Palawan · El Nido · Coron · Nacpan Beach · Big Lagoon · Kayangan Lake · Twin Lagoon · Philippines · 9 min read
Palawan Itinerary 6 Days: El Nido and Coron, Lagoons, Islands and Beaches
6 days · 2 cities
Duration
6 days
Estimated budget
40,000 to 65,000 pesos per person, no flights
Best time to go
December to May, the dry season
Visa
Visa free for many passports; eTravel form
This 6 day Palawan itinerary splits the trip between El Nido and Coron, linked by a three and a half hour ferry. You fly into El Nido and out of Coron’s airport, so you never backtrack.
In short: Nacpan, El Nido tours A and C, the ferry with a sunset on Mount Tapyas, the Coron lagoons and Siete Pecados. Visas, seasons and food are at the end.
Day 1: arrival in El Nido and Nacpan Beach
Nacpan Beach: 4 km of sand on day one
The whole afternoon, free. It is about 45 minutes north of town by road; agree a return trip with a tricycle driver or rent a scooter. Landing at Lio airport early in the afternoon leaves time to drop your bags and head out at 15:00.
It is about 4 km of golden sand and palms, with a few thatched bars and almost no hotels. Climb the small hill at the end of the beach to see Nacpan and its twin, Calitang, side by side, and stay for sunset.
El Nido town: dinner and booking the tours
Quick stop, one hour, on the way back from Nacpan. The town is small, squeezed between the Taraw limestone cliff and Bacuit Bay, and this is where you book the next days’ tours at the agencies on the main street.
Pay the 400 peso eco fee, valid for 10 days and required before any boat trip. Carry cash: the town’s ATMs often run dry in high season.
Day 2: Tour A, the Miniloc lagoons
Big Lagoon: the kayak lagoon of Tour A
The morning, as part of Tour A, which costs 1,200 to 1,400 pesos with lunch on board, plus a fee of about 200 pesos per lagoon. The boat leaves the town beach between 8:30 and 9:00 and returns around 16:00.
The boat stops at the mouth of the Big Lagoon and you paddle in by kayak, rented separately, between limestone walls dozens of metres high. The water is shallow and green at the entrance and turns blue further in. The same tour visits the Small Lagoon and the Secret Lagoon, reached through a crack in the rock.
Shimizu Island: lunch and snorkelling
About an hour and a half, on the same tour. The crew sets up lunch on the small beach, with grilled fish, chicken, rice and fruit, and the water around the rock is good for snorkelling, with reef fish close to the sand.
Tour A ends in the late afternoon at Seven Commando Beach, a long palm fringed beach with a fruit shake bar.
Day 3: Tour C, the hidden beaches, and sunset at Las Cabanas
Helicopter Island: the long beach of Tour C
About an hour, as part of Tour C, priced like Tour A. Tour C is the most adventurous: it visits Hidden Beach and Secret Beach, a cove you reach by swimming through a hole in the rock, so bring water shoes.
Helicopter Island, or Dilumacad, is named for its shape seen from afar, and its white sand beach is the calmest swim of the day.
Matinloc Shrine: the viewpoint over the cliffs
About 45 minutes, with a small fee at the entrance. The Marian shrine on Matinloc Island was abandoned and is now a white rotunda among trees, with the feel of a ruin.
Climb the rocks behind the chapel to the viewpoint: it looks down on the limestone walls and the boats moored in the clear water below. Careful, the rock is sharp.
Las Cabanas Beach: El Nido’s sunset
Quick stop, one hour, free, 10 minutes by tricycle south of town. Tour C boats return around 16:00, in time to get here before sunset.
The beach faces west, with palms leaning over the sand and barefoot bars. A zipline crosses to the island opposite for anyone who wants to arrive flying.
Day 4: ferry to Coron, Mount Tapyas and Maquinit hot springs
Mount Tapyas: 700 steps above Coron
About an hour, free. The fast ferry from El Nido to Coron leaves in the morning, takes about three and a half hours and costs 1,800 to 2,850 pesos depending on the company; in high season, book days ahead. Arrive, check in and rest.
In the late afternoon, climb the more than 700 steps to the cross at the top, right in town. The view takes in Coron Bay, the limestone islands and the sun going down behind them.
Maquinit hot springs: salty hot water
About an hour and a half, around 300 pesos, 20 minutes by tricycle from town. It is a saltwater hot spring, about 40 degrees, flowing from the hill into stone pools among the mangroves.
Go after Tapyas, once it is dark and the heat of the day has passed. Ask your tricycle to wait and bring you back, since few others pass on that road.
Day 5: Coron Island, Kayangan, Barracuda and Twin Lagoon
Kayangan Lake: Palawan’s most photographed viewpoint
About an hour and a half, with the 300 peso fee included in most Coron Island tours, which cost 1,700 to 2,400 pesos with lunch. Pick a boat that arrives early, because from 10:00 the stairs are crowded.
Coron Island is the ancestral land of the Tagbanua people, who manage the lakes. Climb the wooden and stone stairway: halfway up is the viewpoint over the cove and its limestone peaks, the classic Palawan photo. On the other side, the lake is fresh and brackish water, crystal clear, good for swimming among the rocks.
Barracuda Lake: water that warms up as you go down
About an hour, on the same tour. After a short climb over the rock, the lake appears between vertical walls.
