I had heard there was no ferry from El Nido to Coron, we would have to travel back to Cebu then fly to Coron. Definitely not true! To help you avoid the confusion and get a clear idea of how to get to Coron from El Nido I wrote this short blog post.
HOW TO GET FROM EL NIDO TO CORON
There are two ferries leaving daily from El Nido to Coron. One ferry takes 6 hours and the faster ferry takes 3-4 hours. I took the slow ferry, which turned out to be a pretty comfortable journey.
The link to book this ticket online is here
THE FERRY
The slow ferry is a wooden longboat capable of seating 80. There are benches on either side of the boat with padded seats, windows and you can sit outside or on the roof. The day I traveled there was only 20 of us so we could sleep on the padded seats. It wasn’t very rough despite a decent swell in the ocean.
We were served a meal of chicken, rice, and vegetables. I often get seasick and up until receiving the food I had actually been able to lay down and sleep which is unusual.
Normally I need to watch the horizon to keep from getting sick. I thought twice about eating and ruining the trip but went for it anyway. The food was really good and didn’t upset my stomach at all. Huge win.
We were able to pick up some 3G out in the middle of the ocean and post some Instagram stories which were really important..
The fast ferry arrives in 3-4 hours and reportedly has air conditioning. However, it is also 400-600 pesos or $8-12USD extra. That might not seem like much but it is two nights of accommodation in El Nido or 6-7 Mango smoothies. Priorities.
EL NIDO TO CORON COST
Slow Ferry: 1300 pesos or $25 USD
Fast Ferry: 1700 pesos or $33 USD
EL NIDO TO CORON BOOKING COMPANY
You can also book a roundtrip if you know you are headed back to El Nido. Therefore all of this information is also relevant for the Coron to El Nido ferry journey. Once in Coron you can also travel with Montenegro Lines company back to Mindoro.
The crew were all really friendly, cooked us a great lunch and helped us on and off the boat. We left on time and arrived on time in what was a great journey from El Nido to Coron.
Anisa Hadiputri
Thursday 17th of October 2019
Hmm, I used the link to purchase tickets online but only managed to find tickets for the fast ferry instead. Does anybody here know how I could purchase the slow ferry instead?
Tammy Wilkings
Saturday 10th of August 2019
Hi Jackson. Question for you. We are headed to Philippines from Canada to meet friends who moved to KL. We are a family of 4; kids 7&9(active boys). We have booked all bar the first 8 nights. We're having a hard time deciding on where to go. Been told by many we should book accommodation and travel as its Dec 17-24 thats left unbooked. We land in Manila. We are thinking either Bantayan and Malapascua Islands via Cebu. Or Malapascua and Bohol. Although we have also looked at Manjuyod Sandbar and Apo Island. Not sure what to add to latter destination (likely Bohol). For a family, what would you suggest? Is there even a wrong choice? We are going to Boracay, El nido and Coron after. Thx
TheLegend
Monday 11th of March 2019
actually ive taken this fast ferry and been to el nido many times by plane with Air Swift , by van from Puerto Princessa via CebuAir , ive been to Coron by plane from Boracay with Air Juan . The fast ferry is not that reliable as indicatedby you. ive seen it be cancelled because of ocean conditions when there was no clouds in the sky because a windy day , in Coron it wasnt windy but out inthe Sulu Ocean it can be a different thing. im not sure i could do a 4.5 hour trip again, your confined like being stuck in a capsule in loud noise up and down that feels like a 18 hour flight across the pacific. seats are ok but not comfortable enough to sleep sideways. if your a backpacker with no worries about class and comfort, than this might be your thing. ive seen many french nationals and italians walk off and take the wooden boat that takes much longer. what i did like about the fast ferry is that its air condition, very cold inside, and its the only direct way to get to el nido instead of a extremely expensive plane ticket and a whole day wasted getting stuck in manila airport. if you want to fly which i did thereafter on a different vacation. fly seat sale coron to manila on cebu air $50us and swift air to El Nido for $55 on selected days or swift air for $65 seat sale. these type of seat sale have to be book between febuary-march10 for the following months. cebu air will have two for one for flights anywhere including australia beginning of march and flights must be taken July1 to Sept1 but thats also the rainy season in the philippines and winter in australia
Ryan G
Sunday 10th of March 2019
(correction: by "we booked it via phone" I mean via their website, using a mobile phone. It's clunky, and you have to pan around after each submit and look for the magical "Confirm" box and click it, but it works.)
Malcolm
Monday 11th of March 2019
if you change the time and date and match it to the philippines time and date , it connects better to do the bookings, many filipino servers are not ISO international standards so their system has a tough time when it comes to booking. even with cebuair and Pal website when doing a booking especially authenticating a credit card can take up a whole minute that feels forever. its better to book via their facebook website and its in real time chating, theycharge you by paypal . at first i didnt feel comfortable but then after the booking and confirming another day, i was ok with it. we were extremely happy on the day we pickup our tickets and the same day we boarded because the fast ferry was sold out and it had a waitlist of 80 including running two fast ferry that day because the previous day the ferry was cancelled.
Ryan G
Sunday 10th of March 2019
I highly recommend Air Swift. We flew from Coron to El Nido for $65 each (U.S.). The route is fairly new (as of 3/2019) and you won't find much about it online. Many fellow travelers told us that the fast ferry is heavily air-conditioned (but you can't go outside), and it's 4 hours of rocking and being battered by heavy waves (it's not that big of a ship). So when someone mentioned the flight, we checked it out, and we were thrilled with it. You can book online at Air Swift's site.
Malcolm Hebert
Monday 11th of March 2019
very true statement . ive done. its ok for first time to experience, you can book the fast ferry on Facebook and pay by paypal which we did. I highly recommend air swift . really good airline very pleased. the fast ferry on facebook is https://m.facebook.com/montenegroinc/ word of advise, if your finding hard to book on Philippines websites , remember to set your date and time as the phillipine time zone . their servers are not ISO license thus why its not compatible with booking online, but with facebook , just ask to book via facebook . for Air Swift its better to book via El Nido Boutique Cafe on their facebook website also. they offer guaranteed heavier luggage allowances and you can make changes free, if you use airswift website , any changes must be made in person including adding prepaid heavier luggage than 10kg . The owner of the El Nido Cafe are from Europe that live in El Nido , their boutique cafe is half restaurant and have travel desk. and the food at their restaurant is extremely good with real lettuce which they grow their own, Lettuce in the philllipes is rare since most places like El Nido uses cabbage on tneir burgers, Yike!!