El Nido vs Coron, which is better?
There are many opinions about which one of these areas of Palawan is better and which one is not to be missed. This guide is based on my personnel experiences and which one I think is the better option if you had to choose one over the other. Comparing El Nido vs Coron and which one is better is not as cut and dry as you would think. They both have their Pros and Cons. In this article, I’ll go over the differences and give you my pick at the end of the article.
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Similarities between El Nido Vs Coron
Both El Nido and Coron have beautiful pristine waters, amazing lagoons, white-sand beaches, and limestone rock formations that peek out of the ocean. Both offer amazing group boat tours or private boat tours. They both have a good amount of options for restaurants and they also have small but similar nightlife options. Both El Nido and Coron are in the Province of Palawan, Philippines. With El Nido being toward the Northern tip of the main island of Palawan, and Coron is to the North off from the main island of Palawan.
Most people flying to the Philippines from another country will fly through Manila International Airport before reaching their first destination. Manila International is the largest and busiest airport in the Philippines followed by Cebu International Airport.
Round 1: Getting to Coron vs El Nido
The Philippines has a vast amount of islands and sometimes it can be a little tricky getting to some of the more exotic island within the country. This is because there are only so many airports and port cities close to these destination points. So often you will find yourself having to hop on a puddle jumper, then van shuttle, then get a local taxi, in this case it would be a tricycle.
Pros
Coron
- More flights options
- Ability to take a ferry from Manila
El Nido
- Airport is close to El Nido Town
- Another airport within 5hr drive
Cons
Coron
- Busanga Airport is about a 40 min drive to Coron Proper
El Nido
- El Nido's airport only has on carrier Airswift
- Limited flight schedules to and from El Nido's airport
- 2nd closest airport in Puerto Princesa is 5 hrs drive
- Limited options to get to El Nido by sea
Winner goes to Coron
Coron simply has more options in both air and sea. While the nearest airport Busuanga is 23kms away, it still has more airline carrier options and flight schedules. This simply makes getting to and from Coron easier.
Another thing to note is that there are not any swimming beaches in El Nido Town or Coron Town. You will have to venture a little bit out of town proper to find a beach at either.
Find ferry tickets between Coron and El nido on BookAway
Find great things to do in Coron and El Nido on Get Your Guide
Round 2: Getting around Coron Town vs El Nido Town
Both Coron and El Nido are relatively small cities. Neither has a beach in the town propers that you are able to swim in. Think of each town as a base with boat ports as a starting point to take an island-hopping boat tour.
Pros
Coron
- Tricycles are abundant and cheap ($1-3 USD)
- Variety of restaurants and cuisines
- Coron proper is very walkable
- Scooters are easy and cheap to rent ($10 USD per/day)
El Nido
- Tricycles are abundant and cheap ($1-3 USD)
- Variety of restaurants and cuisines
- El Nido proper is very walkable
- Scooters are easy and cheap to rent ($10 USD per/day)
- El Nido feels a little more compact and dense than Coron
- More swimable beaches close by
Cons
Coron
- Feels a little more spread out than El Nido
- Coron proper not as picturesque as El Nido proper
- Only one beach close to Coron Town Proper
El Nido
- No swimable beach in El Nido proper
Winner goes to El Nido
Although Coron and El Nido are both similar in size and amenities, I have to give El Nido the win in this section. Even though there are both easy to get around and both walkable, I felt El Nido edged out Coron just slightly in this category. Mostly because there are closer swimmable beaches near El Nido proper.
Round 3: Cost of Coron vs El Nido
Both Coron and El Nido are among the most popular travel destinations in the Philippines, and within the last five years tourism has increased significantly driving up prices. However, by Western standards, they are still relatively inexpensive travel destinations.
Pros vs Cons
For this, category I feel they are about the same. While the boat tours in my experience were a little more expensive in Coron than El Nido. This is because in Coron you have to pay an environmental fee for each island your visit because they were owned by different organizations, while in El Nido you just had to pay one environmental fee once even for different tours as long as you take the separate tours within a certain amount of time from each other. Yet In my experience, El Nido’s lodging accommodation was slightly higher. I feel like they average out about the same in my experience.
Winner goes to Both Coron and El Nido
Round 4: Quality of boat tours Coron vs El Nido
Both Coron and El Nido have an amazing and abundant selection of boat tours each destination offers both private and group tours. In my opinion, they are both equally as beautiful in slightly different ways. While I have heard by many that Coron is less crowded and touristy than El Nido, I didn't really have that experience. Or if I did it was not enough for me to notice the difference between the two.
Coron
- Siete Pecados
- Kayangan Lake
- Twin Lagoon
- Smith Beach
- Skeleton Wreck
- CYC Beach
El Nido
- Big Lagoon
- Secret Lagoon
- Shimizu Island
- 7 Commandos Beach
- Snake Island Sandbar
- Small Lagoon
Winner goes to El Nido
Even though very close in terms of quality and beauty of the tours, I personally felt the El Nido boat Tours were slightly better organized, in terms of environmental fee cost and in terms of ease to find boat tour operators. Also in my experience, I surprisingly found the boat tours a little cheaper in El Nido.
Round 5: Nightlife Coron vs El Nido
Both Coron and El Nido not too long ago were sleepy fishing towns at night. But in recent years they have experienced growth in tourism and that creates different opportunities for the local and foreign investors. Both cities are experiencing more businesses catering to tourists.
Winner goes to El Nido
This one was also hard for me to decide because I felt the nightlife options were very similar, and I experienced fun in both nightlife scenes. My reasoning for giving this one to El Nido is because I feel it is just a little more developed in terms of nightlife options but only slightly.
Conclusion on Coron vs El Nido and Which is Better?
So you want a definitive answer, right? That's why you came here and are still reading. Well, In my experience and opinion if you had to choose one, for me it would be El Nido. Of course, this is subjective, and you will find many other articles online that both agree and disagree with this opinion.
Final Thoughts
So if you are still on the fence on which one to choose. In my personal opinion, you can’t go wrong with choosing either one. If you have never been to either and you had to choose one, for me it would be El Nido, and that is with a very slight edge. With that being said you really can’t go wrong choosing one over the other.
I personally would go back to both given the chance. And although I do not scuba dive, I have heard the scuba diving is actually better in Coron. Since they are so close in comparison, you may want to choose based on the cost of flights, and where else you might be going within the Philippines. I would say if you missed one over the other you would not be missing that much because I felt they were so similar. If you can do both even better. If you do decide to do both they are about a 4-hour ferry ride away from each other.
Have you been to Coron or El Nido? If so leave a comment below. I’d like to hear your opinion on which you liked better.
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