Puerto Princesa – El Nido Palawan Tour Package Experience

I’ve been wanting to go to the beautiful island of Palawan for a long time now so we decided to include this to our Philippines trip last December 2022. I was a bit hesitant to book a tour package because I always prefer to do trips at my own pace. However, since I do not know anyone in Palawan and we only have a limited number of days, we decided that it’s better for us to just do it, and IT WAS WORTH IT!

Days before our trip to the Philippines, I booked a Puerto Princesa – El Nido tour package for 3 days and 2 nights through WayPH. Even though their site is legit, I still honestly thought that I would just get scammed because their Facebook page with all the trade-related spam reviews made them sound unconvincing. I also disliked doing most transactions through email exchanges so I hope in the future they can utilize their page as a direct booking site based on the selected package. But overall, on the days of the tour, everything was great and somehow efficient. There were hiccups along the way due to bad weather conditions and they were ready to provide a substitute tour package, but fortunately, the Gods blessed us with good weather and everything went on as planned.

Tour Package Details

ACCOMMODATION: LIME RESORT (EL NIDO) – 1 DELUXE ROOM
INCLUSIVE DATES: DECEMBER 28-30, 2022
MODE OF TRANSPORT: VIA PUBLIC VAN TRANSFER TO EL NIDO (ROUNDTRIP)
TOURS: JOINERS TOUR (which means having all the group trips with people whom we do not know)

INCLUSIONS:
3 Days and 2 Nights Accommodation, 2 Breakfast, 2 Lunch, Air-Conditioned Transfer to and from El Nido, Underground River Tour with Picnic Lunch, El Nido Island Hopping Tour A with Picnic Lunch, and Licensed Tour Guide Assistance
UNDERGROUND RIVER INCLUSIONS:
Land/Boat Transfer, Entrance Fees, Environmental Fee, Licensed Tour Guide, Shed Rental, and Picnic Lunch
EL NIDO ISLAND HOPPING TOUR A INCLUSIONS:
Boat Transfers, Shed Rentals, Picnic Lunch, and Community Tour Guide
Places visited: Snorkel Tour around Small Lagoon or Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Simizu Island, 7th Commando Beach

Tour Itinerary

DAY 1 – DECEMBER 28
7:00AM – Pick-up from our accommodation in Puerto Princesa
(Excluded in the rate: We stayed in RedDoorz Plus near Rizal Junction since we arrived the day before)
7:30AM – Underground River tour with picnic lunch
(Excluded in the rate: We had the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour while waiting for the tour guide to finish registering our group for the Underground River Tour)
4:30PM – Travel to El Nido
8:30PM – Check-in at Lime Resort (El Nido)

NOTE: Itinerary schedule may vary based on preference and some unforeseeable circumstances.

Additional Details

We chose the tour package via public transportation with Lime Resort (El Nido) accommodation but there were some other cheaper and more expensive choices as well. These were the rates at the time of booking (rate is for 2-3 people):

ACCOMMODATION	VIA PUBLIC VAN TRANSPORTATION (PHP / PERSON)	VIA PRIVATE VAN TRANSPORTATION (PHP / PERSON)
Island Hop Hostel	7,700	12,700
Desert Rose Hotel	8,200	13,200
Joaquinn’s B&B	8,400	13,400
Aqua Lodge	8,400	13,400
Lolo Oyong	8,400	13,400
Casa Cecilia	8,500	13,500
Dengi Inn (No Breakfast*)	9,400	14,400
Periking (No Breakfast*)	9,700	14,700
Stunning Republic Beach Res.	9,700	14,700
Marygold BeachFront Inn	10,700	15,700
Sea Cocoon Hotel (No Breakfast*)	10,700	15,700
El Nido Beach Hotel (No Breakfast*)	11,700	16,700
Lime Resort	13,200	18,200
El Nido Garden Beach	15,000	20,000
Cadlao Resort	19,700	24,700

So there you have it! If you visit Palawan in the future, consider booking one of those tour packages. I still had the freedom of doing everything at my own pace and it was not restricting as I thought it would be. I recommend it to save yourself the hassle of planning your whole itinerary in an unfamiliar place, and just focus on having fun!