Four van companies and a bus line cover the 240 km north. Times, fares and pickup points for all of them, in one place.
Check vans and buses north
Those two ports are the same — change one.
Opens a PHBus search for the road leg. Vans run through the day, so there is usually something within an hour or two of when you want to go.
Nothing on this route takes you into El Nido town. Every van and every bus terminates at the El Nido Transport Terminal in Corong Corong, about ten minutes short of the centre. From there it is a tricycle to your accommodation.
It catches people out at the end of a five-hour drive, usually in the dark, and it is worth knowing before you arrive rather than after. Only a booked private transfer goes door to door.
Shared vans: the usual choice
Faster than the bus, with pickup from the airport or your hotel rather than a terminal on the edge of town. The trade is space: these are packed minivans and the middle seats are tight for five hours.
Vans leave roughly hourly from early morning to early evening. Several more small operators run the same road without publishing fixed times; they fill and go.
Cherry Bus: more room, more time
The main bus operator on the route, running three classes from the Irawan terminal. RORO Bus also covers the road but publishes little.
Class
Fare
Aircon
Departs
Worth knowing
Economy
₱630
No
07:00
The cheapest seat on the road, and the slowest — it stops wherever there are passengers.
Regular
₱810
Yes
09:00
Air-conditioned, still a stopping service.
Elite “Lazy Boy”
₱960
Yes
11:00 · 21:30
Reclining seats and far fewer stops. The 21:30 runs overnight, arriving before 03:00.
The bus terminal is not in town. Cherry Bus leaves from Irawan, about 10 km west of Puerto Princesa near the Crocodile Farm. Getting there costs time and a separate fare, which eats much of the saving against a van collecting you from your hotel. Factor that in before booking on price alone.
Coming back south
The same operators run the return, with the last departures leaving El Nido in the early evening.
Southbound vans leave El Nido through the day — Lexxus, for instance, runs at 07:00, 10:00, 13:00, 16:00 and 18:00, taking about five and a half hours. If you are catching a flight out of Puerto Princesa, travel the day before rather than the same morning: this is a long road through the middle of Palawan, and one breakdown or one landslip in the wet season is enough to miss a plane.
Puerto Princesa is where most Palawan trips begin, and Coron is where many of them end.
The road north and the sea crossing do not join up neatly in a single day. Vans reach El Nido in the afternoon or evening; the fast ferries to Coron leave between 08:00 and 12:30. An overnight stop in El Nido is not a luxury here, it is how the timetable works — and it is the reason most people spend at least two nights there anyway.
How long does it take from Puerto Princesa to El Nido?
Shared vans take about 5 hours and buses between 5 and 7 and a half, depending on class and how often they stop. The road is sealed the whole way but winding through the middle section, so the published times assume a clear run.
Is the van or the bus better?
The van if you want speed and a pickup from your hotel or the airport; the bus if you want room and do not mind the extra time. The fares are close enough, from PHP 600 to PHP 960, that comfort and pickup point matter more than price on this route.
Where do vans and buses drop you in El Nido?
Not in El Nido town. Both stop at the El Nido Transport Terminal in Corong Corong, roughly 10 minutes short of the centre, and you finish the trip by tricycle. Budget for that last leg and do not expect to be left at your hotel door unless you booked a private transfer.
Where does the Cherry Bus leave from in Puerto Princesa?
The Irawan Bus Terminal, about 10 km west of the city centre near the Crocodile Farm, not from the middle of town. Getting out there takes time and a fare of its own, which narrows the saving against a van that collects you from your hotel.
Can I connect from Puerto Princesa straight through to Coron?
Not in one day with any comfort. The land leg to El Nido takes about 5 hours and the El Nido to Coron ferries leave in the morning and around midday, so an afternoon arrival means an overnight stop in El Nido before the crossing.
Also on this site
Carrying on from El Nido
The road north is usually the first half of the trip. These cover the sea legs it connects to.
Coron to El Nido ferry schedule — Every sailing both ways with its crossing time — the boat you would catch the morning after arriving by road.
