El Nido, with the numbers attached
Most of what is written about this bay is undated, unsourced, and increasingly machine-made. This site does the opposite: every price names the operator it came from and the day it was read — and anything unverified says so, plainly.
The four tours
El Nido's island hopping is standardised into four lettered routes. They go to genuinely different corners of the archipelago — and they do not cost the same.
The Lagoons
The route almost everyone does first: the two big lagoons on Miniloc Island, plus a sandbar beach on the way home.
₱1,200–1,500 per person, shared boat
Caves and Sandbars
Usually the quietest of the four: a tidal sandbar, a cave with archaeological history, and a beach under a limestone wall.
₱1,200–1,600 per person, shared boat
The Outer Islands
The furthest route from town, and the one repeat visitors most often name as their favourite. The best snorkelling of the four.
₱1,200–1,700 per person, shared boat
Cadlao and the Quiet Beaches
The closest route to town, around Cadlao Island. Usually the least busy, and a common third or fourth day.
₱1,200–1,500 per person, shared boat
Prices are the spread across the operators indexed, not an average — because an average is a price nobody charges. Compare the four in detail →
Start here
El Nido Price Index
Every published tour price, fee and fare in one dated table, with the source next to each figure. Free to quote.
2 to 14 daysItineraries with real costs
Assembled from tours and routes that exist, with a cost floor that is arithmetic rather than a guess.
17 stopsIslands, lagoons and beaches
Which tour goes where, what it costs to enter, and — honestly — which ones we have not checked yet.
4 routesGetting there
Puerto Princesa, Manila and the Coron ferry, including where the published schedules contradict each other.
measured, not modeledWeather by month
El Nido has no weather station — so we publish the nearest stations' 30-year normals, with distances stated.
the ₱400 everyone still prints as ₱200Every fee, dated
ETDF, lagoon entry, kayak, terminal — each one traced to a source.
solo to 8 peoplePrices by group size
Shared vs private, computed from the operators' own formulas.
the classic dilemmaTour A vs Tour C
The two flagship routes head to head — and the other five match-ups.
How this site works
- Every figure carries a source and a date. The little chips next to prices link to the page the number was read from. That is enforced by the build, not by memory — a price without a source fails the build and the site does not publish.
- Nothing is estimated. Where no source published a number, the page says no price published and lists it as a known unknown. There are a lot of those, and they are the point.
- Blogs are not a source. Only the municipality, the operators themselves, ticket resellers, and direct verification here in El Nido. The full method.
- Written from El Nido, which is the only real advantage this site has — and the reason inventing a number would be a stupid trade.
Something here wrong, or something marked unverified that you can confirm first-hand? That correction is worth more than a new page. Send it.