Bacuit Bay is not sold as a menu of islands. Island-hopping is organised by the local boat operators as a set of lettered day tours, and travellers who arrive expecting to choose stops find they have to choose a letter instead — usually without being told what is in it. Here is what each letter covers, what actually separates them, and where the boat day meets the road transfers at either end.
El Nido is the gateway to the Bacuit archipelago, which takes in 45 islands and islets — Cadlao, the big one facing the town, rises to about 640 metres. The whole municipality is a managed resource protected area, so boat access is regulated rather than open, and the day tours come as fixed groupings instead of a build-your-own list.
So each letter is a different corner of the bay, not a quality tier. Choosing a tour is really choosing a direction out of the harbour.
The lagoons
Known for
The postcard tour, and the busiest of the four. The lagoons are entered by kayak or small boat rather than by the main outrigger, so it is the most active day of the set.
If you are only doing one boat day in El Nido, this is the one most travellers pick.
Caves, sandbars and the cone island
Known for
The quietest of the four in most conditions, and the strongest mix of landforms rather than lagoons. Snake Island is a sand spit, not a snake habitat — the name is about the shape the tide reveals.
Tide-dependent: both the sandbar and Cudugnon Cave are best at low water, so the running order moves with the sea.
The dramatic west side
Known for
The most exposed of the four, out towards Matinloc and Tapiutan — which is why it is the tour most often re-routed when the sea is up. Locals commonly rate it alongside Tour A.
Best for confident swimmers: several stops are reached through a gap in the rock rather than off a beach.
The Cadlao side, closest to town
Known for
It works the water around Cadlao Island directly in front of town, so it spends the least time of the four in transit — and is the least crowded of the headline tours for exactly that reason.
The practical choice for a short day, a late start, or families who do not want a long crossing.
One caveat that applies to all four: the groupings are set locally and adjusted from time to time, and individual operators drop or swap a stop for tide, weather or site closures. Treat the lists above as what each letter is known for, and confirm the day’s final stop list with your operator.
Every tour starts and ends at the El Nido waterfront, so where you sleep decides how the morning goes. A stay in the town proper or Corong-Corong is a short hop; a resort further along the coast is a road leg before the boat leg. And getting into position the night before matters more than people expect — a boat day pairs badly with a same-day long-distance arrival, whether that is the overland run north from Puerto Princesa or a flight into Lio Airport (ENI).
It is also worth knowing what is not on the water. Nacpan Beach is north of the town centre and reached by road, so it is not a stop on any lettered tour — it is a land day, and a good one to put between two boat days.
We publish what each lettered tour is known for and how it fits around the transfers, because that is the part travellers cannot find in one place. We do not publish tour prices, environmental fee amounts, departure times, boat capacities or operator names — those are seasonal, operator-specific and set by parties other than us, and a figure published today would mislead someone travelling next month.
What we can do is put the day together. We charter boats through licensed Bacuit Bay operators, so a tour and the road transfers either side sit in one quote instead of three separate bookings.
They are four different corners of Bacuit Bay, not four quality tiers. Tour A is the lagoons — Big Lagoon, Small Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and Seven Commandos Beach. Tour B is caves and sandbars — Snake Island, Pinagbuyutan, Cudugnon Cave, Cathedral Cave and Entalula Beach. Tour C is the exposed west side — Helicopter Island, Hidden Beach, Secret Beach, Matinloc Shrine and Talisay Beach. Tour D works the Cadlao Island side closest to town — Cadlao Lagoon, Paradise Beach, Pasandigan Cove, Natnat, Ipil and Bukal beaches. The groupings are set locally and operators adjust stops for tide and weather, so confirm the day’s list with your operator.
If you are only doing one, Tour A is the one most travellers pick, because the lagoons are the images that brought them to El Nido in the first place. Tour C is commonly rated alongside it and is the more dramatic of the two. Tour B is the quietest and the best mix of caves and sandbars, and Tour D is the closest to town and the easiest day. There is no ranking that holds for everyone — pick by what you want to look at and how much time on the water you want.
Yes, and it is common to do two or three on consecutive days since each letter covers a different part of the bay. Budget one full day per tour and do not stack a boat day against a long-distance arrival or departure. If you want a land day in between, Nacpan Beach is reached by road rather than by boat and makes a natural break.
No. Nacpan lies north of the town centre on mainland Palawan and is reached by road, so it is not a stop on any of the lettered Bacuit Bay tours. It fits a land day instead, and the same vehicle can collect you from an El Nido hotel or Lio Airport (ENI) and return after the beach visit.
Individual stops and whole tours can be re-routed or called off when the sea is up, and Tour C is the one most exposed to it because it runs out towards Matinloc and Tapiutan. Tide matters too — Snake Island’s sandbar and Cudugnon Cave on Tour B are both best at low water. Leave a spare day in an El Nido stay rather than booking a flight tight behind your only boat day.
Every tour leaves from the El Nido waterfront, so it depends where you are staying. The town proper and Corong-Corong are close by; a resort further along the coast means a road leg first. That transfer, along with your ENI or Puerto Princesa (PPS) arrival, is what we quote — and we can charter the boat day itself through licensed Bacuit Bay operators so the whole thing sits in one booking.
We do not publish tour prices, environmental fee amounts or departure times. They are set by the local operators and the municipality, they move season to season, and a figure published today would mislead someone travelling next month. Send us your dates, your El Nido accommodation and your group size and we will come back with a quote covering the transfers and, if you want it, a chartered boat day.
Send us your El Nido dates, your accommodation and your group, and we will come back with the private transfers that hold the trip together — PPS or Lio (ENI) arrivals, the run to and from the waterfront, a Nacpan land day if you want one — plus the chartered boat day through a licensed Bacuit Bay operator.
Free, no obligation, and no payment to ask. If a leg does not make sense on your dates, we will say so rather than sell it to you.