El Nido Island Hopping Tours Around Your Expedition

If you are crossing to or from Coron by expedition, add one El Nido day tour, and pick it by what you want to see: Tour A for the lagoons, Tour C for beaches, snorkelling and the Matinloc Shrine. The expedition will not cover either. Most expeditions leave from San Fernando or Sibaltan on El Nido’s east coast and head north through Linapacan and Culion, and Keelooma says outright that its route does not visit El Nido’s lagoons. The most-reviewed El Nido day tour we track is Corazon’s El Nido Tour C, rated 4.4 from 802 reviews and $29 per person on a date we checked in late October 2026. For the lagoons, H&H’s shared Tour A is the Tour A listing with the most reviews, 4.4 from 151, and it includes the El Nido and Big Lagoon fees.

Tour A and Tour C at a glance

El Nido’s tours are lettered, and you will also see Tours B and D sold in town. None of the listings we track sell them, so we can’t tell you what their operators include.

The six listings compared

The Tour C listing from Corazon is the only one we have a date price for. The others vary by what they include: a listing with pickup, both fees and lunch will cost more than one without, so compare the total you would pay on the day.

What the low reviews warn about

Most reviews are happy, but the three-star and lower ones repeat the same points. Boats on the cheaper shared tours can carry 30 or more people, and several reviewers found the stops crowded with other tour boats doing the same route at the same time. A few complained about cold or short lunches, and one about an old, smoky engine. On Tour A, reviewers say you may have to wade to the boat and that masks and kayaks are rented on board, so bring a dry bag and some cash. One reviewer was charged the El Nido fee twice: keep your receipt and show it before you pay. If crowds would spoil the day for you, the Corazon listing offers a private group option.

Fitting a day tour around the expedition

Starting in El Nido: the expedition usually starts with an early transfer to San Fernando or Sibaltan, and We Are Juan and Castaway hold compulsory briefings at 5 pm and 6 pm the evening before. A 6 to 8 hour day tour on briefing day is tight, so give it a day of its own before. Our El Nido to Coron page compares the departures.

Arriving in El Nido: Coron to El Nido trips land at the port in the afternoon of the last day, then transfer to town, so the day tour belongs on the next day. Our Coron to El Nido page has arrival times by operator.

The El Nido fee: you pay PHP 400 once, and the receipt covers several days. One Tour A listing says ten days, while two expedition operators say five. Sea Nomads tells its guests to bring the receipt if they already did a day tour, so a day tour just before departure can save you paying twice. Keelooma’s GetYourGuide listing says the fee is cash only.

Which to book

We’d book Tour A if you have one day and want what most people picture when they think of El Nido: limestone walls closing around a lagoon. Choose a listing that includes the Big Lagoon fee, and expect the lagoon to be busy. We’d book Tour C if you would rather snorkel and spend time on beaches, or if you have a second day. Reviewers who did both are split on which was better.

If you want something quieter and closer to the expedition’s islands, a private day trip to Linapacan is the alternative; see our Linapacan page. If you are also spending time in Coron, the Coron island hopping page covers Kayangan Lake and Twin Lagoon, which most expeditions skip as well. For a bed near the pier or the expedition meeting points, see where to stay in El Nido, and for vans from Puerto Princesa, getting to El Nido and Coron.