Updated November 20, 2022
This is the thirteenth in a series of reviews of the best dive resort locations worldwide. In this post, the focus is El Nido, Palawan, Philippines.
In addition to this series on dive resort locations, the best worldwide liveaboard dive locations and services are reviewed in their own series. To check them out, or others in this series, click on Liveaboards / Resorts on the menu at the top and choose a title from the list.
Have you ever been diving in El Nido before? If so, I’d love to know about your experience. What dive shop or liveaboard did you use? Which dive spots are the best and what are the conditions there regarding the visibility, current, water temperature, sealife attractions, etc.? Please post your response in the comments section at the bottom and we’ll all learn something we can use.
Scuba Diving in El Nido
Location
El Nido referred to by many as the most naturally beautiful island beach vacation area in the country, is situated on Bacuit Bay in northern Palawan Province. The jurisdiction of the township includes the 45 islands of the Bacuit Archipelago. It is known as a more or less laid-back place to relax and take in the scenery, beach activities, island hopping and enjoy the many restaurants and bars, the friendly townspeople, and the service of one of the many resorts or hotels.
Transportation
El Nido is served by Lio Airport, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) away, with daily flights from Manila, Cebu, Boracay, and Puerto Princesa.
Unfortunately, the bus or van available covering the 238 km (149 miles) from Puerto Princesa takes 5-6 hours.
From Lio Airport a trike will get you to El Nido town in about 20 minutes.
Environmental Protection
Since 1983 the area including the Bacuit Archipelago has been protected, allowing the marine environment to flourish. There is a biodiverse-rich coral reef system with a lot of schooling fish, pelagics, invertebrates, and macro life. Around a dozen dive shops provide services around the bay. Most of the best sites take 30 minutes to an hour to reach by boat.
Weather
Unlike most of the Philippines, El Nido does not have a monsoon season, making scuba diving more comfortably possible year-round. December to May is the dry season and from June to November the wet but without major wind. From March to May the ocean surface is smoothest.
Temperature
Annually the average daily high air temperature is in a narrow range from 27-31°C (80-87°F). From December to March the range for water temperature is 24-26°C (75-79°F). From April to November it is 26-29°C (79-84°F). Probably the most thermal protection you would need would be a 3 mm wetsuit.
Visibility
Visibility is variable. From March to May it runs from 10-30 meters (35-100 feet), from June to November from 10-15 meters (35-50 feet), and is at its worst from December to February at 3-10 meters (10-35 feet). Unfortunately, the bad visibility corresponds with the major tourist season.
Selected Popular El Nido Dive Sites
South Miniloc Island – also known as Biet Point, a triangular reef that descends into a channel between two islands with a sandy bottom and rocks, 5-43 meters (15-140 feet), big field of cabbage coral, pufferfish, schools of yellow snappers, chevron barracuda, occasional bonito, manta and eagle rays, calm, sheltered area good for open water training dives and snorkeling
Tagbao Island – also known as Tres Marias, off the northwestern point of Miniloc Island, 3 reefs between two islands, lots of reef fish and corals, an endemic species of angelfish, shallow for snorkeling and beginners
North Rock – single rock with sloping reef from 12-30 meters (40-100 feet), pristine coral fans, batfish, barracuda, pelagics, two species of jacks, glassfish covered pinnacle, a small swim-through to a mini-gully, hard and soft corals including table corals, blacktip reef sharks deeper, advanced level
South to West Entalula – drift often runs south to west, south side a shallow slope from 4-21 meters (13-70 feet), turtles, schooling fish, west side a wall to 35 meters (116 feet), electric clams, frogfish, scorpionfish, flamboyant cuttlefish, Pegasus fish, ghost pipefish, turtles, marble rays, reef sharks, all levels
Dilumacad Reef and Tunnel – sloping reef of four to five healthy reef sections separated by sandy areas, from 5-43 meters (16 – 140 feet), at 10-15 meters (35-50 feet) is a 35 meter (115 feet) long L-shaped tunnel leading to a central cavern, several ceiling holes, small fish, crabs, lobster and pipefish within, something for all levels
Nat Nat Beach (Cadlao Island) – shallow coral reef with sandy patches, good macro with seahorses, nudibranchs, Spanish dancers, hermit crabs, for beginners, good night dive
For other posts about Philippines diving, please click on these:
- Scuba Diving Romblon Philippines
- Scuba Diving Camiguin Philippines Review
- Scuba Diving Siquijor Island Philippines Review
- Scuba Diving Dumaguete Philippines Review
- Philippines Puerto Princesa Scuba Diving Review
- Best Diving Philippines Visayas Liveaboards
- Philippines Moalboal Scuba Diving Review
- Best Liveaboard Scuba Diving Philippines (Malapascua and the Visayas)
- Best Diving Bohol Philippines – Panglao Island Resorts
- Best Liveaboard Diving – Tubbataha Reefs National Park
- Best Coron Wrecks & Apo Reef Liveaboards
- Best Scuba Diving Philippines Subic Bay Wrecks
- Best Scuba Diving Puerto Galera Philippines
- Best Scuba Diving Holidays Boracay Philippines
- Best Scuba Diving Philippines Sogod Bay
- Philippines Best Diving Mactan Island
- Best Philippines Diving Bacuit Bay El Nido
- Best Diving Philippines Anilao Batangas
- Best Diving Reviews Anda Bohol
- Best Scuba Diving Resorts Malapascua
El Nido Hotels & Dive Shops
Currently, none of the major liveaboard yachts cruising the Philippines make trips to Bacuit Bay. Fortunately, there are a number of resorts and hotels in El Nido ranging from budget to luxury. Several of them are equipped with dive shops. Otherwise, there are a dozen or more quality diving operations nearby. This website is a good source for the available options and can arrange a booking:
El Nido Photos
With the macro life, beautiful, diverse coral reef, and lots of fish, there are many excellent photo opportunities. For information and reviews of diving cameras, click here:
Scuba Diving Trip Insurance
A cushion for emergencies provides peace of mind when on vacation. I recommend this diving insurance as they have worldwide coverage and provide scuba divers quality insurance and medical assistance service.
