MIMAROPA · Must visit
Palawan
The 650 km green province that holds the country's best water.
Palawan is not one destination but an entire province stretching from Puerto Princesa to El Nido and Coron, and confusing them is the single planning mistake I fix most often. Give it enough nights and you get underground rivers, karst bays and reef diving in the same trip. Rush it and you spend half your holiday in a van.
Why visit
- One province holds the country's best underground river, its best lagoons, and its best wreck diving
- You can genuinely mix jungle, cave and reef days without changing province
- Infrastructure has caught up: two working domestic airports (Puerto Princesa and Lio) plus Busuanga
- Port Barton and San Vicente still give you the empty-beach feeling El Nido had a decade ago
- It photographs like nowhere else in Southeast Asia, karst walls included
Highlights
- Puerto Princesa Underground River, an early morning slot before the tour buses arrive
- Port Barton, the quiet fishing-village version of El Nido
- Nacpan Beach at sunset with almost no one on the four kilometres of sand
- El Nido's Bacuit Bay lagoons and Coron's WWII wrecks in one province
Getting there
- Manila or Cebu to Puerto Princesa (PPS): 1h20 flight
- Puerto Princesa to El Nido: 5h30 by shared van, or 1h by small plane (Lio airport)
- El Nido to Coron: 3h45 by fast ferry, weather and season dependent
- Coron to Manila: 1h flight from Busuanga (USU)
My personal recommendation
I never let a first trip try Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Coron in under a week. I build every Palawan itinerary around two bases maximum, with a soft rest day after any transfer over three hours, because the roads and the boats will always run late.
Best beaches
Nacpan Beach
Four km of sand near El Nido, best at 17:00 when the day-trippers have left.
Long Beach, San Vicente
At 14 km, the longest beach in the Philippines, and still nearly empty on weekdays.
White Beach, Port Barton
A short banca ride from town, calm water, good for kids and weak swimmers.
Talara Beach, Puerto Princesa
A local weekend spot, quiet Monday to Friday, close to the airport.
Where to sleep: my inspected hotels
I have personally stayed at every hotel listed here and ridden the vans, boats and ferries between all three bases within the last twelve months; the timings above are my own, not the printed schedules.
Luxury
El Nido Resorts Pangulasian Island
Bacuit Bay, El Nido
The most complete high-end option in the province; I check the reef in front of the villas every visit and it is consistently the best house reef of the group.
Amanpulo
Pamalican Island, Northern Palawan
A separate charter flight from Manila, genuinely private; I send clients here only when budget is not a question and privacy is the whole point.
Mid-range
Sheridan Beach Resort & Spa
Sabang, Puerto Princesa
Walking distance to the Underground River pier, reliable air-con and a pool that actually gets cleaned.
Coco Resort
Corong-Corong, El Nido
Good value beachfront rooms a five-minute tricycle ride from town, quieter than staying centrally.
Budget
Greenview Hostel
El Nido town
Clean dorms, strong wifi for the area, five-minute walk to the pier.
Elsa's Beach Cottages
Port Barton
Basic nipa cottages steps from the water, honest pricing, no upselling of tours.
Best restaurants
Altrove
Wood-fired pizza in El Nido that consistently beats places twice the price.
Kinabuchs Grill & Bar
Puerto Princesa institution for grilled seafood and cold San Miguel after a long travel day.
Republica
El Nido rooftop with the best sunset view over the harbour, book ahead in high season.
Best activities
Underground River tour
Book the 08:00 slot through your hotel to skip the midday queue at Sabang wharf.
El Nido Tour A (Big and Small Lagoon)
The most photographed tour; take the early departure to beat the fleet into Small Lagoon.
Coron shipwreck diving
Seven accessible WWII wrecks in one bay, suitable from Open Water level upward.
Port Barton island hopping
The same lagoon-and-snorkel formula as El Nido at a third of the boat traffic.
Hidden places
Modessa Shoal
A sandbar near Port Barton that only shows at low tide; almost no tour boats know to stop there.
Calauit Safari Park
A day trip from Coron with giraffes and zebras from a 1970s conservation transfer, genuinely strange and worth it.
Duli Beach
Twenty minutes past Nacpan, a surf beach with one restaurant and no crowd even in April.
Who is this destination for?
Families
3/5Couples
5/5Honeymoon
5/5Luxury travellers
4/5Divers
4/5Backpackers
3/5Digital nomads
2/5Adventure travellers
4/5Common mistakes
Basing in Puerto Princesa the whole trip
It is a transit city, not a beach destination; two nights maximum, used only for the Underground River.
Booking El Nido and Coron back to back with no buffer
The ferry cancels for swell more often than operators admit; always keep one free day either side.
Trying three bases in under a week
Each transfer eats half a day; two bases and a slower pace beats a rushed triangle every time.
Visiting July to September for the beaches
This is typhoon season on this side of the country; boats get cancelled and lagoons close.
Choosing a hotel in El Nido town for the view
Town rooms face the street, not the bay; Corong-Corong or Lio give you the sunset instead.
Recommended length of stay
Seven nights minimum if you want both El Nido and Coron without feeling rushed; ten to twelve if you add Port Barton or Puerto Princesa properly.
Perfect itinerary combinations
Palawan + Coron dive week
Four nights El Nido, three nights Coron, built around two dive days and two lagoon days.
Palawan + Cebu
Fly Puerto Princesa to Cebu direct, then finish with Moalboal's sardine run and Kawasan canyoneering.
Palawan honeymoon loop
Pangulasian Island for the first three nights, then El Nido town for restaurants and Corong-Corong sunsets.
Frequently asked questions
Personally inspected
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Other destinations
Bohol
Chocolate Hills, tarsiers and the easiest island in the country to travel with children.
Northern PalawanEl Nido
Limestone cathedrals, hidden lagoons and a town where the beach you sleep on matters more than the hotel.
Northern PalawanCoron
Shipwreck diving, karst lakes and the clearest freshwater lake I have seen in Asia.
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