Philippines: Palawan, El Nido and Coron

1. Day 1: Arrive in Manila

   Ninoy Aquino International Airport to your hotel on Manila Bay, then Intramuros

   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Manila
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), where a driver meets you in arrivals for the drive to your hotel near Manila Bay. Manila traffic is slow, so allow an hour or more for the transfer. If you land by early afternoon, rest, then join your See Sight Tours guide for a late-afternoon walk in Intramuros, the walled city the Spanish built from the late 16th century. We walk part of the old walls, past Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church, a UNESCO-listed Baroque church and the oldest stone church in the country, and into Fort Santiago as the heat goes out of the day. In the evening the group meets for a short briefing on the week: the flights, what to pack for the boats, how the ferry works. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Filipino dishes, from adobo to sinigang. It is an early night: tomorrow starts with a flight to Palawan.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL)
   • Late-afternoon walk in Intramuros with your guide: the walls, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church and Fort Santiago
   • Welcome briefing and welcome dinner

   Easier option: If you land late, skip the walk and meet the group at the briefing and dinner.

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon walk

   Activity: Land by about 2 pm to join the Intramuros walk; the briefing and dinner are in the evening. The latest arrival time is confirmed with your final itinerary.

   

2. Day 2: Fly to Palawan and the Underground River

   Manila to Puerto Princesa by air, then Sabang and the Underground River and back

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Puerto Princesa
   Day 2 details

   This is the trip's one early start, to beat Manila's traffic to the airport for a morning flight of about an hour and twenty minutes to Puerto Princesa, the capital of Palawan. Our van and driver meet the group there, and we head north for about an hour and three quarters through farmland and forest to Sabang, on the west coast. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Sabang, then a short outrigger boat ride along the shore brings us to the mouth of the Puerto Princesa Underground River, listed by UNESCO in 1999. Most day trips from the city come in the morning; our permit slot is in the early afternoon. Wearing helmets and life jackets, we glide into the cave in paddle boats, about 1.5 km into a river that runs some 8 km under the limestone, past chambers of stalactites with swifts and bats overhead. Back in the city by early evening, dinner is your choice.

   Included

   • Flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa
   • Underground River permit, outrigger boat from Sabang and the paddle-boat trip into the cave
   • Sit-down lunch in Sabang

   Optional experiences

   • Iwahig River firefly boat trip after dark, about 30 minutes from the city (price shown at booking)

   Free time: Evening free in Puerto Princesa

   Activity: The cave ride is seated and about 45 minutes. The boat landing at the river mouth is on a beach, so expect wet feet. Permit slots are confirmed when we book your dates. If the morning flight is delayed and we miss our slot, we ask the park for a later slot that afternoon; if none is free, the cave ride moves to early on day 3 and we drive north to El Nido from Sabang, which makes day 3 about an hour longer.

   

3. Day 3: North through Palawan to El Nido

   Puerto Princesa to Roxas and Taytay, then El Nido

   • Drive about 5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in El Nido
   Day 3 details

   Today is the longest drive of the trip, about 250 km and five hours on the road, because no regular flight links Puerto Princesa and El Nido and the detour through Manila would cost a day. We leave after breakfast, at about 8 am, and break the road twice. The first stop is for coffee in Roxas, about halfway, where the road comes close to the east coast. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Taytay, once the Spanish capital of the province, near Fort Santa Isabel, the small stone fort above the bay that the Spanish built in the 17th century. The last stretch runs through forested hills and the first limestone cliffs of the north, and we reach El Nido in the middle of the afternoon. You stay here three nights, so unpack. The evening is free: walk to Corong Corong for the sunset over Bacuit Bay and pick a seafood grill by the water.

   Included

   • Drive from Puerto Princesa to El Nido with your guide, with a coffee stop in Roxas
   • Fort Santa Isabel in Taytay
   • Sit-down lunch in Taytay

   Free time: Evening free in El Nido

   Activity: About five hours of driving in our air-conditioned van, in three legs of under two hours each.

   

4. Day 4: Bacuit Bay lagoons by private boat

   El Nido to the Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon and Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and back

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in El Nido
   Day 4 details

   Our own outrigger boat and crew are waiting on the beach after breakfast, and we head out to reach the lagoons as early as we can, before the shared tour boats fill the entrances. Miniloc Island is the first stop. In the Big Lagoon, sheer black limestone walls close around water that turns from green to deep blue, and we paddle in by kayak. In the Small Lagoon you swim or paddle through a low gap in the rock into a hidden pool. At the Secret Lagoon you crawl through a hole in the cliff into a still basin. Lunch is fish, chicken and rice grilled by the crew on a beach, then snorkelling over the coral at Shimizu Island, where reef fish gather in the shallows. Because the boat is ours, we can stay longer where it is quiet and skip what is crowded. We are back in town by mid-afternoon, with the evening free.

   Included

   • Full day on a private boat for the group with your guide and crew
   • Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon by kayak, the Secret Lagoon and Shimizu Island
   • El Nido eco-tourism fee, lagoon fees, kayaks, snorkel gear and life jackets
   • Lunch grilled on the beach

   Easier option: Stay on the boat or the beach at any stop; the crew paddle a kayak for you in the Big Lagoon if you prefer.

   More active option: Take a kayak for the long way round the Big Lagoon and snorkel at every stop.

   Free time: Evening free in El Nido

   Activity: Swimming in a life jacket; the Small and Secret Lagoons involve a short swim or a crawl over sharp rock. Water shoes help.

