Palawan Itinerary: 5 Days, Honestly Planned

Palawan is not one destination. It is a long, skinny province where the three places everyone wants to see sit five to eight hours apart by road or sea, and the flights between them are small, pricey and quick to sell out. Most people learn that after booking. Then they spend half their holiday in a van.

Can you do El Nido, Coron and Puerto Princesa in five days?

Not comfortably, and honestly, not well. You can technically move between all three, but you will spend roughly 16 to 20 hours of a 120-hour trip in transit, and you will lose at least two island-hopping days to travel and check-in queues.

Here is the geography, plainly. Puerto Princesa has the province’s main airport and the most flights from Manila and Cebu. El Nido is about 230 km north of it. Coron is on a completely separate island group, Busuanga, which you reach either by a ferry from El Nido or by flying into Francisco B. Reyes Airport. There is no road between El Nido and Coron. There cannot be. It is open sea.

The El Nido to Coron ferry runs most mornings and takes three and a half to four hours in decent weather, longer when the swell is up, and it gets cancelled outright in bad weather. That is one full day gone, plus the risk of being stranded. Adding it to a five-day trip means you are gambling one fifth of your holiday on the sea state.

What does a five-day Palawan itinerary look like day by day?

This assumes a morning flight into Puerto Princesa and a late afternoon flight home on day five.

1. Day 1 — Land in Puerto Princesa, ride north to El Nido

   Take the earliest flight you can get. Vans leave the San Jose terminal in Puerto Princesa through the morning and early afternoon; the drivers wait to fill seats, so a 9am departure can mean a 9:40am rolling start. You arrive in El Nido town in the late afternoon, check in, eat, and book your tour for the next morning at any of the accredited operators along Serena Street or through your accommodation. Pay the ₱200 eco-tourism fee at the same time and keep the paper slip. It is valid for ten days and every operator will ask for it.

2. Day 2 — Tour A, the lagoons

   Boats gather at the beachfront around 8:30am and are usually back by 4pm to 5pm. Tour A is the one on all the posters: Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and Seven Commandos Beach. Big Lagoon is entered by kayak on most days, so factor in the kayak rental. Bring dry bags. Lunch on the bangka — the outrigger boat — is included and it is usually grilled fish, pork, rice, fruit and a bottomless supply of calamansi juice.

3. Day 3 — Tour C or Tour D, depending on the sea

   Tour C is the snorkeling day and it goes furthest out, so ask the operator honestly about conditions. If the wind is up, take Tour D instead. It stays close to town, the water is calmer, and it costs less. Get back by 4pm, walk up to Las Cabanas Beach for sunset, and eat somewhere on Rizal Street.

4. Day 4 — Land day, or Tour B

   Two good options. Either take Tour B, which is the quiet one with a sandbar and caves and far fewer boats, or stay on land: rent a motorbike or hire a tricycle to Nacpan Beach, a four-kilometre stretch of sand about 45 minutes north on a rough road. Nacpan has almost no shade, so go early or late. This is also your buffer day if a tour gets cancelled for weather, which is exactly why it sits here and not on day two.

5. Day 5 — Travel out

   If you are flying from Lio Airport, it is a ten-minute tricycle ride from town and the terminal is tiny, so an hour is plenty. If you are going back to Puerto Princesa by van, take the 6am or 7am departure and give yourself a minimum of three hours of buffer before your flight. Not two. Three. The road has landslide-prone sections and one stuck truck can hold everything up.

What is the difference between El Nido Tour A, B, C and D?

All four are full-day boat trips with lunch included, at roughly the same price. What changes is the distance from town, the type of stop, and how rough the ride gets.

If I had to pick one on a crowded week, I would take Tour D over Tour A. Same water, a third of the boats, and you get back early enough to enjoy the town.

How long is the Puerto Princesa to El Nido van, really?

Plan for six hours door to door. The advertised time is five, and a private van on an empty road can do it in four and a half, but shared vans stop for passengers, for a comfort break at a roadside carinderia, and for whatever the road decides to do that day.

Shared vans run from early morning until early evening. The back rows are cramped; if you get carsick, ask for the front when you book, because the northern half of the road is a long series of curves through hills. A private van costs roughly four to six times the shared fare and is worth splitting between four or more people.

Flying into Lio Airport in El Nido skips all of this, and if the fare is within reach it buys you back most of a day. The catch is that the route is served by a small turboprop operation with limited seats and a strict baggage allowance, so fares climb steeply as the plane fills. Check it early or not at all.

What fees do you pay on top of the tours?

Small individually, and they add up. Almost always cash only.

• El Nido eco-tourism development fee — paid once, valid for ten days, required before any tour. Keep the receipt in your dry bag.
• Kayak rental at Big and Small Lagoon — usually not included in the Tour A price.
• Environmental and terminal fees at Sabang — charged for the Underground River, on top of the permit and the boat.
• Coron environmental fees — separate again, if you do add Coron on another trip.
• Tricycle fares — the run to Nacpan or Las Cabanas is negotiated, so agree the price before you sit down.

How much does a Palawan itinerary for 5 days cost?

Figures below are per person, El Nido-based, excluding airfare to Palawan, assuming two sharing a room. Rooms swing hard by season — the same fan room can double between September and December.

Indicative costs compiled July 2026. Fares, fees and rates change often — confirm current prices before you book or send money.

Saving for this from abroad? Airfare is the biggest line and it moves the most. Our notes on setting money aside as an OFW work for a trip fund too: decide the number first, then work backwards.

When should you go to Palawan, and when should you not?

The dry stretch runs roughly late November through May, with the calmest seas from December to March. Tours run daily, the water is clear, and Tour C is actually pleasant. It is also when rooms cost the most, and Holy Week and the days around Christmas and New Year are the peak of the peak.

From about June to October comes the habagat — the southwest monsoon — and this is the part travel blogs skate over. It does not rain constantly. What happens is that the wind turns, the sea gets choppy on the western side, and tours get cancelled at short notice, sometimes for two or three days running. If you go in August, go with a flexible plan and a book.

The cheapest week to fly is often the week the boats do not go out. That trade is fine if you know you are making it.

Where to go next

If Palawan turns out to be your kind of trip, the same planning logic works elsewhere. Our Siargao budget guide covers a cheaper island with a very different rhythm, and the Batanes guide is the honest version of the country’s most expensive domestic destination. If you are travelling with relatives who grew up abroad, a handful of Tagalog phrases makes the tricycle negotiations a lot friendlier. More trip planning lives in Lakbay, our travel section.