Palawan trip cost: a sourced budget for transport, tours, fees and rooms

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, and most come from our route, tour and fee pages. Nothing here is first-hand. USD prices are kept in USD exactly as the platform shows them and are not converted.

Figures marked "reported by" come from secondary guides; confirm them with the operator, property or official office before you rely on them.

At a glance: the building blocks

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Sample route: low and high sourced prices

The sample is one person on a shared room basis: fly Manila to Puerto Princesa, one Underground River day, van to El Nido, three nights in El Nido with Tour A and Tour C, ferry to Coron, and the Super Ultimate tour. "Low" takes the cheapest sourced option on each line; "high" takes the dearest, with rooms split between two people.

Not included: food, lodging in Puerto Princesa and Coron, the flight home from Busuanga, tricycles, snorkel rental and travel insurance. Both totals use the PHP 400 ETDF; El Nido Map reports a PHP 200 rate for arrivals from within Palawan, and we found no official text saying whether a van arrival from Puerto Princesa counts. The Super Ultimate prices from both sources include lake entrance fees, so they are not added again.

The El Nido room figures come from a single November search date, before the December to April peak, and the dorm figure is a peak-season band reported by El Nido Tours, Jul 2026. Area-by-area room prices are on Where to stay in El Nido.

Where the money goes

On the low line, the three island hopping tours and the ferry are about two thirds of the PHP total (PHP 7,700 of PHP 11,850). On the high line, three nights in a Lio resort room are about three quarters of it. Fees are a small share either way: PHP 800 per person for the El Nido and Coron fees used here. The full fee list, including the Underground River gate fees, is on Palawan fees.

Transport choices move the total less than rooms do. Taking the Cebgo flight from El Nido to Coron instead of the ferry swaps PHP 2,600 to 3,784 for USD 55 to 122, as listed on 12Go in USD; the trade-offs are on El Nido to Coron.

Trip cost calculator

Change the inputs to fit your own trip. The defaults are the low figures from the tables above, and the result keeps PHP and USD apart because the platforms list in USD.

Season note

Rates in the table are for a November date. PAGASA's dry season runs December to May, which is also when El Nido Tours reports peak room prices. Monthly rainfall is on Best time to visit Palawan.

Related pages

• Palawan fees
• How to get to Palawan
• Puerto Princesa to El Nido
• El Nido to Coron
• El Nido island hopping tours
• Coron island tours
• Where to stay in El Nido

Last checked Oct 2026. Sources are listed at the end of this page. Totals are sums of the dated figures shown, not a quote; prices on booking platforms change daily.

FAQs

How much does a trip to Palawan cost?

For a Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Coron route with three tours, our sourced lines add up to about PHP 11,850 plus USD 35.65 per person at the low end and PHP 30,321 plus USD 197.84 at the high end. Food, Coron and Puerto Princesa rooms and the flight home are extra.

How much does a week in Palawan cost on a budget?

The low sample above, with dorm beds in El Nido, shared vans and local joiner tours, is about PHP 11,850 plus USD 35.65 per person before food and rooms outside El Nido. Use the calculator inputs to add your own food and lodging figures.

Is Palawan expensive for tourists?

Tour prices and fees are small next to rooms: El Nido Paradise lists shared tours at PHP 1,500 to 1,700, and the El Nido and Coron fees used here total PHP 800. Rooms drive the cost, from a PHP 450 dorm bed reported by El Nido Tours to PHP 14,908 for a Lio room on Booking.com.

How many days in Palawan is enough?

The sample route needs about a week: a Puerto Princesa day for the Underground River, a travel day to El Nido, three nights there for two tours, then the ferry and a tour day in Coron. Each extra tour adds a full day.

What is the cheapest way to travel between El Nido and Coron?

The Atienza ferry at PHP 2,600 was the lowest operator fare we found in Oct 2026, though a maintenance suspension of that trip was reported by El Nido Map in Aug 2026; Jomalia's posted PHP 2,800 is next. Flights are listed at USD 55 to 122, as listed on 12Go in USD.