Everything on the Water in El Nido

El Nido sells its island hopping as four letters — A, B, C and D — and the letter matters less than how you ride it. The same stops can be a per-person seat on a shared outrigger, a whole boat chartered for your group, or a speed boat that halves the crossings. This page collects all three, plus the days that happen off the water entirely.

The Four Letters

Tour A is the lagoons — Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu, Payong-Payong, Seven Commandos — and the one to book first. Tour C runs furthest out to Hidden Beach, Matinloc Shrine, Secret Beach and Helicopter Island, and is the best second day. Tour B trades spectacle for breathing room at the Snake Island sandbar and the caves. Tour D loops Cadlao's beaches minutes from town and is the least crowded of the four. Joining fares start from around ₱1,550 per person.

Shared, Private or Fast

Joining tours are the standard: a shared boat, a fixed 9:00 AM departure and a grilled beach lunch, listed on the joining boat tours hub. A private outrigger — from around ₱15,500 for two guests on Tour D — buys the boat to yourselves and your own pace. A speed boat shortens the crossings and can fit the highlights of A and C into one long day, from around ₱29,500 for two guests on a boat that takes up to eight. The full charter list is on the private boat tours hub.

Days Off the Boat

Three boat days in a row sound better at booking than they feel by the third morning. The inland tour swaps the boat for an air-conditioned van, a waterfall trek with stream crossings, Nacpan Beach and a sunset stop, from around ₱1,800 per person. For something louder, the tandem skydiving package bundles shared van transfers to San Vicente with a jump over Long Beach, from around ₱32,170 per person.

What You Pay on the Day

Every boat tour collects the ₱400 El Nido Eco-Tourism Development Fee in cash at the stops, along with any gear rental, and the Tour A itineraries add kayak hire at the lagoons; the Tour A and A + C speed boats also charge a ₱200 lagoon entrance fee. Stop lineups rotate with regulations, lagoon caps and Coast Guard advisories. Which letter suits you is argued out stop by stop in our comparison of Tours A, B, C and D, and travelling with children is covered in Palawan with kids.