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Blog - Palawan, Philippines: Is It a Must-see or Can I Skip It?
The province of Palawan extends across the western Philippines and in recent years has become a focal point for international tourists and is one of the most popular destinations in Southeast Asia.
This is largely due to the spectacular beauty of the natural landscapes, featuring exceptionally beautiful seas, spectacular sea stacks, captivating tropical nature, and sparsely populated or even uninhabited islands. For this reason, we also offer tours focusing solely on Palawan. At the same time, we also have tours of Palawan plus other Philippine destinations. And, we also have tours of the Philippines that do not include Palawan.
El Nido, with its stunning lagoons and hidden beach, undoubtedly is the most popular destination in Palawan. Foto: Tropical Experience.
What is Palawan? Where is it? What to see in Palawan?
Palawan is a rather large Philippine province. It is located in the central-western part of the country, halfway between the West Philippine Sea and the Sulu Sea.
The most famous destinations in Palawan are Puerto Princesa (with its Underground River), El Nido, and Coron, also other more niche and off-the-beaten-path destinations, such as Port Barton and Balabac.
Coron is sometimes mistakenly referred to as separate from Palawan, being part of a group of islands to the north, separated from the larger island (the Calamian Islands). However, Coron is actually part of the province of Palawan – at least administratively – and rivals El Nido: these two are the most popular and sought-after destinations. It's not rare that we're being asked, "Which is better, El Nido or Coron?"
Over the years, a certain misunderstanding has also arisen, given that many travel magazines have referred to Palawan as "the most beautiful island in the world." However, this is somewhat reductive, because we're talking about an entire Philippine province (the largest), made up of some 1,780 islands. The main island is Palawan, but ironically, the most beautiful landscapes are found on the other smaller islands, which adds to the confusion.
So, by referring to "the island of Palawan," we are including only a part of it. If we refer to “Palawan Province” then we are talking about all the 1780 islands.
Now, let’s see if Palawan is worth visiting.
The location of Palawan Province in the Philippines. The whole province is made by 1780 islets around the main island of Palawan. Image: Tropical Experience.
The most famous destinations in Palawan. The first 4 (El Nido, Port Barton, Puerto Princesa and Balabac) are located in the main island, yet in their territory there are countless smaller islands which are the main local attraction. Image: Tropical Experience.
Before the hype, it was very common to take tours of the Philippines without Palawan.
Until about a decade ago, only a few of the Philippine travel itineraries found in travel magazines, blogs, or tour packages included Palawan’s destinations. It was normal like that.
Over time, on one hand, Palawan's breathtaking beauty has come to light, thanks largely to a growing word of mouth among travelers enraptured by this province's spectacular nature and its crystal-clear seas. On the other hand, marketing and organized tourism have also kicked in: within a decade, from an active and admittedly niche destination, Palawan started to get many resorts, restaurants and establishments, while domestic flights multiplied. Generally, the tourist capacity of increasingly popular destinations like El Nido, Coron, and Puerto Princesa have increased a lot through the recent years.
In 2025, Palawan province welcomed more than 2.5 million visitors, compared to just 500,000 in 2010. There are no precise data from earlier periods, but some sources cite around only 100,000 annual arrivals in 2000.
This doesn't mean Palawan that has already become over-touristy, but it has certainly received unprecedented attention, making it a top-tier destination in Southeast Asia.
Visiting the Puerto Princesa Underground River. Photo: Tropical Experience.
One of the many small beaches in the Bacuit Bay, the bay of El Nido. Photo: Tropical Experience.
The town of Port Barton is the most rustic destinations, ideal for those that prefer a simple and peaceful setting. Photo: Tropical Experience.
Coron is another fantastic place, located in the northernmost part of the Province, in the archieplago of the Calamian Islands, separated from the main island of Palawan. Photo: Tropical Experience.
Palawan is indeed a beautiful Philippine destination, but not the only one. Let's look at some alternatives.
Palawan is often referred to as "the most beautiful island in the world" (although, remember, the province of Palawan is actually made up of over 1,000 islands surrounding a main island). Travel+Leisure magazine named it as such in 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2020, and it ranks high on the list almost every time. The Puerto Princesa Underground River was included in the list of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. Entalula Beach in El Nido was named the most beautiful beach in the world in 2026 in the World’s 50 beaches ranking, and we could go on forever.
Yet, there are many other destinations in the Philippines worthy of attention, alternatively to Palawan:
Boracay
Boracay Island has repeatedly competed in the same rankings of the world's most beautiful islands, just as its 4km-long White Beach has topped the rankings of the most beautiful beaches.
Iloilo
Iloilo City became the first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in the Philippines and is the gateway to other wonderful places, such as the Gigantes Islands, which Forbes has listed among the 20 most beautiful places in the world.
Bicol
The Bicol region continues to attract new visitors thanks to its designation as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and Mayon Volcano is often referred to as the "world's most perfect volcanic cone".
Bohol
In 2023, the sprawling island province of Bohol became the Philippines' first UNESCO Global Geopark, thanks to its 150-million-year geological history, which has made it a destination to witness iconic landscapes such as the Chocolate Hills.
Siquijor
Siquijor - known as Isla del Fuego - with its beautiful reefs and its magical practices have been featured in extensive articles by international newspapers such as the New York Times and the BBC
Camiguin
The New York Times included the tiny island-province of Camiguin in its list of 52 destinations to visit in 2026.
You can discover it with our Tour F "Volcanic Snorkeling".
Bacolod
The province of Bacolod – the Sugarland of the Philippines – has become a global culinary capital and the host of the Terra Madre event for the Asia-Pacific region, organized by Slow Food. Bacolod is part of our Tour C :"The Heart of the Philippines".
