Palawan Tourist Fees: El Nido, Coron and the Underground River (Checked Oct 2026)

How this page is built: we compile operator timetables, government and park notices, and booking-platform listings. Each figure names its source and the month we checked it. Nothing here is first-hand. Fee schedules in Palawan are often posted only on boards or social media images, so every figure is marked by source type: official, operator or secondary.

Figures marked "reported by" come from secondary guides; confirm them at the collection counter, the municipal tourism office or the park booking office before you rely on them.

Quick budget per adult (fees only)

Place	Fee	Amount	Source type	Source, checked Oct 2026
El Nido	Eco-Tourism Development Fee (ETDF), arrival from outside Palawan	PHP 400	Official (municipal ETDF board); operator	ETDF Management Board bulletin (Dec 2025); El Nido Paradise; We Are Juan listing; El Nido Map
El Nido	Big Lagoon or Small Lagoon environmental user fee, each	PHP 200	Operator; matches 2018 policy	El Nido Paradise; Rappler (Dec 2018)
El Nido	Kayak at the lagoons, two-seater	PHP 350	Operator	El Nido Paradise
Coron	Municipal environmental fee, adult	About PHP 200	Official statement via news; operator	Coron mayor via Brigada News (2023); We Are Juan listing
Coron	Kayangan Lake / Twin Lagoon / Barracuda Lake	PHP 300 / 200 / 200	Secondary	Reported by Van Hire Palawan
Underground River	Entrance (Visitor Entry Permit)	PHP 500	Secondary	Reported by Things To Do Puerto Princesa and Van Hire Palawan
Underground River	City environmental fee	PHP 150	Secondary	Reported by Things To Do Puerto Princesa and Van Hire Palawan
Underground River	Audio guide	PHP 85	Secondary	Reported by Things To Do Puerto Princesa and Van Hire Palawan

Fees are generally collected in cash, and tour prices may or may not include them, so read the inclusions on any booking. The We Are Juan expedition listing on GetYourGuide shows how they stack: it excludes the El Nido fee (PHP 400), the Coron eco tax (PHP 200), a Linapacan environmental fee (PHP 200) and a Culion environmental fee (PHP 100).

Direct link SafetyWing travel medical insurance

El Nido

Eco-Tourism Development Fee. El Nido Paradise publishes the current ETDF rate sheet under Municipal Ordinance 01 Series of 2024, with PHP 400 for visitors arriving from outside Palawan (checked Oct 2026). The We Are Juan expedition listing matches the PHP 400 headline figure. The full rate table below is also reported by El Nido Map, Oct 2026, which transcribes the board at the El Nido Tourism Office as photographed on Aug 11, 2026. The El Nido ETDF Management Board's own bulletin (Dec 24, 2025) gives the same headline rates, PHP 400 from outside Palawan and PHP 200 from within it, and names the ordinance as No. 20, Series of 2024; the municipality's official Facebook page also cites Ordinance No. 020 of 2024 in an Oct 15, 2026 post on how the fee is spent (both checked Oct 20, 2026).

Visitor	Arrived from within Palawan	Arrived from outside Palawan	Source, checked Oct 2026
Non-resident of El Nido	PHP 200	PHP 400	Reported by El Nido Map; PHP 400 also stated by El Nido Paradise
Filipino student	PHP 100	PHP 300	Reported by El Nido Map
Senior citizen or PWD	PHP 160	PHP 320	Reported by El Nido Map
Child 6 to 13	PHP 150	PHP 250	Reported by El Nido Map
Child under 6	Free	Free	Reported by El Nido Map
El Nido resident	Exempt	Exempt	Reported by El Nido Map

According to El Nido Map, the rate depends on where the visitor travelled from, so foreign and Filipino visitors arriving from outside Palawan pay the same. The municipality's original 2009 announcement set the fee at PHP 200 with a ticket valid for 10 days at all El Nido tourism sites. That is no longer what current guides report: El Nido Map, last checked by the site Oct 17, 2026, says one payment now covers all El Nido tourism sites for 5 days from the date of payment, and that guides and tour listings still quoting 10 days are out of date. We found no official text stating the current validity (checked Oct 20, 2026), so confirm it at the counter when you pay and keep the receipt.

Where to pay: the new ETDF Building. The Municipal Government of El Nido opened an ETDF Building with a QR ticketing system in Barangay Bagong Bayan on Oct 7, 2026 (announcement on the municipality's official Facebook page, Oct 7, 2026, checked Oct 20, 2026). The announcement says a QR code made in advance with the ELNETS app is optional; visitors without one can register on a tablet at the building, with or without staff help, or use the regular counter. El Nido Map reports, Oct 17, 2026, that the building is on the road from Puerto Princesa in El Nido's southernmost barangay, about an hour and a half before town, that road arrivals from the south are asked to pay there and vans stop at it, and that the fee is still paid in person, not online. For arrivals by air or sea, it reports paying in town or through a tour operator, with no airport or port counter open as of Oct 14, 2026.

Mainland beaches reached by road are a separate question. What is and is not published about a Nacpan Beach entrance fee is set out on that page.

