Shared Island Hopping Tours in El Nido

A joining tour is a seat on a shared outrigger sold per person: you check in at the operator's beachfront around 8:30 AM, sign the manifest, meet the boat and spend the day between four and five stops, with the crew grilling lunch on a beach in the middle of it. Boats are back at El Nido Beach Boat Dock around 5:00 PM. Hotel pickup within the pickup area — El Nido town, the dock and the Corong-Corong hotels — is included; the ride back is a tricycle from the dock.

The Four Letters

• Tour A — Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island, Payong-Payong and Seven Commandos: the classic El Nido day, and the one to book first. From around ₱1,600 per person.
• Tour B — the Snake Island sandbar, Cudugnon and Cathedral caves, Entalula Beach and Pinagbuyutan. Fewer boats run it than A or C, which is its charm.
• Tour C — Helicopter Island, Hidden Beach, Star Beach, Matinloc Shrine and Secret Beach. The outer islands, from around ₱1,700 per person.
• Tour D — Cadlao Lagoon, Pasandigan and Ipil, minutes from town. The least sold and least crowded letter.

If you have two boat days, the standing advice is A then C; one day means A. Our stop-by-stop comparison of Tours A, B, C and D makes the case in full.

Not Only Boats

The inland tour to Nacpan Beach and the waterfalls is the land-based alternative — air-conditioned van, local guide and lunch, from around ₱1,800 per person — and a good rest day between two boat days. Want your own boat instead of a shared one? Compare the private and speed boat tours.

What You Pay on the Day

The fare covers the boat, the crew, the grilled beach lunch, life vests and pickup. The ₱400 El Nido Eco-Tourism Development Fee and any snorkel gear or aqua shoes are collected in cash at the stops, as is kayak hire at the Tour A lagoons, so carry small bills. Stop lineups rotate with local regulations, lagoon visitor caps and Coast Guard advisories — treat any printed list as the usual shape of the day. Weather closes tours regularly; each listing states its own cancellation terms. Deciding when to come? Read Palawan month by month.