Vigan
The preserved colonial city of Vigan, in the north of the country, already a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was included in the list of "New 7 Wonder Cities" and in the list of 25 places to visit in Asia by Travel + Leisure. You can discover it with our Land Tours in Northern Luzon.
Cebu
The province of Cebu also holds prominent positions in the same rankings that featured Palawan in recent years, both for its sea beds in the southern part and for the idyllic islands in the north, such as Bantayan and Malapascua.
Banaue
The Banaue Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were included in National Geographic's list of 10 places that deserve more visitors, and the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded it the Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Award for the excellence of its unique hydrological system.
And the list could go on forever! The Philippines is made up of 7,641 islands!
Now, let's go back to Palawan.
You haven't truly visited "The Philippines" if you've only visited Palawan: the geographic reasons
Palawan undoubtedly is a special place, and like all special places, it cannot be representative of a general context. That is, Palawan has a landscape and a human context that are quite different from the rest of the Philippines.
Let's start from a naturalistic perspective. Palawan's landscape is not representative of the rest of the Philippines, primarily for geological reasons. The rest of the Philippine landmass is the result of more "recent" volcanic activity: it is therefore still a very active and evolving environment, part of the Pacific Ocean's "Ring of Fire." The province of Palawan, however, has more ancient origins and originates from the Eurasian Plate, which meant that millions of years ago it was connected to the southern coast of China. This is also why, for example, Palawan has very little seismic activity compared to the rest of the Philippines (see Rappler).
And so, Palawan's rocks are much older, contain older fossils and such metals like mercury, nickel, and various rare earth elements that are not as widespread in the rest of the Philippines.
One of the islets around Coron. Photo: Tropical Experience.
El Nido town and its port seen from above. Photo: Tropical Experience.
This has also influenced the local flora and fauna: those of Palawan are much more similar to those of Borneo and, in general, those of the mainland Asia. For this reason, marine landscapes similar to those of Palawan can be found in Thailand (Phi Phi Islands), Vietnam (Ha Long Bay), and China (Guilin). That said, Palawan is still distinct from these areas thanks to its particularly crystalline seas and rich marine life.
Such seas, moreover, have separated and isolated the landmass of Palawan for millions of years, which now supports unique species found nowhere else in the world, such as the Palawan peacock, the Palawan bearcat, the Palawan leopard cat, the Philippine pangolin, and many others (further information here). The same goes for the flora, with unique species such as the local carnivorous plants Nepenthes palawanensis and Nepenthes deaniana (for more information, look here).
Palawan Does Not Represent the Entire Philippines: Demographic and Historical Reasons
The second difference between Palawan and the rest of the country is strictly human and cultural, and also stems from Palawan's sparse population. The Philippines is a highly populated country: in 2024, the population density of the Philippines was recorded as 376 people per square kilometer (link). In the province of Palawan, the 2020 census recorded only 64 people per square kilometer.
Historically, Palawan's population was only 30,000 in 1902, when the Americans conducted the first census (info here), compared to 1.2 million today. Still, this is a relatively small number compared to the 110 million people who populate the Philippines.
The spectacular landscapes of the Big Lagoon in El Nido, from our YouTube channel.
Palawan's “pros” are truly numerous, as we've shown you extensively, and they lie in its fantastic and exceptional nature. And perhaps it's precisely this exceptionality that represents its "cons": objectively, Palawan is not a culturally significant place, or at least not a comprehensive one for gaining a complete idea of the country. The historical traces—aside from some purely museum-like elements—are in fact only related to recent history, such as the traces of World War II in Puerto Princesa or the leper colony of Culion (that you can visit with one of our tours - watch the video here), or small Spanish-era forts like that of Taytay.
The differences in landscape, fauna, and humanity between Palawan and the rest of the Philippines therefore tell us something important: visiting only Palawan cannot be considered "the Philippines". It means visiting a small part of the Philippines, albeit a significant one, but not representative of the entire country. Above all, you cannot claim to have had a cultural experience of the Philippines as a country, to have learned about its culinary variety, traditions, and people, if you have only been to Palawan. This is true when you visit any other big and diverse country anyway.
So, what should you do? In our opinion, surely it is worth visiting Palawan if it appeals to you. Yet even better if combined with other destinations!
Don't give in to the so-called "Fear of Missing Out" (FOMO). If Palawan's landscapes have enchanted you on Instagram, there's every reason to visit them in person, and it's no coincidence that several of our tours include destinations like Puerto Princesa, Port Barton, Modessa Island, El Nido, and Coron. We include them both because we believe they're beautiful places and because so many of you ask us about them.
But if, looking at our list of the most beautiful destinations in the Philippines, you're more drawn to other places, don't be afraid to make a different choice, even leaving Palawan out if your priorities are different! There are so many exciting places that aren't like Palawan simply because they're different, neither better nor worse. Don't be afraid to explore niche destinations; they may be a little less “organized”, but they still offer many authentic and genuine surprises.
An awesome compromise? Explore Palawan in combination with other destinations! You'll find this proposal in our standard tours, and you can even ask us to customize one just for you!
If you enjoyed this article, you may use it citing the sources (Samuele Falcone, Tropical Experience Travel Services - experiencetropical@gmail.com).
Palawan has a lot to offer also inland and under the surface: here at the cave complex known as Hundred Caves. Photo: Tropical Experience.
A wild road around Port Barton Photo: Tropical Experience.
The iconic entrance of the Big Lagoon in El Nido. Photo: Tropical Experience.
Corals in Coron. Photo: Tropical Experience.