Palawan and Siargao in 14 days: the island route

This is the most flight-dependent itinerary we publish and we would rather you knew that on this page than on day nine. Four internal flights, one open-water crossing, and one full day lost in transit between Coron and Siargao. There is no clever routing that removes it: the two islands sit on opposite sides of the archipelago and every connection goes through Manila or Cebu. We build it anyway, because the two halves genuinely earn each other, and because we plan the transit day as a travel day rather than pretending it is half a beach day.

Who it suits: confident travellers, couples and pairs of friends, and anyone whose ideal holiday involves being in the water twice a day.

Planned by: Daniella Eitan, our groups and business manager, with our own office in Manila.

Day by day

Day 1: Arrive in Manila. Airport transfer, hotel in Makati. Nothing scheduled, because most long-haul routings land late and tomorrow starts early.

Day 2: Manila to El Nido. A morning flight into Lio, ten minutes from town, where seats are available at a sensible price; otherwise Puerto Princesa and a five-hour road transfer north, which we build the day around rather than pretending is quick. Afternoon on the beach and sunset at Las Cabañas. Four nights.

Day 3: Bacuit Bay, the inner islands. Private bangka with crew and lunch on board, out at eight rather than the standard ten. Big Lagoon by kayak at opening, Small Lagoon, Shimizu and Seven Commandos, in whatever order the tide and the wind make sensible. That last clause is why a private boat matters here.

Day 4: Bacuit Bay, the outer islands. The longer run west: Hidden Beach, Matinloc, Secret Beach and Helicopter Island. The better of the two days in our view, and less crowded, because it costs more fuel than the operators selling to the crowd want to spend.

Day 5: El Nido, free. Nacpan Beach, four kilometres of open sand forty minutes north. Or a diving day, or a kayak morning through the mangroves, or nothing at all. Deliberately unscheduled.

Day 6: El Nido to Coron. The fast craft north, three and a half to four hours across open water. It runs well in the dry season and it is suspended outright when the coast guard declares the sea unsafe, which happens several times a month in the shoulder. Your document carries the alternative flight routing and our Manila office moves you onto it without being asked. Afternoon in Coron. Three nights.

Day 7: Kayangan Lake and Twin Lagoon. Private boat, out early. The limestone staircase up to Kayangan and down into water clear enough to be disorienting, then Twin Lagoon through the gap at low tide, then the reefs at Siete Pecados. Back for a late lunch.

Day 8: Coron, your choice. Either south to Malcapuya, Banana and Bulog, which are sand and shallow water and nothing else, or a snorkelling day over the shallow Japanese wrecks in the bay, where the Skeleton wreck sits between five and twenty metres and is genuinely good without a tank. Maquinit hot springs at dusk either way.

Day 9: Coron to Siargao. A travel day. Busuanga to Manila or Cebu, then on to Sayak, then forty minutes by road to General Luna. It takes most of the daylight and there is no version that does not. Nothing is scheduled at the far end beyond dinner. Four nights, and no more packing.

Day 10: The three islands. Naked, Daku and Guyam, a short private boat run offshore: one sandbar with nothing on it, one with palms and a village, one you can walk round in four minutes. Grilled fish lunch on Daku. Home by mid-afternoon, which after yesterday is the point.

Day 11: Sugba Lagoon and the mangroves. North to Del Carmen, through the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the country, then out to Sugba, a green lagoon where the water is deep enough to jump into from the platform and calm enough to paddle across. A long-ish day and worth it.

Day 12: Surf, or rock pools. A lesson at Jacking Horse, which is the beginners’ break rather than Cloud 9, where the reef is unforgiving and the crowd is not. Or Magpupungko, an hour north, where the tide drops to reveal deep natural rock pools, and which only works in a two-hour window we will have checked against the tide table before you arrive.

Day 13: Siargao to Manila. A flight north, direct where the schedule allows and via Cebu where it does not. Afternoon and a farewell dinner in the capital. This night is not padding: we never put a domestic flight and an international departure on the same day in the Philippines.

Day 14: Departure.

What is included

Accommodation with breakfast, all four internal flights, the El Nido to Coron crossing with the alternative routing pre-booked, all land and boat transfers, four full private boat days with crew and lunch, the surf lesson with a local instructor, park and environmental fees on all three islands, a day-by-day document with flight numbers, boat times and the tide windows that determine two of the days, and a WhatsApp group with our Manila office for the duration.

What we would change, and when

• The two islands do not share a season, and you should know it. February to April is perfect in Palawan and flat in Siargao, which is excellent for swimming and useless for surfing. September to November is the best surf of the year on Siargao and the wettest, choppiest stretch in Palawan, when the El Nido to Coron crossing is least reliable. If surfing is the reason you are going, we flip the weighting and rebuild the Palawan half around it.
• Only want two islands? Drop Coron, keep El Nido and Siargao, and put the recovered days into Siargao. You lose the best lakes in the country and you gain a day of your life back.
• Want it calmer? Our classic route uses Bohol instead of Siargao, joined to Cebu by ferry rather than by air, and has two fewer flights.
• Divers? Coron’s deep wrecks need a proper allocation of days rather than an afternoon. See our diving itinerary.

Related

• The Philippines: the complete guide
• Classic Philippines in 14 days
• Deep Philippines, 21 days