The story of a place
Limestone islands, clear-water bays and a much larger island world.
Palawan is a broad collection of experiences. El Nido and the Coron area are known for dramatic limestone and sheltered waters, while Puerto Princesa offers a different cave-and-river landscape. These places are not interchangeable and should not be treated as one short excursion.
Choose a region and the kind of boat or land-based experience that appeals to you. The quality of a visit depends on sea conditions, responsible operators and the time available at individual stops. An itinerary with fewer destinations can leave more room for the landscape itself.
The essential experience
Make time for this.
Choose one coastal base and a carefully planned boat day, with time to enjoy a small number of places well.
Explore the highlights
Look a little closer.
Palawan’s limestone cliffs meet clear-water bays and sheltered stretches of shoreline.
Limestone forms
Notice the relationship between steep rock and sheltered water.
Changing water colour
Depth, light and seabed create different views.
Island scale
The inhabited and working landscape belongs alongside the lagoons.
For the curious reader
History, landscape
and context.
Palawan is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area, with 14,649.73 km² (5,656.29 square miles). It is also at the crossroads of two island groups: Visayas and Luzon. The islands of Palawan stretch between Mindoro island in the northeast and Borneo in the southwest. It lies between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. The province is named after its largest island, Palawan Island, measuring 450 kilometres (280 mi) long, and 50 kilometres (31 mi) wide.
Background reading: an abridged extract from Palawan, by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and shortened for this guide. Retrieved 22 September 2026. Source revision ↗.
Turn curiosity into a visit
Plan your visit.
- Physical demands
- Boat access, swimming and optional uneven island walks.
- The practical detail
- Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Coron require real transfer time; a map label does not make them adjacent.
Before you set off.
Your ticks stay in this browser.Through the seasons
A place in the world
Find your bearings.
Select the pin to open a detailed map. Use Closer look to see the surrounding region. Drag to move a zoomed map.
Map: Natural EarthA closer view.
Load the local map to explore the surrounding area. Map tiles require an internet connection.
- 1PalawanOpen directions ↗ · Location reference ↗
A sense of place
In pictures.
Keep looking.
10 photographs, with full-size views and individual credits.
Go a little further
Sources & further reading.
The UNESCO link names the specific inscribed property. A broad entry in this project can extend beyond that property’s boundaries.