The curiosity is the thermocline: the water is cool at the surface and hot a few metres down, because the fresh and salt water layers do not mix. Free divers feel the change on their skin.
Twin Lagoon: the passage between the two lagoons
About an hour, the last stop of the tour. These are two lagoons separated by a limestone wall; at low tide you swim from one to the other through a gap, and at high tide you climb a wooden ladder.
The water in the second lagoon changes temperature as you swim, from the same fresh and salt water mix as Barracuda. The boat is back in town around 16:00.
Day 6: Siete Pecados and departure from Coron
Siete Pecados: the reef ten minutes from town
The morning, with a private boat arranged at the pier and a small marine park fee. These are seven islets a few minutes from town, with shallow coral reef and colourful fish just below the surface.
It is the best snorkelling for non divers, and close enough to be back at your hotel before lunch.
Coron town: market and lunch before the airport
Quick stop, one hour, after the boat. Have seafood for lunch near the market and the pier, where the island boats unload in the morning.
Busuanga airport is about 40 minutes by van from town; leave two hours ahead of your flight to Manila.
Do you need a visa for the Philippines?
Citizens of most countries in the Americas and Europe, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the EU, enter the Philippines visa free for 30 days, and some nationalities get longer. Check the Bureau of Immigration list for your passport.
Everyone must fill in eTravel, the online arrival form, within 72 hours before the flight, and immigration may ask for a passport valid for six months, a return ticket and a hotel booking.
When is the best time to visit Palawan?
December to May, the dry season. The sea is calm, boats run every day, and March and April have the clearest water.
June to November is monsoon season: it rains most days, the sea gets rough, and tours and ferries are cancelled, especially when a typhoon passes. December, Holy Week and Chinese New Year are the busiest and priciest periods.
How to get to Palawan and get around
Fly to Manila and take a domestic flight of about 1h15 to El Nido; the cheaper option is to fly to Puerto Princesa and ride a van for five to six hours. To leave, use Busuanga airport, which serves Coron, rather than retracing your steps.
Between El Nido and Coron the fast ferry takes about three and a half hours. In town everything is done by tricycle, and the islands are only reached by boat, on tours or with a private boat. This is not a car rental destination.
Where to eat in Palawan: signature dishes and what to order
Filipino food mixes sour, salty and sweet, with Malay, Chinese and Spanish roots. In El Nido and Coron the strength is the fish and shellfish of the day. What to avoid: the international menu restaurants on El Nido’s main street, pricey and bland; look for carinderias, the counters of ready dishes where locals eat.
Kinilaw is raw fish cured in coconut vinegar and calamansi, the small Filipino lime, with onion, ginger and chilli. In Palawan it is made with fish caught that morning and is the best dish for the heat.
Adobo is the dish every Filipino calls national: chicken or pork braised in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and bay leaf, served with rice. Every household has its own version.
Sinigang is a sour tamarind soup with vegetables and fish, prawns or pork. Strange on the first spoonful, addictive on the second.
Lechon is a whole pig spit roasted until the skin turns to glass, a party dish many restaurants sell by the portion.
For dessert, halo-halo, meaning mixed together: shaved ice with milk, fruit, sweet beans, jelly and ube ice cream, from the purple yam. Stir everything before eating.
Are 6 days enough for Palawan?
They are enough for El Nido and Coron with two boat tours on each side and a beach day, without rushing, as long as the sea cooperates. Palawan depends on the weather: if you can, leave a spare day at the end, because a tour cancelled for wind cannot be made up on a tight schedule.
What was left out and deserves more days: Coron’s Japanese shipwrecks, sunk in 1944 and among the world’s best dive sites; Malcapuya and Banana Island on Coron’s beach tour; Port Barton, the quiet village between El Nido and Puerto Princesa; and the Puerto Princesa Underground River, a World Heritage Site.
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Estimated budget per person
Prices checked on 25 September 2026. Check current prices at Embaixada do Brasil em Manila, entrada e permanência nas Filipinas.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a 6 day trip to Palawan cost?+
Between 40,000 and 65,000 Philippine pesos per person excluding international flights, counting a mid range hotel in a double room, food, both domestic flights, the ferry and the tours. El Nido tours cost 1,200 to 1,400 pesos each plus the 400 peso eco fee; the Coron Island tour 1,700 to 2,400; and the ferry between them 1,800 to 2,850.
Is El Nido or Coron better?+
Both, because they are different. El Nido has the kayak lagoons and beaches of Bacuit Bay; Coron has the crystal clear lakes inside Coron Island and the shipwrecks for diving. With six days you can spend three nights in each, linked by the three and a half hour ferry.
Which El Nido tour is best?+
Tour A, with the Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon and Secret Lagoon, is the most famous. Tour C, with Hidden Beach, Secret Beach and Matinloc Shrine, is the most adventurous. With two days, do both.
When should I avoid Palawan?+
From June to November, the monsoon season, when rough seas cancel tours and ferries, especially during typhoons. The best months are December to May, with March and April for the clearest water.
How do you get from El Nido to Coron?+
By fast ferry, which leaves El Nido in the morning and takes about three and a half hours, for 1,800 to 2,850 pesos depending on the company. In high season, from December to March, book a few days ahead.
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