El Nido Island Hopping ToursEl Nido Tour A: The Lagoon Route, Stop by Stop
El Nido Tour A is the lagoon route: Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and Seven Commandos Beach, six to seven hours for ₱1,200 to ₱1,500 on a shared bangka. Four stops, not the five most route sheets still print, because the Small Lagoon was moved onto a different route in 2018 and nobody updated the copy. The Big Lagoon is the reason this is the most booked day in Bacuit Bay, and it is also the reason you will be paying for a kayak.
Quick answer
El Nido Tour A runs four stops in six to seven hours for ₱1,200 to ₱1,500 as a shared joiner, leaving the town beach between 08:30 and 09:00. Budget about ₱500 more in cash on the day: the Big Lagoon charges roughly ₱200 to enter and a kayak is about ₱300, because engines are banned inside.
Key takeaways
- The four stops are Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and Seven Commandos Beach
- The Small Lagoon is not on this route and has not been since 2018, whatever the flyer says
- No shared Tour A is listed here, but the private speedboat at $81.84 covers it with the best of Tour C in one day
- Take an early boat: the Secret Lagoon entrance is one person wide and the whole fleet arrives inside the same hour
- The ₱400 eco fee is separate, paid once and good for ten days of island hopping across every route
- Tour A stays in sheltered water, so it runs on days the Tour C crossing is closed
The Four Stops on Tour A
Big Lagoon: Why You Paddle In
A channel of green water runs back about a kilometre between limestone walls that go straight up from the surface. Your bangka does not go in. Motors are banned past the mouth, so boats tie up outside and everyone transfers to a kayak or a paddleboard for the last stretch.
That costs money on the day: roughly ₱200 to enter the lagoon and about ₱300 for a kayak, which is per kayak rather than per person, so a couple splits it. Both are cash, collected at the mouth, and neither is optional if you want to see the thing you came for.
Paddling in takes about fifteen minutes. The bottom shifts from jade to clear over pale sand and the walls close in until the sky is a strip. The engine ban is why it stays quiet in there, and it is the single best argument for booking a boat that leaves early.
Secret Lagoon: The Queue Nobody Warns You About
The Secret Lagoon is a small pool sitting behind a rock wall, reached through a vertical crack barely wide enough for one person at a time. Inside it is maybe twenty metres across, shallow, and enclosed on every side.
The swim is two minutes. In high season the wait to get through the crack can be twenty, because every boat in the bay works the same schedule and they all arrive at the same stop within the same hour. There is no way around it other than being early or being on a charter that runs the route backwards.
Worth doing once. Not worth being at the back of the line for, which is why crews that leave the beach at 08:30 rather than 09:00 are quietly selling you a better day.
Shimizu Island: Lunch and the Reef
Shimizu is the eating stop on most Tour A boats. Crews pull in, set up a plank table under a tarp and cook while people swim: grilled fish, pork, rice, a salad and cut fruit, all in the ticket along with drinking water.
The snorkelling here is decent rather than exceptional. Coral heads sit off both ends of the beach in shallow water, with reef fish working them, and it is easy water for anyone who is not a confident swimmer. If snorkelling is the point of your trip, the reef at Helicopter Island on the Tour C route is a clear step up.
The island takes its name from a Japanese diver who died in the cave at its northern end, which crews mention and then move on from.
Seven Commandos Beach: The Easy One
A long strip of white sand backed by palms, with a small bar selling cold drinks and fresh coconuts in cash. It is the only stop on the route with anything for sale and the only one where you can simply sit.
This is where most Tour A boats finish, an hour or so before the run home, and it is the stop people are most likely to say they wish had been longer. The name comes from a story about seven soldiers who lived on the beach after the Second World War, which nobody has ever fully pinned down.
It can also be reached from town by tricycle and a short walk, which is worth knowing if you finish the tour wanting more of it.
What Tour A Costs on the Day
The Fees Nobody Quotes at Booking
Last verified August 2026, at ₱61.06 to the dollar. Nothing on that list takes a card and the collectors rarely carry change, so bring ₱100 and ₱500 notes rather than a ₱1,000.
All in, a Tour A day lands around ₱2,000 to ₱2,400 per person including the eco fee, which makes it the most expensive of the four routes once the extras are counted even though its headline price is the lowest. The full breakdown for every route sits on the El Nido island hopping tours comparison.
| Charge | Amount | Paid to | Optional? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joiner tour, walk-in | ₱1,200-1,500 ($20-25) | Operator office | No |
| Eco-Tourism Development Fee | ₱400 ($6.55), once, valid 10 days | Operator or guide | No |
| Big Lagoon entrance | About ₱200 ($3.30) | Site collector, cash | No |
| Kayak at the Big Lagoon | About ₱300 per kayak | Kayak concession, cash | In practice, no |
| Drinks at Seven Commandos | ₱50-150 each | Beach bar, cash | Yes |
Booking It, Given No Shared Tour A Is Listed Here
Every office on Calle Real and Rizal Street sells the joiner version at the standardised rate, and in the wet months you can walk in the evening before. From December to April the morning boats go two or three days ahead.
What this site lists instead is the private speedboat at $81.84, rated 4.8, which covers the Big Lagoon and the Tour A stops in the morning and then crosses for the best of Tour C in the afternoon. It is about three joiner tickets and it buys the two things a shared boat cannot sell you: a 07:30 departure and two routes in one day.
If you want a shared Tour A specifically, book it on the beach and put your money into an early departure rather than a fancier boat.
