Palawan Things to Do: What's Worth Your Days, Town by Town and Tour by Tour

On prices: the figures on this page were gathered in September 2026 and are given as bands rather than current quotes. Rates, fees and timetables change every season - check with the operator before you book.

Forty bangka boats queue at the mouth of Small Lagoon by 9:30am, their passengers waiting for a turn to swim through the narrow gap. This is Palawan’s famous island touring: staggering beauty and logistical hurdles. Your days here are currency. Spend them on the right tour in the right town at the right time.

Palawan things to do demand a strategy. This is not a place for spontaneous day-tripping. Rough roads, crowded docks, and vans that wait to fill will eat your hours. The payoff is raw seascapes you will not find elsewhere, but only if you book the correct tour, leave at dawn, and avoid the monsoon. What follows is a direct briefing on which activities warrant a full day of your effort.

El Nido Island Hopping: Navigating Tour A, B, C, and D

Book your island-hopping tour through any operator in El Nido town. You must also pay a separate El Nido Eco-Tourism Development Fee in cash at the tourism office before your tour. As of early 2025 the fee was 200 PHP, collected by the municipal tourism office and covering environmental management and waste disposal across the bay. Tours leave between 8:30am and 9:30am from the main beach. Your entire day is committed.

Tour A: The Famous Lagoons

Tour A covers Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon. It is the most popular and consequently the most crowded. Leave your hotel by 8:00am to board your bangka on time. The tour itself lasts until 4:00pm, but door-to-door you are occupied from 7:30am until 5:00pm. Small Lagoon becomes impassably crowded by 10:00am. Big Lagoon is better explored by kayak. Rent one at the site for an extra 200 PHP. Skip Tour A entirely from July to October. Monsoon swells make the entrance to Small Lagoon dangerous and jellyfish are common.

Tour C: Hidden Beaches and Shrines

Tour C includes Matinloc Shrine and Hidden Beach. Crowding is less severe than Tour A, but the boat ride is longer and rougher. Choose this tour if you prefer beaches over lagoons. The same morning departure applies. It remains operational in monsoon season, though seas can be choppy.

Tours B and D: Quieter Alternatives

Tour B focuses on caves and snorkels at Cadlao Island. Tour D goes further to remote beaches like Paradise and Pasandigan. Both are better choices if you want to avoid the Tour A crowds. They run year-round, though monsoon seas may cancel Tour D.

All tours include a lunch stop, usually at Shimizu Island or Seven Commando Beach. Bring dry bags for your gear. Boats are wet. Cash is essential for kayak rentals, drinks, and environmental fees.

Coron Wreck Diving: from Shallow Snorkels to Technical Depths

Coron town is the base for exploring the dozen WWII wrecks sunk in 1944. Book dives directly with a dive shop in town. They handle the necessary permits. The Skeleton Wreck sits in just 3 meters of water. It is a superb snorkel site visible at low tide. The Irako Wreck, a Japanese refrigeration ship, rests at 43 meters and is for technical divers only. Most operators require Advanced Open Water certification for the deeper wrecks like Akitsushima.

A two-tank wreck dive trip takes a full day. Boats leave around 8:00am and return by 4:00pm. Budget an extra 200 PHP for the Tagbanua community fee, paid in cash. This fee goes directly to the indigenous Tagbanua people who hold ancestral domain rights over Coron Island and its waters. Monsoon season from July to October brings poor visibility and frequent cancellations. The prime window is November to May. This is a core Palawan thing to do for competent divers.

Underground River Tour: Booking the Puerto Princesa Permit

The Puerto Princesa Underground River is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The standard paddle tour covers 1.5 km of the 8.2 km mapped system. This is not a spontaneous activity. You must secure a permit from the PPSRNP Protected Area Management Board online weeks in advance. The daily cap is 900 persons and slots sell out.

The tour is a full-day commitment from Puerto Princesa city. A shared van takes two hours each way on the 76 km road to Sabang Wharf. The boat ride and cave tour take another two hours. Door-to-door, you will spend eight hours for a 45-minute cave experience. Vans leave Puerto Princesa around 7:00am. The tour operates year-round, but monsoon rains make the boat transfer to the cave entrance wet and rough. The park fee for foreign visitors was 500 PHP at last check, collected by the Protected Area Management Board, plus van and boat transfer costs. Confirm the current rate before you go; these fees are revised periodically.

Port Barton Island Hopping: a Smaller Scale Alternative

Port Barton offers a more relaxed island-hopping experience than El Nido. Tours visit German Island, Exotic Island, and a turtle sanctuary. Groups are smaller. The pace is slower. The full-day tour costs around 1,200 PHP and leaves from the beach in Port Barton village.

Budget for the entire day. Boats leave around 9:00am and return by 4:00pm. Port Barton runs on generator power, which is shut off from 6:00am to 2:00pm daily. Charge your devices the night before. Bring ample cash. There are no ATMs. The tour is best from November to May. Seas can be too rough from July to October. This is a worthy Palawan thing to do if you prefer seclusion over famous names.

Tubbataha Liveaboard: a Diving Expedition

Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is a Ramsar Site and UNESCO World Heritage Site accessible only by liveaboard dive boat during a strict season from mid-March to mid-June. This is not a day trip. Expeditions last 5 to 7 days and depart from Puerto Princesa city port, sailing 150 km southeast to the atolls.

Book your spot on a liveaboard a year in advance. The park entry fee for foreign divers was 5,000 PHP in 2023, paid to the Tubbataha Management Office. This is for serious divers only. Strong currents and deep walls are the norm. The experience is logistically intense and expensive, but it delivers shark walls and manta cleaning stations. It is completely weather-dependent and impossible outside the three-month window.

Tour	Base Town	Time Commitment	Monsoon Viability	Cash Required
El Nido Tour A	El Nido	7:30am - 5:00pm	No	200 PHP fee + kayak rental
Coron Wreck Dive	Coron	8:00am - 4:00pm	No	200 PHP fee + dive cost
Underground River	Puerto Princesa	7:00am - 3:00pm	Yes	500 PHP fee + van/boat
Port Barton Hopping	Port Barton	9:00am - 4:00pm	No	1,200 PHP tour cost
Tubbataha Liveaboard	Puerto Princesa	5-7 days	N/A	5,000 PHP fee + liveaboard

Strategic Planning for Your Palawan Days

Build your itinerary around a single base. The van journey from El Nido to Puerto Princesa takes 5 to 6 hours. The road to Port Barton is 4 to 5 hours of unpaved track. Trying to see both El Nido and Coron in one week is a common mistake. The ferry between them eats a full day and is often cancelled in monsoon season.

Always carry more cash than you think you need. ATMs in El Nido and Coron regularly run dry on weekends. Pre-download offline maps and tour information. Cellular signal vanishes on the water and in remote villages like Port Barton. The logistics are chaotic. The reward is worth the effort.