El Nido Island Hopping: Tours A, B, C and D Explained (2026)

By IslaVisit Editorial Team
Published August 6, 2026 · Updated September 2, 2026

Last updated: 6 August 2026. Tour rates and fees are set locally and change; confirm with your operator when booking.

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through them, IslaVisit earns a commission at no extra cost to you. How this works.

Quick answer: El Nido has four standard island-hopping routes, lettered A, B, C and D. Each is a full day on a bangka outrigger with five stops and lunch cooked on board. Joiner (shared) tours generally run PHP 1,200 to 1,800 per person depending on route and operator. On top of that you pay a one-off Eco-Tourism Development Fee covering all your tours for ten days, plus a separate Big Lagoon entrance fee and kayak hire if you do Tour A. If you only have one day, book Tour A. If you have two, add Tour C. Tours B and D are quieter and better as a third or fourth day than a first.

Island hopping is the reason most people come to El Nido, and it is the part of the trip travellers get wrong most often. The routes are standardised by the municipal government, so every operator sells the same four itineraries at broadly the same regulated prices. What actually varies is the boat, the crew, the lunch, and how early you leave, and those differences matter more than the peso or two between agencies.

This guide covers what each route visits, what the whole day realistically costs once fees are added, and which combination is worth your time if you only have two or three days in Bacuit Bay.

The four El Nido tours compared

Prices above are typical shared-boat rates including a buffet lunch, drinking water, snorkel mask, life jacket and hotel pickup. They exclude the government fees below, which catch a lot of people out at the pier.

The fees nobody mentions until you are at the pier

The tour price is not the whole price. Three separate charges sit on top, and only the first is unavoidable on every route.

• Complete Palawan travel guide — all three destinations compared, and how to combine them.
• El Nido itinerary — 3, 5, 7 and 10 days planned out, with tour sequencing.
• Eco-Tourism Development Fee (ETDF). A one-off municipal fee paid before your first tour and valid for ten days, so it covers every route you do inside that window. Most 2026 sources put it at PHP 400 per person, though some operators still quote it as a split environmental fee plus municipality fee totalling around PHP 300. Ask your operator which figure applies and get the sticker or receipt, because you will be asked for it at the pier.
• Big Lagoon entrance fee. Around PHP 200 per person, charged only on Tour A.
• Kayak hire. Around PHP 150 per person. Motorised boats are not allowed inside Big Lagoon, so if you want to go in properly rather than look at the entrance, you kayak. On Tour A this is effectively compulsory.

The practical takeaway: cluster your tours inside one ten-day window and you pay the eco fee once instead of twice. If you are splitting El Nido across two separate visits with Coron in between, that fee gets charged again.

Realistically, budget PHP 1,800 to 2,300 for your first tour day once fees and kayak hire are in, and closer to the headline tour price for each day after that. Our Philippines travel budget guide sets this against what the rest of a trip costs.

Tour A: the lagoons (and the one to book first)

Stops: Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island, Seven Commandos Beach.

This is the route the photographs come from. Big Lagoon is a wide corridor of jade water walled in by limestone; Small Lagoon is entered through a gap in the rock you swim or paddle through. Together they are the reason El Nido is on anyone list, and if you do exactly one tour, do this one.

The catch: everyone else has read the same advice. Tour A carries the heaviest boat traffic in Bacuit Bay, and by mid-morning Big Lagoon can have dozens of kayaks in it. The fix is not skipping it. The fix is going early, which in practice means picking an operator that leaves at the front of the pack rather than the one that is PHP 100 cheaper.

Seven Commandos Beach at the end is a genuine beach with a bar, and is also reachable by tricycle and a short walk from town if you want it without the boat.

Tour B: caves, a sandbar and fewer boats

Stops: Snake Island (a sandbar, not snakes), Cudugnon Cave, Cathedral Cave, Pinagbuyutan Island, Entalula Beach.