   

5. Day 5: Hidden beaches, then a free afternoon

   El Nido to Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine and Helicopter Island, then back to town

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in El Nido
   Day 5 details

   A second morning on our private boat, on a different loop to the west of the bay. Hidden Beach is a strip of white sand closed off by limestone walls, which you reach by wading or swimming through a gap in the rocks. On Matinloc Island a small shrine to the Virgin Mary sits on a ridge, and a short climb on the rocks behind it looks out over the open sea. Helicopter Island, named for its shape from the water, has a long beach for a swim and snorkelling along its edge. Lunch is grilled on a beach again, and we head back to El Nido by early afternoon, when the sun is fiercest. The rest of the day is yours: sleep, read, take a massage in town, or hire a tricycle to Nacpan Beach, a long curve of sand about 45 minutes north. For sunset, Las Cabanas Beach south of town faces west over the islands.

   Included

   • Morning on a private boat for the group: Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine and Helicopter Island
   • Snorkel gear, kayaks and life jackets
   • Lunch grilled on the beach

   Optional experiences

   • Kayak or stand-up paddle board hire in El Nido (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Skip the boat and keep the whole day free at the hotel or on Corong Corong beach.

   More active option: In the late afternoon, a guided climb of Taraw Peak behind the town: steep, sharp limestone with ropes in places, about 2 to 3 hours, for the view over the bay.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free in El Nido

   Activity: Back by early afternoon. Wading and short swims at Hidden Beach.

   

6. Day 6: Ferry to Coron and Mount Tapyas

   El Nido to Coron by fast ferry, then Mount Tapyas

   • By ferry
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Coron
   Day 6 details

   We take the fast ferry from El Nido across to Coron town on Busuanga Island, the main island of the Calamian group, about three and a half to four hours on open water. The ferry sails early in the morning on most timetables, so this is the one morning the schedule is set by the boat, not by us; breakfast is packed if the hotel is not yet serving. Your guide handles the tickets and the bags, and porters carry luggage on and off. In Coron we check in, then sit down to lunch in town. The afternoon is free to rest. Late in the day, before sunset, we climb the stairway up Mount Tapyas, a little over 700 steps to a large cross and a view over Coron town, its harbour and the islands of the bay as the light goes gold. If the steps are too much, the Maquinit saltwater hot spring outside town is a gentler way to end the day.

   Included

   • Fast ferry from El Nido to Coron with porterage
   • Sit-down lunch in Coron
   • Mount Tapyas at sunset with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Maquinit Hot Springs in the evening (price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Skip Mount Tapyas and soak in the Maquinit saltwater hot spring instead.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Coron

   Activity: Ferry timetables change by season and sailings are cancelled in rough seas; the sailing time is confirmed close to departure, and if a sailing is cancelled we rebook the next one and rearrange the Coron days.

7. Day 7: Coron Island lakes and wrecks

   Coron town to Coron Island, Barracuda Lake, Twin Lagoon and the Skeleton Wreck, and back

   • By boat
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Coron
   Day 7 details

   A full day on our own boat, starting early to reach Coron Island's lakes before the shared tour boats. The island is the ancestral land of the Tagbanua, who manage the lakes and collect the entry fees. At Kayangan Lake a steep stairway climbs to a viewpoint over the cove and its karst towers, then drops to a lake of clear water ringed by limestone. At Barracuda Lake you float over layers of fresh and salt water at different temperatures, a strange feeling on the skin. The Twin Lagoon is two lagoons joined by a gap in the rock that you swim through at low tide. Lunch is grilled on a beach, then we snorkel the Skeleton Wreck, one of the Japanese ships sunk by American aircraft around Coron Bay in September 1944, shallow enough to see from the surface. Tonight the group shares a farewell dinner in town.

   Included

   • Full day on a private boat for the group with your guide and crew
   • Kayangan Lake, Barracuda Lake and the Twin Lagoon on Coron Island, with the Tagbanua community fees
   • Snorkelling over the Skeleton Wreck
   • Snorkel gear and life jackets
   • Lunch grilled on the beach
   • Farewell dinner in Coron

   Easier option: Stay on the boat at Kayangan Lake and Barracuda Lake, or swim only where you can stand.

   More active option: Add a snorkel stop at a coral garden or a second wreck, agreed with the crew on the day.

   Free time: Late afternoon free before the farewell dinner

   Activity: The Kayangan stairway is short but steep and uneven. Swims are in life jackets; Barracuda Lake is deep, so stay near the boardwalk if you are a weak swimmer.

8. Day 8: Fly from Coron to Manila

   Coron town to Busuanga airport, then Manila by air

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   A slow morning with breakfast at the hotel. Coron town is small, so if there is time before the airport walk the harbour front, buy dried fish or cashews in the market, or take a last coffee looking out at the islands. We drive about 40 minutes across Busuanga to Francisco B. Reyes Airport (USU), where your guide sees you through check-in, and take the included flight of about an hour back to Manila. The group arrives at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) around the middle of the day, where you connect to your flight home or stay on in Manila. Your guide checks your onward flight before saying goodbye. Manila's airport has several terminals that are not connected inside, so allow time for the transfer between them, and book your international flight to leave after about 4 pm. If you want to stay longer on Palawan, ask us to add nights in El Nido or Coron before you fly.

   Included

   • Transfer to Busuanga airport (USU)
   • Flight from Busuanga to Manila (MNL)

   Free time: Morning free in Coron

   Activity: Book your flight home from Manila after about 4 pm; the Busuanga flight time is confirmed with your final itinerary.

Wildlife and weather: December to May is the dry season. December to February is a little cooler and can bring choppy seas from the northeast monsoon, which can delay the ferry; March to May is calm and hot. From June to November rain and typhoons make the boat days unreliable, so we do not run then.

• Manila1 night
• Puerto Princesa1 night
• El Nido3 nights
• Coron2 nights