Lagoon fees and access. El Nido Paradise states a PHP 200 environmental user fee per person for each of Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon, collected for the DENR Protected Area Office and separate from the ETDF. The fee dates to a policy enforced from Dec 1, 2018, which, as reported by Rappler at the time, also set these limits:

Rule (as enforced Dec 2018)	Big Lagoon	Small Lagoon	Source
People per batch	60 every 90 minutes	30 every 60 minutes	Rappler, Dec 7, 2018
Kayaks per batch	30	15	Rappler, Dec 7, 2018
Opening hours	7 am to 4 pm	7 am to 4 pm	Rappler, Dec 7, 2018
Regulated kayak rate in 2018	PHP 250 (up to 90 min)	PHP 200 (up to 60 min)	Rappler, Dec 7, 2018
Kayak rate quoted in Oct 2026	PHP 350 per two-seater	PHP 350 per two-seater	El Nido Paradise

These caps are nearly eight years old and we found no newer official schedule online. Under the 2018 policy, motorized boats may not enter Big Lagoon, so the last stretch is by kayak or swimming. Which island-hopping tour visits which lagoon is covered on El Nido island hopping tours.

Seven Commando Beach. The Tour A beach stop has no separate entrance fee on the operator pages we checked (Oct 2026); the ETDF is the charge that applies there. Tour A prices and the kayak route are on the fees and access at Seven Commando Beach page.

Direct link El Nido Tour A (Lagoons and Beaches) on GetYourGuide

Coron

Municipal environmental fee. In Apr 2023, Coron Mayor Mario Reyes Jr. said the fee collected at Busuanga Airport was PHP 200 for adults and PHP 150 for minors (Brigada News). The We Are Juan expedition listing on GetYourGuide still itemizes a "Coron Eco Tax" of PHP 200 per person in Oct 2026. We found no current rate schedule on the Coron municipal website.

Lake and lagoon entrance fees. We found no official fee schedule for these sites online, and figures differ from guide to guide. The ones below are reported by Van Hire Palawan, Oct 2026 (its guide was last updated Apr 2026).

Site	Entrance per person	Source, checked Oct 2026
Kayangan Lake	PHP 300	Reported by Van Hire Palawan
Twin Lagoon	PHP 200	Reported by Van Hire Palawan
Barracuda Lake	PHP 200	Reported by Van Hire Palawan

The same lake figures appear on a Tagbanua fee list published by Paolyn Houseboats, an operator on Coron Island; how the Barracuda Lake entrance fee works on tours and dive trips is on that page.

Group tours often fold site fees into the price; see Coron island tours.

Maquinit Hot Spring. The privately run hot spring on Busuanga Island charges its own fee, PHP 300 per person according to a Coron tour operator, paid in cash at the gate. Sources and the older PHP 200 figure are on the Maquinit Hot Spring entrance fee page.

Puerto Princesa Underground River

The park's official site is clear on access but publishes no fee amounts:

A carrying capacity of 900 visitors a day, with a "no permit, no entry" policy (park Travel Advisory and Notice to the Public, checked Oct 2026).
Permits are issued at the Underground River Booking Office, Mendoza Park, Brgy. Model, Puerto Princesa City, tel. (048) 716 1522, and visitors must show valid ID and register individually.
The park's Jan 2026 notice says going straight to the park or staying overnight in Sabang does not guarantee a permit.
Tour hours: the advisory says 8:00 am to 4:00 pm; the park home page says 8:30 am to 3:30 pm.

Underground River charge	Amount	Source type	Source, checked Oct 2026
Entrance / Visitor Entry Permit, adult	PHP 500	Secondary	Reported by Things To Do Puerto Princesa and Van Hire Palawan
City environmental fee	PHP 150 (PHP 120 for ages 3 to 20)	Secondary	Reported by Things To Do Puerto Princesa (child rate) and Van Hire Palawan
Audio guide	PHP 85	Secondary	Reported by Things To Do Puerto Princesa and Van Hire Palawan
Sabang boat to the cave	PHP 150 to 350 shared	Secondary	Reported by Things To Do Puerto Princesa; Van Hire Palawan reports PHP 184

The two guides disagree on how long the PHP 150 environmental fee stays valid, and both report that it also covers Honda Bay. Keep the receipt. Booking routes, tour versus do-it-yourself, and permit timing are on Puerto Princesa Underground River.

Partner link Underground River tours on Klook

Last checked Oct 2026. Sources are listed at the end of this page. If you work for a municipality or park office and can point us to an official fee schedule, we will replace the secondary figures.

FAQs

What fees do tourists have to pay in El Nido and Coron?

El Nido charges a PHP 400 eco-tourism fee for arrivals from outside Palawan, plus PHP 200 for each of Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon. Coron charges a municipal environmental fee of about PHP 200 per adult, and lake entrance fees reported by Van Hire Palawan run PHP 200 to 300 per site.

How much does Tour A cost in El Nido?

Tour prices vary by operator and are compared on El Nido island hopping tours. On top of the tour price, budget the PHP 400 eco-tourism fee and PHP 200 if the tour enters Big Lagoon, plus kayak rental, which El Nido Paradise quotes at PHP 350 per two-seater.

How much does a tour of the Puerto Princesa Underground River cost?

At the gate, Things To Do Puerto Princesa and Van Hire Palawan report PHP 500 entrance, a PHP 150 environmental fee and a PHP 85 audio guide. Things To Do Puerto Princesa also reports joiner tours with van, permit and lunch at roughly PHP 2,000 to 2,500.

How do you visit the Puerto Princesa Underground River?

Secure a Visitor Entry Permit first, either at the Underground River Booking Office at Mendoza Park in Puerto Princesa City or through a tour operator. The park enforces a 900-visitors-a-day cap and a no-permit, no-entry policy.

Is Palawan expensive for tourists?

Local fees are modest next to tours and transport: about PHP 400 in El Nido, about PHP 200 in Coron, and about PHP 735 in gate fees for the Underground River based on secondary reports. Full trip budgets are on Palawan trip cost.