Feedback and Comments
I hope you found this post on El Nido scuba diving interesting and useful. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to share them in the comments section. I’d love to know of any experience you have diving there. If there is no comments section directly below, click here: >>comments<<
Hello there,
Thank you for allowing me to comment on your site.
First I would like to appreciate the great effort you applied on your site, I have gone through it and find it interesting and useful for me. Your site is well detailed as to the weather, temperature, visibility and protected environment.
Can you please help me on selecting the best island that I can visit in the Phillipines for a vacation of 3 days? Can I get some of the relative expenses required for a visit in Bacuit? How can I learn to dive?
Personally I like like traveling a lot yearly I always have a vacation offered by my company with a free air ticket as I work with airlines, I would like to visit and actually my plan is to visit the Phillipines as I hear there are a lot of beautiful islands and fun.
I really appreciate your effort applied in your site
Thank you
Matthew
Hi Matthew,
Thanks a lot for your interest and kind comments.
With a flight right into El Nido, a 3 day vacation there is a good idea. Some of the locations in the Philippines have some significant travel time to and from the airport. In El Nido that round trip is one hour. Also, El Nido has the beach activities, island hopping and night life to make it a packed time frame of interesting things to do.
For accommodation rates, go to the link under El Nido Accommodations toward the bottom of the post. Hotels are available from $10-15/night on up.
If you would like to become a certified diver, the basic open water diver class takes about 4 days and includes some study, 5 shallow water classes to learn the skills and 4 open water dives to practice the skills and have a supervised introduction to the undersea world. You can take a class like this in many places including El Nido and the other resorts and a great many of the liveaboards that I review here on my site. Near where you live there also could well be a suitable place. I suggest you browse the different locations and see if there are any that attract you. If you would like some help to find a good spot for you to do it, please let me know. The price of the course runs from $350-$500.
Let me know what you end up doing. I hope to hear you do some diving soon.
Best regards,
Joe
Beautiful write-up of the Bacuit Bay dive opportunities. It is good to know that they don’t have a monsoon season so that diving can be done year around. I suppose the long bus ride keeps El Nido from being over run by vacationers. I have had the experience of riding a Rabbit Lines bus from Manila heading north to Olongapo back in the 70’s.
Hi Glen,
Thanks for your kind comments.
I’ve been on that run from Manila to Olongapo many times on Philippine Rabbit and some of the other lines. They are much better these days and there is a Japanese built highway off of NLEX directly over to Olongapo from Angeles City. From Manila, without a lot of traffic, it’s 2 and a half to 3 hours or less to Olongapo now.
As for El Nido, as I said in my post, you can fly into the airport right there in El Nido and have a 30 minute ride from the airport to town. I wouldn’t do the ride up from Puerto Princessa unless I already happened to be doing a tour from there. El Nido is out of the way enough, though, that you don’t get over run by tourists there very often. It’s a nice relaxing place for a vacation.
Please let me know if I can help you with any arrangements or questions.
Best regards,
Joe
Its another interesting post from my favourite writer about another beautiful destinaton, El Nido, Palawan, Philippines. I’ve been to the Philippines once as a baby with my family. I was too young to have any memory of the vacation but I was shown the pictures of the amazing beauty. I really have to find a way to get back over. I’m trying to organize it so I can get to El Nido, perhaps in the Spring. I’ll let you know of my plans.
Hi again, zuchii,
That’s good news. Please keep me abreast of your plans.
If you want any advice about dive shops or accommodations, please let me know.
Best regards,
Joe
Hi Joe,
I’m thinking of going to El Nido to do some diving and I’m wondering if the dive quality is up to par with Lembongan/Penida in Bali? My friend wants to do kitesurfing and it is hard to find a good dive/kiting combo. But if the diving in El Nido is only ok, then I’ll probably go diving elsewhere.
Best regards,
Kenneth
Hi Kenneth,
Thanks for your interest and questions. I would say that both locations have outstanding diving while not being the top locations in their respective countries. My judgment is that the reef and marine life in El Nido is at least on the level of Lembongan/Penida. Otherwise, the variety of locations to explore around the islands in El Nido and the social scene make it a good choice. I have spent a lot more time in the Philippines and in Palawan, than in Bali, so tend to be a bit prejudiced, however.
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Joe