Tour B is the least-booked of the four and it shows in the crowds, which is the main argument for it. Snake Island is a curving sandbar that appears and disappears with the tide, and the walk along it at low water is the highlight. Cathedral Cave is viewed from the boat rather than entered.

Honest assessment: as a first tour it underwhelms next to A or C. As a third day, when you have seen the headline lagoons and want a calmer stretch of water and a boat that is not queueing, it is the better choice than repeating A.

Tour C: hidden beaches and the best second day

Stops: Hidden Beach, Secret Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Helicopter Island, Star Beach.

Tour C goes further out into the archipelago and the scenery is arguably more dramatic than Tour A. Secret Beach is reached by swimming through a crack in a limestone wall into an enclosed cove; Hidden Beach sits behind a rock screen that hides it until you are almost on top of it. Matinloc Shrine has the best viewpoint on any of the four routes, up a short scramble.

The catch: Tour C is the most weather-sensitive route. It runs into open water, and when the wind is up it is the first tour to be cancelled or rerouted. If you have a fixed short trip, book Tour C on your first available day and keep Tour A as the fallback, not the other way round. Cancellation risk is not evenly spread across the year — our month-by-month guide to visiting El Nido covers which months lose the most tour days to weather. A is nearly always runnable; C is not.

Note that Secret Beach requires swimming through a gap in a swell. If you are not a confident swimmer, this is the stop to sit out, and there is no shame in it.

Tour D: the quiet one closest to town

Stops: Cadlao Lagoon, Paradise Beach, Natnat Beach, Bucal Shallows, Pasandigan Cove.

Tour D stays close to Cadlao Island, the big one you see from El Nido town beach. Less boat time, calmer water, and the shortest transfers of the four routes. Cadlao Lagoon is quieter than anything on Tour A and the snorkelling at Bucal Shallows is better than its billing.

Worth knowing: because Tour D is the least popular joiner route, boats sometimes fail to fill. If that happens you are offered a different route or asked to pay a private charter rate. If Tour D is specifically what you want, book a day or two ahead so the operator has time to fill the boat.

Tour D is also the most forgiving option if you are travelling with young children or anyone prone to seasickness.

Joiner tour or private charter?

A joiner tour puts you on a shared bangka with other travellers. It is cheap, sociable, and completely fine. A private charter gives you the whole boat, the freedom to linger at a stop you like, and crucially the option to run the route in reverse so you hit the busiest stops when everyone else is somewhere else.

Private charters through established operators have run from roughly PHP 10,700 to 16,000 per boat depending on route and boat type, with speedboats higher again. Divided across four or five people that lands close to joiner pricing per head, which is why groups should always price it.

If you are two people: take the joiner tour and go early. If you are four or more: get a private quote before you book anything, and ask specifically about running the route in reverse.

One planning note: joiner combination tours, the old “A and C in one day” packages, are no longer offered on shared boats. Some operators still build combination routes for private charters. If you see a combination advertised as a joiner tour, check carefully what you are actually buying.

Which tour should you book?

Each route is a full day, roughly 9am to 4 or 5pm once pickup and return are counted. You cannot stack two in a day, so the question is really how many days you are giving Bacuit Bay.

Do not book back-to-back tour days for a whole week. Three consecutive days on a bangka in the sun is more tiring than it sounds, and El Nido has good land-based days: Nacpan Beach, Las Cabanas for sunset, or the Taraw Cliff viewpoint climb. Two tours plus a rest day beats three tours for most people.

Where to book, and what it costs you

You have three realistic options, and the price gap between them is smaller than the convenience gap.

• Walk-in at the pier or along Calle Hama. Cheapest, and you can compare operators face to face and ask what time the boat actually leaves. Fine in low season. Risky from December to April, when tours fill.
• Through your accommodation. Convenient, sometimes carries a small commission, and useful because a hotel that books you badly hears about it at breakfast. Prices are usually standard.
• Online in advance. Typically a little more than walk-in, but you get a guaranteed spot, an English-speaking guide and a booking you can cancel. Worth it in peak season, and worth it if your trip is short enough that a sold-out tour would cost you the day.

Compare El Nido island-hopping tours on Klook to check current routes, times and prices before you arrive. If you are travelling between December and April, book at least Tour A ahead.

What to bring on the boat

• A dry bag. Not optional. Bangka boats take spray, and you board and disembark in water.
• Water shoes or grippy sandals. Several landings are rocky or over coral rubble.
• Reef-safe sunscreen and a rash guard. A long-sleeved rash guard does more than reapplying sunscreen every hour on an open boat.
• Cash. For fees, kayak hire, drinks and the tricycle back. Card acceptance on the water is nil.
• Your own mask, if you own one. Rental gear is serviceable, but a mask that fits your face is a different day.

Leave anything you would hate to lose at your accommodation. Full packing detail is in our Philippines travel planning checklist.

When to go island hopping in El Nido

The dry amihan months, roughly December to April, give you the best odds of every route running as scheduled, and are also the busiest and most expensive. June to October brings habagat conditions: cheaper rooms, emptier boats, and a real chance of a cancelled tour day.

Shoulder months, particularly May and November, are the compromise many experienced visitors quietly prefer. If you travel in low season, build a spare day into your El Nido stay so a weather cancellation costs you flexibility rather than the whole trip.

Plan the rest of your El Nido trip

• Complete El Nido travel guide — getting there, when to go, tours and where to stay, in one place.
• Best hotels in El Nido for every budget — staying in El Nido Town keeps tour-day pickups simple; Corong-Corong adds a transfer but better sunsets.
• Philippines travel budget guide — where tour days sit in a full trip budget.
• Philippines travel planning checklist — eTravel, cash, connectivity and what to book before you fly.
• Coron vs El Nido — how the two Palawan hubs compare on cost, diving, beaches and getting there.

Insurance worth checking: island hopping is one of the activities standard policies most often exclude, along with motorbike hire and diving. Compare travel insurance quotes on EKTA and read the activity list rather than the headline price.

Frequently asked questions

Which El Nido tour is the best?

Tour A is the best single choice for a first visit because it covers Big Lagoon and Small Lagoon, the scenery El Nido is known for. If you have two days, Tour C is the strongest addition and is more dramatic than A in places. Tours B and D are quieter routes better suited to a third or fourth day.

How much does island hopping in El Nido cost?

Shared joiner tours typically run PHP 1,200 to 1,800 per person including lunch and snorkel gear. Add a one-off Eco-Tourism Development Fee valid for ten days, plus roughly PHP 200 for the Big Lagoon entrance and PHP 150 for kayak hire on Tour A. Budget around PHP 1,800 to 2,300 for your first tour day once fees are included.

Can you do two El Nido tours in one day?

No. Each route is a full day of roughly seven to eight hours including transfers, and joiner combination tours such as A and C together are no longer offered on shared boats. Some private charters still run combination routes.

Do I need to book El Nido tours in advance?

Between December and April, yes, at least for Tour A. Tours fill and a sold-out day is expensive when your trip is short. Outside peak season you can usually book a day ahead in town or through your hotel.

What is the Eco-Tourism Development Fee in El Nido?

A one-off municipal fee paid before your first island-hopping tour and valid for ten days, covering every route you take in that window. Most 2026 sources quote PHP 400 per person, though some operators still describe it as a split environmental and municipality fee. Keep the receipt or sticker, as it is checked at the pier.

Is Tour C worth it if the weather looks unsettled?

Tour C runs into more open water than the other routes and is the first to be cancelled or rerouted when the wind picks up. If your trip is short, book Tour C on your first available day and keep Tour A in reserve, since A almost always runs.

Is a private boat worth it in El Nido?

For groups of four or more, usually yes. Private charters have run from roughly PHP 10,700 to 16,000 per boat, which divided across a group lands close to joiner pricing per person, and you can run the route in reverse to avoid the crowds at the busiest stops.