Palawan is the long, thin island that keeps winning 'world's best island' polls, and for once the polls are right. The backpacker version runs south to north: fly into Puerto Princesa, detour to the underground river at Sabang, ride the winding road up to El Nido for the karst lagoons, then — the masterstroke — skip the ferry and spend several days crossing to Coron on an island-hopping expedition boat, sleeping on beaches along the way. Allow twelve days to two weeks.
Puerto Princesa and the underground river
Puerto Princesa is mostly a gateway, but it's the base for Sabang and the Puerto Princesa Underground River, the UNESCO-listed cave system that gives Palawan its first wow. Vans reach Sabang in about two hours ($6-8); stay a night in a beach hut ($12-20) rather than day-tripping, because Sabang's long grey-sand beach empties beautifully by late afternoon. The river tour itself ($20-25 with permit, book a day ahead in high season) paddles you into a cathedral-dark cave beneath the mountain, your boatman's spotlight sweeping over rock formations while swiftlets click past in the blackness. It's touristy and still genuinely otherworldly.
The road to El Nido
Vans and buses run Sabang or Puerto Princesa to El Nido in 5-6 hours ($10-12). El Nido town is wedged between a beach and a wall of black karst, and it has boomed — expect crowds, and expect not to care once you're on the water. Dorms run $10-18; nicer beach bases like Corong-Corong, a walkable fifteen minutes south, throw in sunset views over the bay.
The famous tours are lettered A to D ($25-35 including lunch, plus a $9 eco fee valid for days). Tour A is the classic: the Big and Small Lagoons, where you kayak through a crack in the karst into bowls of green-glass water with 200-metre cliffs closing overhead. Tour C's shrines and hidden beaches run it close. Book a shared boat, bring reef-safe sunscreen and water shoes, and take one day off the boats to rent a motorbike ($10) for Nacpan Beach, four kilometres of near-empty gold sand up the coast.
The expedition: three days at sea to Coron
Here's the leg that makes this route special. Instead of the fast ferry to Coron (4-5 hours, $30-40), outfits in El Nido run multi-day expedition crossings through the scattered islands of the Linapacan group — typically three days and two nights for $260-320, everything included. Your world shrinks to a wooden bangka boat, a crew who grill fresh fish over coals every lunch, and a rotation of snorkel stops in water so clear the boats above you throw shadows on reefs ten metres down. Nights are spent in beach camps or stilt huts on islands with no roads, no wifi, and generator power for an hour after dark. Linapacan's waters regularly top 'clearest in the world' lists, and after two days of it your phone stops feeling like a phone. Book a few days ahead in high season and pack everything in dry bags.
Coron: wrecks and lakes
Coron Town is a working harbour rather than a beach town — the magic is offshore. The island-hopping day tour ($25-30 plus fees) hits Kayangan Lake, the brackish, absurdly photogenic lake in a karst bowl that you reach via a short stair climb, and the Twin Lagoons, where warm and cold layers blur past your mask. Divers get the real prize: a fleet of Japanese WWII wrecks sunk in 1944 sits at recreational depths, and two-tank wreck dives run $80-95. Above water, climb Mt Tapyas's 700 steps at sunset for the view over the bay's islands. Dorms cost $10-16, and the harbourfront grills do whole fish with rice for $4-5.
From Coron, ferries continue to Manila (overnight, $25-35) or you can fly out of Busuanga airport.
Practical notes
December to May is the dry season; November and May are the value sweet spots. Boats cancel in rough weather with zero apology, so pad your schedule. Budget $40-55 a day plus the expedition splurge, carry cash (El Nido's ATMs queue long and empty fast), and get PhilHealth-free travel insurance that covers boats and diving. Palawan runs on island time — arrive already surrendered to it.