Island hopping Coron to El Nido with Tao Philippines

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
7
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
8
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
9
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
3
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
8
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
82 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
31st/454
Top 10%
continent
Asia
country
Philippines
Length of time
3-4 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$150 ($400-$500 in 2022 prices)
Time of year visited
November
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Beaches Boat trip Local villages
All Tags
Islands Jungle Stargazing Sunsets Wildlife - Monkeys
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary

The islands in the north of Palawan between El Nido and Coron are some of the most stereotypically idyllic tropical beach paradises you can imagine – hundreds of islands surrounded by perfect white sand, gorgeous clear turquoise water, tropical reefs, and only occasionally sprinkled with tiny villages along the shoreline.

 

Whilst there are many places around the world, and even in the Philippines, that can offer trips through very similar settings, it is the ease of access to these trips (multiple trips leave every day), reasonable price (think less than US$1k for 6 days (2026 prices) vs minimum x4 for an equivalent liveaboard), and focus on interacting respectfully (and genuinely) with the local communities that makes the Palawan experience stand out.

 

It’s a must in visiting Palawan, and a must if visiting the Philippines.  Maximum Wow-factor score.

 

Top tip: Go with Tao Philippines – whilst there are around 10 companies offering these type of trips, it is Tao who are the pioneers, have the scale, and everyone I’ve spoken to has raved about them.

 

One of the bangka boats you take from "the Farm" with Tao Philippines

One of the bangka boats you take from “the Farm” with Tao Philippines

 

Table of Contents

My 10 Favourite things from the Tao Trip

IMG_8744-1-aspect-ratio-900-675

#1 Passing by and often stopping at picture perfect paradise

IMG_8667-aspect-ratio-900-675

#2 The real desert-island locations for staying

GPTempDownload-3-aspect-ratio-675-900

#3 Snorkelling to see fish in the hundreds of tropical reefs just off the shore

IMG_2371-aspect-ratio-675-900

#4 Your group! 3days / 6 days on a boat is a good time to get to know some people

IMG_8731-rotated-aspect-ratio-675-900

#5 Meeting some of the local wildlife - like this poor little man whose mum was scared away by some dogs and now gets to be brought up by one of the Tao Philippines team

IMG_8704-rotated-aspect-ratio-675-900

#6 Catching a tuna off the back of the boat and having the freshest sashimi you will ever have in your life

IMG_8726-aspect-ratio-900-675

#7 Those tropical island sunsets

IMG_8670-aspect-ratio-900-675

#8 Spending time on the surprisingly spacious Bangka boat - you'll learn to love it!

IMG_8682-aspect-ratio-530-420

#9 Spending the evenings on a clear night looking up at the stars . . . or, in this case, the insanely bright moon

IMG_8867-aspect-ratio-530-420

#10 Pulling up to visit "The Farm"

Expect it to be fairly basic

The Tao Philippines site gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect and tries to manage the expectation (taophilippines) – basically don’t come if you’re a princess, but in summary:

 

The boat – you’re on a large Philippine-style bangka boat for the day with plenty of areas to lounge around on.  Nothing private.  Up to 25 on the boat – we had 24 and didn’t at all feel crowded at any stage.

Sleeping – you sleep in village bamboo huts by night.  Think a 3m / 3m (10ft x 10ft) bamboo platform on stilts, with a roof covering by two bamboo sides leaving an entrance and exit either end, a thin single mattress surrounded by mosquito nets.  Goes without saying – no aircon.

Food – surprisingly good.

Showers – cold water, shared bathrooms.

Electronics – half the evening stops have charging (helps to bring a powerbank), none have wifi, cell coverage is patchy depending on network.

What do you do?  Expect a lot of sailing through tropical paradise, snorkelling, chilling out on distant beaches or beaches you’ll be sleeping on.

 

Snorkeling tends to take up a big part of some days - Tao Philippines

Snorkeling tends to take up a big part of some days

Expect a backpacker vibe

For anyone who has traveled through South East Asia, you know what I mean.  Chilled out, not expecting 5 star (or 4 star . . .  or 3 star!), probably doing this as part of a bigger trip, respectful, up for fun.  Age is only one of many factors that reflect the vibe, but typically the age range is 18-45.

November was perfect

Typically you want to aim to do this trip in the dry season, which is December to May.  But November was perfect – not too hot, very little rain, very few mosquitoes, and fewer fellow tourists at this time of year.

 

Beautiful November weather for sunsets, in this case Taabayan Cove on New Culaylayan Island halfway between Coron and El Nido

Beautiful November weather for sunsets, in this case Taabayan Cove on New Culaylayan Island halfway between Coron and El Nido

3 days / 2 nights or 6 days / 5 nights?

It completely depends on your appetite for chill, how much time you have and which route you are doing.  I booked 3 days / 2 nights (from Coron to El Nido), knowing I could change my mind and extend on the 3rd day, which I didn’t do.  After meeting up with my group on their 6th and final night, and after discussing with many who have also done the 6 days, I would summarise as:

 

3 days / 2 nights – I left thinking I’d had a wonderful time, fantastic group and it was one of the highlights of the Philippines.  I’d “done it” and didn’t need another 3 days of the same tropical island experience, and was able to use the remaining 3 days for scuba diving in the same islands, sleep in a nice hotel (it feels soooo good after sleeping a little rough) and generally explore other areas.

6 days / 5 nights – you get the full chill experience, get to stay at “The Farm” (which was the best place to stay) and experience the highlight of the trip which was the final day in the Bacuit Archipelago (El Nido end of the trip).

If going El Nido to Coron, go for the 3 days / 2 nights.  If Coron to El Nido, go for the 6 days / 5 nights.

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Great Boat Trip Experiences

Scuba diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sailing the Komodo Islands in November
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Zamami Jima and Aka Jima, from Okinawa
⭐⭐⭐

Diving the Blue Hole
⭐⭐⭐

A boat trip of the Zapatillas Islands
⭐⭐

The Aeolian Islands
⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *