El Nido to Coron Expeditions: The Northbound Boats Compared

The northbound crossing has the deepest choice on the route. On dates we checked in late October 2026, the five shared 3-day, 2-night trips from El Nido to Coron that we compare cost $309 to $368 per person, and two private boats cost far more. Most travellers should book We Are Juan’s El Nido to Coron expedition: $311, 4.8 from 602 reviews, the San Fernando transfer included and arrival in Coron around 4 to 5 pm on day three. The catch is fees. This listing leaves out all four local environmental fees, PHP 900 in total, while some rivals include part of them. For a quieter boat with a cultural slant, Keelooma’s expedition with a tinikling lesson costs $324 but has only two reviews on GetYourGuide. Read our We Are Juan review

Northbound trips side by side

GetYourGuide figures are per person on the earliest open date we found on 25 October 2026; Viator figures are its from-price. For two people the Sea Quest private boat works out at about $2,008 each.

The Sea Nomads trip from El Nido is the lowest price on the list at $309 but is new on GetYourGuide with no reviews yet. It includes the Linapacan and Culion fees, a towel at each camp and kayak use, and its camps have power from 6 pm to 10:30 pm. Castaway’s El Nido departure is the dearest shared boat at $368 and rates 4.6 from 30 reviews. The Viator group expedition from El Nido has a perfect score from eight reviews and caters for vegetarian, vegan and pescatarian diets, but it is not marked free cancellation and excludes government fees.

What the first and last day look like

Arrive in El Nido at least a day ahead. We Are Juan’s briefing is at 5 pm the day before at its office in Pops District, Corong Corong, and it is mandatory. Castaway runs its briefing at 6 pm at Outpost Beach Hostel and will not put you on the roster without it.

No expedition sails from El Nido’s town beach. Boats leave from San Fernando port on the east coast of the peninsula, about 45 minutes by road; Castaway’s listing names Sibaltan instead. Keelooma, which publishes the most precise timings on its own site, meets at 7:30 am and gets its boat away between 9:30 and 10 am, and its dance troupe performs tinikling at the port as each boat leaves. From there the route heads north past the islands off El Nido’s east coast, through Linapacan, then Culion, to Coron.

The finish is easier than the southbound one, because you land at Coron Port, about 2 km from town. We Are Juan aims for 4 to 5 pm on day three and Keelooma for about 5 pm. Do not book a flight out of Busuanga that evening. The airport is about 45 minutes from town by van, and a slow sea day or a late Coast Guard clearance can push arrival back.

Fees you pay on top, listing by listing

El Nido charges PHP 400, Linapacan PHP 200, Culion PHP 100 and Coron PHP 200. If you have already done an El Nido day tour, you have probably paid El Nido’s; keep the receipt, as it is valid for several days.

• We Are Juan: all four excluded, PHP 900 in total, although island entrance fees are included.
• Sea Nomads: Linapacan and Culion included; El Nido and the PHP 200 Coron arrival fee excluded.
• Keelooma: entrance fees included, environmental fees excluded; alcohol is sold on board.
• Castaway: island entrance fees and the Linapacan fee included, other government fees excluded.
• Viator group trip: government fees excluded. The Viator private boat and the Sea Quest private boat both list all fees and taxes as included.

The fees are cash only, so carry pesos.

Booking direct with the El Nido operators

Several well-known operators sell this direction only on their own sites. These are plain links; we earn nothing from them.

• Keelooma charges PHP 19,800 per person for travel from 1 November 2026 to 20 May 2027 (checked 25 October 2026). Its own site asks every guest to carry travel insurance.
• We Are Juan shows PHP 16,000 to 19,000 by date on its own pages, with departures listed to 31 May 2027.
• Big Dream Boatman runs 4 days and 3 nights for $599: meet at 9 am at 86’d Gourmet Cafe, sail from San Fernando around 11 am, reach Coron Port at 3 to 4 pm on day four.
• Tao Philippines leaves its El Nido office at 7:30 am, spends four nights at its own camps including Tao Beach Farm and Camp Ngey Ngey, and reaches Coron around noon on day five. We could not find a current price.

Longer trips have their own page: see 4-day and longer expeditions, which also covers Sea Quest’s 5-day trip from El Nido with two resort nights at $1,541.

When to go north, and what can go wrong

Going north suits travellers who fly into El Nido or come up by van from Puerto Princesa, do the El Nido day tours first, and want to finish with Coron’s lakes and lagoons. Our El Nido island hopping and Coron island hopping pages cover those days, and getting to El Nido and Coron covers flights and vans. Travelling the other way? See the Coron to El Nido departures.

We Are Juan’s 602 reviews include a handful of two and three-star ones worth reading. Several describe groups larger than promised, with not everyone fitting at the table for meals and too few snorkel masks. One describes an old boat with no covered area in rain, one a case of food poisoning on the last day, and one a cancelled briefing and no confirmation that the trip would run until two hours before departure. A solo woman traveller felt the crew’s attention went too far. None of this is typical of the reviews, but it shows what a busy, low-priced shared boat can be on a bad trip.

Expect shared toilets and showers, simple huts, no Wi-Fi and patchy signal on every shared boat here. Before you pay, check that the boat and captain are licensed and life jackets are carried. If you would rather have a boat to yourselves, the private expeditions page compares the private options, and the best expeditions page ranks every operator by traveller type.