Going to El Nido: Is It Better To Plan Ahead?

That’s it, you decided you will discover this beautiful tropical paradise at the north of Palawan’s main island: you’re going to El Nido and you’re really excited about it! The pristine islands, the crystal clear water, the palm trees, coconuts and white-sand beaches are just a few weeks or months away. But whether you go there to relax in a luxury resort or more in a backpacker fashion, you will face this question: “Should I plan my trip ahead? Or can I just go there and improvise?“

As in every travel, both options have their pros and their cons. Before you make a choice, it’s important to pinpoint that El Nido, Palawan, is not just every tourist destination. There are a few things you need to take into account when planning your stay there. Knowing them might save you a precious time – and probably spare you some headaches!

Should I Book My Hotel In Advance?

For sure, it’s much more fun to just arrive somewhere and look around for a place where to spend the night. It gives you more choice and you can see the actual places and their location. Well… that’s more fun only if there is any choice left!

At the peak of high season (from the end of December to March-April), it can be incredibly difficult to find a place to stay in El Nido. For periods like Christmas, New Year’s Eve or the Chinese New Years, some hotels are fully booked months in advance.

At that time of the year, it’s not uncommon to see travellers arriving in town without any booking and struggling to find an hotel or a guesthouse. Sometimes, they have to settle to some accommodation way above their budget – at the cost of other expenses they were planning. 

In this context, when there is more demand than available rooms, hotel owners tend to increase their price. You can end up paying a very high rate for an accommodation that isn’t worth that kind of price (in Philippines or anywhere else!).

As you probably prefer to avoid that kind of inconvenience, we recommend to all our guests coming during the high season to book their hotel in advance. There are plenty of sites offering online booking, you can find a list of available hotels in El Nido by clicking here.

Should I Book My Tours In Advance?

If you’re planning to do the classic group-open tours, then you should not have a problem to find one for the next day. Planning in advance here will only save you time and allow you to arrive in El Nido more relaxed: you will know where to go and what you’re going to do of your time. All in all, it’s already a lot, since you probably want to maximise your time in El Nido doing something else than planning. You should go to the beach, have a drink or relax in your hotel, not wander in town in search of the best booking office around!

But that is only true for the public tours (such as single tours A, B, C and D, Overnight Camping or Combo Tours). If you want something more special, such as a Private Tour, or to join the Ultimate Adventure Tour, our expedition between El Nido to Coron, you should definitely book in advance.

During the high season, the same thing goes with boats as with hotel rooms: there is sometimes more demand than offer. It means that you are not assured to be able to find a private boat just from the previous day for the next. If you’re planning any private tour, you should thus make sure a boat has been reserved for you. 

Planning your tours in advance is easy with our online booking, which allows you to reserve your tour and transportation with our offices in El Nido, Puerto Princesa and Coron. It saves you time and, if you like to have everything secured and organised, it makes it simpler to organise your day-to-day trip. We currently only offer it in Palawan but a platform like Tikigo will cover the whole Philippines. That’s a great option for planning your trip!

Should You Plan Your Transportation In Advance?

Along with your accommodation, tours and activities, there is the question of the transportation. We already wrote detailed articles about How to Go From Puerto Princesa to El Nido? or How to Get El Nido? In this article, we’ll simply elaborate a bit more on the advantages or inconveniences of planning in advance (or not).

Booking The Vans Between Puerto Princesa and El Nido

Regarding the public vans going from Puerto Princesa to El Nido, you will definitely find companies waiting for you at the gates of the airport. Some of them still run old Toyota Hi-Ace Commuter which are smaller and less comfortable than the Toyota Grandia. Some of them will pick you up and bring you to another place where they will transfer you to older vans, and make you wait for hours until they can squeeze 14 persons in a 12 seaters van (thanks to extra seats)…

Yes, there are chances that, not knowing which company to take, you’ll end up having a pretty uncomfortable trip to El Nido. Going with a company that select its partners based on their customer feedbacks (such as us) can help a lot. Van quality and respect of maximum waiting times makes a big difference.

If you want the extra leg room and to be able to stop in a good restaurant on the way to El Nido (such as No La Aromatic Restaurant in Roxas), you can get a private van. In that case, you need to book it in advance. It will be a bit more expensive than the public van (depending on how many you are) but it’s definitely worth it.

Booking The Boat Transfer Between Coron And El Nido

There are two types of boat going between El Nido and Coron: the ferry-boats and the fast-craft. The ferry-boats take around 8 hours to make the trip, while the fast-craft take only half. Unfortunately, advance booking with the fast-craft has proved to be very unreliable…

Montenegro Lines, the company operating the fast-craft, have a history of over-book their boat and to favour their own reservations over the ones of their partners if there are no seats left. It makes any booking made online for their craft very uncertain – to say the least.

The ferry-boats are operated by several other companies. Booking in advance with them is very easy. The only inconvenient with these boats is that they are slow and uncomfortable. It’s also preferable to book in advance during high season, if you want to be sure to have a seat.

This situation makes you face a tough choice: you can either choose certainty over comfort and speed, or you can wait until you arrive in El Nido or Coron and try to get a seat for the fast-craft… with the risk of not being able to find any boat if you do it at the last minute!

Conclusion

All in all, the level of planning depends on each one preferences. But if you’re coming to El Nido at the peak of the season, you should definitely book an hotel in advance. Same things goes if you plan to participate in a special tour (like the expeditions between Coron and El Nido) or if you want to avail a private tour. As for the transportation, it will depend on the risks you’re willing to take in terms of comfort and time spent going from point A to point B…

In any case, if you wish to start organising your trip and activities today, you can do it thanks to our online booking tool. If you have a question about how to plan the perfect trip in El Nido and Palawan, don’t hesitate to contact us, we’ll be happy to help!