El Nido is Palawan’s island-hopping capital, set on Bacuit Bay among limestone cliffs, lagoons and white-sand beaches. The wider island of Palawan also offers Coron’s wreck diving and Puerto Princesa’s underground river, with rooms from simple guesthouses to island resorts.
Finding cheap rooms in El Nido & Palawan is easier when you know where to look. We compare live hotel rates across the top booking sites and point you to the neighborhoods where hotels are cheap but the location is still great.
Rooms come in more shapes than hotels — in El Nido & Palawan you can also compare apartments with kitchens, vacation rentals for families, B&Bs and budget hostels in one search.
The busy town beach, with the most budget rooms and boat-tour departures.
A sunset beach just south of town, with quieter hotels.
A long, quiet beach north of town, with a few resorts and cottages.
A separate island base for lakes, lagoons and wreck diving.
Palawan’s capital and main airport, near the Underground River.
Zoom and pan the map to compare hotel prices by neighborhood; rates come live from the booking sites.
December–May is the dry season and the best time for island hopping. The rainy season from roughly June to November brings rougher seas and cheaper rooms.
El Nido town has the most budget guesthouses, and rooms a little inland are usually cheaper than beachfront ones.
Fly directly to El Nido’s small airport, or fly to Puerto Princesa and travel north by van or bus, which takes several hours.
Boat tours, usually labelled A to D, visit different lagoons, beaches and islands around Bacuit Bay.