Tour A Against the Other Three Routes
Tour A has the lowest headline price of the four and the second highest real cost, because the Big Lagoon charges are compulsory rather than optional. Tour B is the only route with nothing to pay once you are on the water.
| Route | Joiner rate | Hours | Extra fees on the day | Sheltered? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tour A | ₱1,200-1,500 | 6-7 h | About ₱500: lagoon entrance plus kayak | Yes |
| Tour B | ₱1,300-1,500 | 6 h | None | Yes |
| Tour C | ₱1,400-1,800 | 7-8 h | About ₱200 at the Matinloc Shrine, optional | No, open crossing |
| Tour D | ₱1,200-1,400 | 6 h | About ₱800: two lagoons, two kayaks | Yes |
Should You Take Tour A?
If You have one day in El Nido and want the photograph
Tour A. The Big Lagoon is the image people come for, and the route stays in sheltered water so it rarely gets cancelled.
If Snorkelling is the reason you came
Take Tour C instead. Helicopter Island beats anything on this route, and Shimizu is a lunch stop with a reef attached.
If You specifically want the Small Lagoon
Book Tour D. It moved there in 2018 and no shared boat covers both lagoons in one morning.
If You are travelling with five or more people
Charter. A whole bangka works out cheaper per head than joiner tickets and lets you leave before the fleet.
If You have two days
Tour A and Tour C, with Tour A on the day with the worse forecast, because it is the one that still runs.
Practical Notes for the Day
What to Bring
Leave anything you would hate to lose on shore. Two of the four stops involve getting off the boat into water.
- Cash, about ₱1,000 beyond the tour price: eco fee, lagoon entrance, kayak, a drink at the last stop
- Reef-safe sunscreen and a rash guard, which works better than reapplying at sea
- A dry bag, because there is nowhere covered on a bangka and the bow takes spray
- Water shoes for the limestone at the lagoon landings
- Your own mask if you snorkel often, since the shared ones leak
- A refillable bottle: single-use plastic is banned across the protected area
Timing, Weather and the Stop That Moved
Boats leave the town beach between 08:30 and 09:00 and are back by mid-afternoon, six to seven hours door to door. The whole fleet moves on that clock, which is why the first stop of the day is crowded and the third is not.
Tour A works the sheltered northern half of Bacuit Bay, so it runs through most of the June to October monsoon while the open crossing to Matinloc is shut. Rain rarely stops a tour here. Wind does, and it stops the other routes first. If you want the detail on which months to book, the month-by-month season guide covers it.
One last thing about the route itself. Until November 2018 Tour A had five stops, with the Small Lagoon among them. Municipal Ordinance No. 101, passed on 27 November 2018, moved it to Tour D on carrying-capacity grounds. Guides, flyers and half the travel blogs online still list it here. If an operator promises you both lagoons in one morning, they are reading an eight-year-old itinerary.
Our Recommendation
Take It, and Take It Early
We would take Tour A on a first trip to El Nido without hesitating, and we would put Tour C on the second day. The Big Lagoon is worth the fees and the paddling, and the engine ban that makes it expensive is exactly what keeps it worth seeing.
Questions About Tour A
What does El Nido Tour A include?
The boat and crew, an English-speaking guide, a buffet lunch cooked on the beach, drinking water, a snorkel mask and a life jacket. Four stops: Big Lagoon, Secret Lagoon, Shimizu Island and Seven Commandos Beach. Not included: the ₱400 eco fee, the roughly ₱200 Big Lagoon entrance, the ₱300 kayak, fins, and anything you buy at the beach bar. All of those are cash on the day.
How many hours is the El Nido Tour A?
Six to seven hours, leaving the town beach between 08:30 and 09:00 and back by mid-afternoon. It is the second shortest of the four routes after Tour B and Tour D, which run about six. The Tour C route is the long one at seven to eight hours, because it crosses open water to reach Matinloc Island.
Which is better, Tour A or Tour C in El Nido?
Tour A for scenery and reliability, Tour C for water. The Big Lagoon has no equivalent on any other route and Tour A stays in sheltered bay, so it runs on days the Tapiutan crossing is closed. Tour C has Helicopter Island, the best snorkelling in Bacuit Bay, plus two beaches you swim into. On cost they land closer than the sticker prices suggest: Tour C is ₱200 to ₱300 more as a joiner, but Tour A adds about ₱500 in compulsory kayak and lagoon fees.
Is Tour A in El Nido worth it?
Yes, with one warning. The Big Lagoon justifies the day on its own and the kayak requirement is what keeps it quiet. The warning is the Secret Lagoon, where a two-minute swim can cost twenty minutes of queuing because every boat arrives inside the same hour. Take an early departure and the answer is an easy yes.
Why is the Small Lagoon not on Tour A anymore?
Municipal Ordinance No. 101, series of 2018, passed on 27 November 2018, moved the Small Lagoon from Tour A to Tour D because too many boats were arriving at both lagoons on the same morning. It was a carrying-capacity decision. Seeing both now means two days on the water or a private charter with a custom route.
Do I have to rent a kayak at the Big Lagoon?
In practice, yes. Motorised boats cannot pass the lagoon mouth, so a kayak or paddleboard is the only way in. It runs about ₱300 per kayak, which two people share, on top of a roughly ₱200 entrance. You can stay on the bangka at the mouth and skip it, but you will have paid for a Tour A and not seen the Big Lagoon.
Can I do Tour A without joining a tour?
Not as a day trip. The bay is only reachable by boat and every landing site sits inside the protected area, so you either join a joiner boat or charter one. Seven Commandos Beach is the exception: it can be reached from town by tricycle and a short walk, which is how people who missed the tour still get one of the stops.