Which El Nido Tours Should I Go On? [2024]
Gorgeous El Nido. Which tours should you do?
El Nido is one of the Philippines’ most celebrated destinations. Palawan’s jewel is a gorgeous treasure featuring exquisite limestone carvings, turquoise blue waters and island-hopping experiences like no other. But with so many tours to choose from, which ones do you embark on? Read on this short guide and we’ll help you choose.
About El Nido
Seven Commando Beach, El Nido
Once a hidden gem tucked away from mainstream travel, El Nido has since found stardom as one of the best island destinations in the world. Thanks to the rise of social media, the words ‘Palawan’ or ‘El Nido’ now conjure up images of glittering lagoons, out-of-this-world islets and pristine beaches in travellers everywhere.
Cathedral Cove – part of El Nido Tour B
There are a lot of places to visit in El Nido, but luckily, the tours are usually organised in an easily understandable segregated way. They are generally broken up into four tours:
Tour A
Tour B
Tour C
Tour D
Pretty simple right? Each tour visits a different area of El Nido, and there are usually no overlapping attractions – meaning, each itinerary is unique to that specific tour. Each tour usually takes one full day. There used to be an option to take a combination tour, where you could combine the best sights of one tour with another tour to make one full combo tour, but this has since been banned by the municipality.
Asher kayaking at Small Lagoon in El Nido
I have done every tour (A, B, C and D) so that I can tell you guys which tour you should go on to maximise your experience in El Nido.
Handpicked Tours
Matinloc Shrine Island, El Nido
By far the best tours in El Nido are Tour A and Tour C. These tours have the most stunning attractions of the entire area, and I think it’s crucial that you do both if you’re planning to visit El Nido. Only doing one and not the other would mean you would miss out on one half of El Nido’s best offerings, and just wouldn’t be worthwhile since you’ve made it all the way to Palawan.
Following Tour A and C, my next choice would be Tour B. In particular, Snake Island, which is on Tour B’s itinerary, is worth visiting. Not that Tour D is a bad tour by any means (it’s actually the most affordable), but the attractions on Tour D tour are very close to El Nido town itself, and most of it can be visited by kayak boat – they don’t really compare to the stops on Tour A, B and C. Here are my top 5-Star reviewed choices for El Nido tours:
El Nido Tour A with Buffet Lunch – If you must only do one tour, then I would pick Tour A. This is a 5-star tour that you can’t go wrong with.
El Nido Tour C with Buffet Lunch – You should really do Tour C as well, if you have more than one whole day in El Nido. Some of the sights on this itinerary are my favourites. Rated 5 stars.
El Nido Tour B with Buffet Lunch – Tour B is a bit of an underrated tour, as not that many people choose it. This is a plus as you might get stops like Snake Island and Cudugnon Cave relatively free of tourists.
What Are My Favourite Places in El Nido?
Aerial view of Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon in El Nido
If I could do a ranking of my favourite places I visited in El Nido, here’s how I would rank them: Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Matinloc Shrine, Secret Lagoon Beach, Snake Island, Helicopter Island.
Secret Lagoon Beach, El Nido
Snake Island, El Nido
As you can see, most of the best sights can be found on Tour A, followed by Tour C, then Tour B. But to be honest, all of El Nido is gorgeous and you’ll probably enjoy every single stop on your tours.
How many Days in El Nido?
Ralph on an island hopping tour in El Nido
I would recommend staying for at least four full days. This would ensure that you set aside one day to do Tour A, one day for Tour C, one day for Tour B, and a day to check out Nacpan Beach and Marimegmeg Beach for the sunset.
Marimegmeg Beach (El Nido) during sunset.
Ralph doing handstands at Nacpan Beach, El Nido
If you’re up for a short hike, I would also recommend the El Nido Canopy Walk on Taraw Cliff, where you can get unforgettable views of Bacuit Bay. This is the safe version of the Taraw Cliff hike – which used to be really popular on Instagram, but interest for it has since died down due to a few accidents. It’s said to be banned, but some travellers still somehow do the hike unbeknownst to officials (would not recommend this, though).
Asher doing the El Nido Canopy Walk
Do I Need a Tour To Visit El Nido?
Matinloc Shrine – part of El Nido Tour C
Yes. An island-hopping tour is the only way to visit El Nido’s best sights such as Big Lagoon, Matinloc Shrine and Snake Island. They’re incredibly affordable, though, so there’s no real downside to this. It’s possible to kayak Tour D yourself, though.
Asher and Ralph, signing off from Cathedral Cave in El Nido
Are you thinking about visiting the beautiful El Nido? Let me know in the comments below!