Travellers rate the Coron to El Nido expeditions highly. We Are Juan’s El Nido to Coron trip holds 4.8 out of 5 from 602 GetYourGuide reviews, the largest review record of any expedition in our data, and Castaway’s Coron to El Nido trip holds 4.9 from 45. The praise repeats from review to review: the food, the crews and guides, the snorkelling and the friendships formed in the group. The complaints repeat too. The most common are boats carrying more people than they comfortably seat, basic and sometimes worn boats with little shade, disorganised starts and weather delays. A handful of more serious reports involve theft, overcrowded boats and too few life jackets. Here is the record operator by operator, and what to take from it.
We Are Juan 3D2N, El Nido to Coron
Ratings by operator
These are the ratings on 25 October 2026. A score built on two or three reviews tells you very little; the first five rows carry the weight.
| Expedition | Platform | Operator | Rating | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Nido to Coron, 3 days | GetYourGuide | We Are Juan | 4.8 | 602 |
| Coron to El Nido, 3 days | GetYourGuide | We Are Juan | 4.8 | 167 |
| Coron to El Nido, 3 days | GetYourGuide | Castaway Tours PH | 4.9 | 45 |
| El Nido to Coron, 3 days | GetYourGuide | Castaway Tours PH | 4.6 | 30 |
| Private El Nido to Coron | Viator | El Nido Adventure Tours | 4.5 | 20 |
| Coron to El Nido, 3 days | GetYourGuide | Exodus Expedition | 4.7 | 16 |
| Snorkel island-hopping expedition | GetYourGuide | D Best Dive Sites Expeditions | 4.0 | 11 |
| El Nido to Coron group | Viator | El Nido Adventure Tours | 5.0 | 8 |
| El Nido to Coron group | GetYourGuide | KKJ Travel Services | 5.0 | 3 |
| Coron to El Nido group | Viator | El Nido Adventure Tours | 4.0 | 3 |
| El Nido–Coron with cultural experience | GetYourGuide | Keelooma | 5.0 | 2 |
Trips with no marketplace rating yet
Several newer listings are new on GetYourGuide, with no reviews yet, including both Sea Nomads trips and Sea Quest’s 4-day and 5-day trips. Big Dream Boatman and Tao sell only direct, so they have no marketplace ratings here. Big Dream Boatman’s own site claims more than 1,900 Tripadvisor reviews, which we have not checked.
What reviewers praise
The food comes up more than anything else. Reviewers on every busy listing single out the chefs by name, and one GetYourGuide reviewer on We Are Juan’s Coron trip wrote: “Some of the best food you will eat in the Philippines!” One reviewer noted that the fish was caught the same day.
The crews come next. Reviewers name their guides, praise their energy and describe them pulling everyone into the games, volleyball and karaoke. Even a three-star reviewer on We Are Juan’s El Nido trip credited the crew with keeping watch on people in the water, and an Exodus reviewer said the company dropped snacks at their hotel before departure.
Then the group. Solo travellers write that they met people they kept travelling with afterwards. One GetYourGuide reviewer on Castaway’s Coron trip, who had worried about being older than the hostel crowd at 31, called the trip “worth the hype”. Another, on We Are Juan’s El Nido trip, said it was “honestly the highlight” of a 10-day stay in the Philippines.
The sea itself gets its share. A reviewer on the Exodus listing listed turtles, squid, pufferfish, blacktip reef sharks and a stingray from a single trip.
The complaints that recur
The low-star reviews are a small share of the total, but they fall into clear groups. We paraphrase them here and do not quote them.
| Complaint | What reviewers describe | Listings where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Crowded boats | Around 19 or 20 passengers when guests say they were told 15; not enough seats at the table for meals; too little room for suitcases | We Are Juan, El Nido departure (several reviews) |
| Basic or worn boats | An old boat with damaged flooring, sitting on the deck for hours, little shade and nowhere dry when it rains, fewer kayaks and paddleboards than other boats | We Are Juan, both directions |
| Not as remote as hoped | Several other boats at the same stops, and stops of 30 to 40 minutes that felt rushed | We Are Juan, Coron departure |
| Disorganised starts | A cancelled briefing, no confirmation the trip would run until two hours before, a two-hour wait while the boat was loaded | We Are Juan, El Nido departure |
| Weather and drop-offs | A group held at the first camp for two days, then no reply from the company; a drop-off at the wrong place that cost extra | We Are Juan, Coron departure |
| Personal comfort | A solo woman who felt the crew’s attention towards women travelling alone went too far; a film crew recording the group | We Are Juan, El Nido departure |
| Health | One case of food poisoning after the final day’s seafood | We Are Juan, El Nido departure |
| Cancellation | A traveller unable to cancel for illness because they were past the deadline | We Are Juan, El Nido departure |
Read that table with the volume in mind. We Are Juan appears most because it has by far the most reviews, 769 across its two listings, and its average is still 4.8. Its GetYourGuide listing gives the group size as up to 25, so do not expect a boat of 15.
Castaway’s two listings, with 75 reviews between them, produced no written complaints among the low-star reviews we checked.
The serious reports
A few reviews describe problems that go beyond comfort, and they deserve a direct mention.
- On the Exodus Expedition listing, one reviewer reports that the company moved them to another operator’s boat because its own was not full, and that their cash was stolen while they slept at camp. Exodus averages 4.7 from 16 reviews, and we could not find an operator website for it. Read our Exodus review before booking.
- On the D Best Dive Sites listing, two reviewers describe two groups combined on a boat too small for them, too few life jackets, too little food and, in one case, being rescued by the Coast Guard after two days on an island. The listing averages 4.0 from 11 reviews.
- The Viator private expedition shows reviews that name other companies and, in two cases, describe a different trip or a booking that was never confirmed, yet carry five stars. Treat its 4.5 as a loose guide and confirm the operator and boat in writing.
None of this proves an operator is unsafe, and no operator can promise a safe trip. It does tell you what to check: a licensed boat and captain, enough life jackets, an honest passenger number, and Coast Guard clearance on the morning you sail.
What the reviews tell you to do
- Pick volume over a perfect score. A 4.8 from hundreds of reviews tells you more than a 5.0 from two.
- Expect basic comfort. The happiest reviewers knew it was a camping trip. The unhappiest expected more space, shade or privacy than these boats offer. Our what to expect guide sets out the camps and boats.
- Ask the group size. If a crowded boat would spoil the trip for you, ask the operator how many guests are booked and how many seats the boat has.
- Leave slack. Weather holds groups at camps, so keep a spare day before onward flights, as our best time guide explains.
- Watch the cancellation deadline. We Are Juan’s GetYourGuide listings allow free cancellation up to 2 days before; Castaway’s and Exodus’s up to 24 hours.
For our verdicts on each trip, see all expedition reviews, compare the best expeditions, or browse departures from Coron and from El Nido.
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