kudos on that.
I’m reaching out to you because I wanted to ask if you’re
interested in having me write a guest post that engages your
audience.
For us, we came up with engaging articles like:
– http://www.letspalawan.com/blog/palawans-27-coolest-town-spots/
– http://www.letspalawan.com/blog/top-20-places-go-palawan/
– http://www.letspalawan.com/blog/16-places-palawan-not-miss/
I’d love to write something about Palawan and give you exclusive-use
images if you want.
Would this be something you’d be interested working with, name?
Many thanks,
~ Carmela
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Thanks for the kind words. I don’t do many guest posts on here. Been too busy to work on the blog at all, actually. Thanks anyway for the offer 🙂
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Hi Just wondering which is better for views, beaches and island hoping? El Nido, or Coron?
Is it possible to do both for 3 days n 2 nights?
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I didn’t do any island hopping in Coron…I just stayed in the town there. El Nido I think it better just because you can see so much in one day. Plus, the view from the beach in El Nido town is pretty amazing. I definitely wouldn’t try to do both in 2 nights. I mean, it’s a whole day travel between the two. You’d totally be wasting your vacation. Just go to El Nido and prepare to be amazed! 🙂
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Nice article!
If you’re going to Coron Sep 15 – Dec 15, 2017, you should take advantage of Sunlight Guest Hotel’s promo! Check it out at https://www.unitop.com.ph/site/article_detail/id/21! 😀
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Sounds good. Thanks for the info!
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If traveling between El Nido and Coron, a great way is by private boat on a multiday tour, because there are so many, untouched paradise islands along the way and excellent snorkeling in fantastically clear water.
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That’s actually an awesome thing to do, I agree. I have friends who have rented privately and done their own thing and really loved it. And compared to doing that one, long, slog on the usual boat, it’s definitely the way to go.
Regarding ads, just email me and critchley55@yahoo.co.jp and we can talk about it. Cheers!
Mike
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how long would you recommend staying in each place? 🙂 our trip starts next week and im still not sure ^^
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I’d do 2 in PP, and 3 each in El Nido and Coron.
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