Palawan is the long, thin island province running southwest from the rest of the Philippines towards Borneo, and it holds the limestone karst lagoons of El Nido, the wreck diving of Coron, an underground river at Puerto Princesa, and a stretch of the Sulu Sea that looks unreasonable in photographs and then turns out to look like that in person.

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Packing for Palawan is a different exercise from packing for a city. Almost everything you do happens on or beside salt water, on an open outrigger boat, in direct equatorial sun, with spray coming over the bow. Gear gets wet, then it gets salty, then it does not dry because the humidity is 80 percent. Plan for that from the start and the trip is easy.

Three things matter more here than anywhere else on a standard packing list: a genuine dry bag, reef-safe sunscreen, and sun protection that does not rely on chemicals you reapply. Everything else is a light tropical wardrobe.

Reef-Safe Sunscreen Is Not Optional

Start here, because it is the item people get wrong and the one with consequences beyond your own holiday.

Oxybenzone and octinoxate, the UV filters in most conventional sunscreens, are strongly implicated in coral bleaching and damage to reef organisms at concentrations that a busy snorkelling site reaches easily. El Nido and the surrounding waters sit inside protected areas, and several sites in the Philippines now require reef-safe sunscreen as a condition of entry, with boat crews and park staff checking. You may be asked to show the bottle.

What to look for: a mineral sunscreen whose active ingredient is non-nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, and nothing else. Ignore the phrase "reef friendly" on a label and read the active ingredients, because the term is unregulated. Buy it before you travel, since the selection in El Nido is limited and expensive.

And the better approach is to cover up rather than coat yourself. A long-sleeved top and a wide-brimmed hat do the work of reapplying lotion every two hours on a boat where your hands are wet and salty. The Roman Trail Women's Merino Wool Base Layer ($49-59) in long sleeve is an effective sun layer that also handles the specific Palawan problem of going from blazing sun to a cold boat ride in shade and wind. It dries faster than cotton and does not start to smell after three days of sweat and salt, which on a live-aboard or a multi-day island tour is not a small thing.

Add the Wide Brim Sun Hat Women UPF 50 ($25), with a chin strap, because an unsecured hat on an outrigger at speed is a hat you have donated to the sea.

The Dry Bag Is Essential

Island hopping in Palawan means a banca, a wooden outrigger with an open deck and no covered storage. Spray comes over the side, the floor is wet, and you will be getting in and out of the boat in waist-deep water at beaches with no jetty. There is nowhere dry to put anything.

A Dry Bag Waterproof Bag ($20) is the single most useful thing you will carry. Phone, passport copy, cash, camera, a dry shirt for the ride home. Roll it properly, three folds and clip. A 10 to 20 litre size is right for a day tour.

Two notes from experience. Boat crews will often offer to keep valuables in a cooler or a plastic bin, and this is better than nothing but not waterproof. And take a second, smaller dry bag or a ziplock just for your phone if you intend to use it, because the main bag gets opened and closed at every stop.

A Quick Dry Travel Towel ($15) earns its place for the same reason. A cotton towel on a Palawan trip is wet for the duration.

Recommended Tours and Experiences

What to Wear in Palawan

Sun Layers

Two Roman Trail Women's Merino Wool Base Layers ($49-59) cover sun protection, temperature swings on the boat, and the days when you want something that is not a swimsuit. Merino handles salt and sweat better than cotton and stays wearable longer between washes, which matters when laundry means finding a place in town.

Swimwear

Two swimsuits, because one will always be wet. A rash guard is worth having for snorkelling, both for sun and for the incidental scrapes that come with getting in and out of boats over rock and coral.

Rain Shell

The Marmot Women's PreCip Eco Rain Jacket ($110) for the wet season and for the wind on a long boat transfer, when a soaking at 25 degrees with 30 knots over the bow is genuinely cold. Pack it even in the dry season.

Light Mid Layer

Something light with sleeves for air-conditioned ferries and vans, which in the Philippines are set very cold, and for a pre-dawn start. Not for the weather. A thin fleece or a long-sleeved overshirt is enough.

Modesty Note

The Philippines is a conservative, predominantly Catholic country, and swimwear belongs at the beach rather than in town. Cover up between the boat and the restaurant. In El Nido and Coron town this is normal and nobody will mention it, but it is noticed.

Footwear for Palawan

Two pairs, and neither of them is a flip-flop.

The ELETON Barefoot Hiking and Water Shoes ($23.99) are the right tool for Palawan. You will be walking off a boat onto rock, coral rubble and sharp limestone, and wading to shore. Something with a sole that drains and grips is the difference between a comfortable week and a cut foot. Sea urchins and stonefish are both present, and bare feet on a reef flat is how people get hurt.

The Salomon Women's X Ultra 4 GTX Hiking Shoes ($165) for the Puerto Princesa underground river, the Coron viewpoint climbs, and Taraw Cliff in El Nido if you do it, which is a genuine scramble on sharp karst rather than a walk.

Two pairs of merino socks is enough, since most days here are spent wet-footed and barefoot on a boat deck.

Book Island Tours Direct From the Pier

This is worth knowing before you arrive, because it saves money and gets you a better day.

In El Nido the standard tours are lettered A, B, C and D, covering different combinations of lagoons, beaches and snorkelling sites. Every hotel, hostel, travel desk and street agency in town sells them, and they are all selling seats on the same boats. The difference is the commission layered on top.

Booking directly at the pier or from the boat operators' offices on the beachfront, the day before, typically costs meaningfully less than a hotel desk and lets you ask the questions that matter: how many people on the boat, which specific stops, what time it leaves, and whether lunch is cooked on the beach or brought in a box. A smaller boat with fewer passengers is worth paying a little more for, and you cannot assess that through a third party.

The same applies in Coron. Ask about the boat, not just the itinerary.

Two practical points. There is an environmental fee in El Nido, paid once and valid for ten days, so keep the receipt. And tours are cancelled in bad weather by the coastguard rather than by the operator, which is a safety system working correctly; build a spare day into a short trip so a cancellation does not cost you the thing you came for.

Getting Around Palawan

Palawan is long. It is roughly 650 kilometres from end to end on a single road, and underestimating the transfers is the most common planning mistake.

Puerto Princesa is the main airport and the gateway to the underground river at Sabang, about two hours north. El Nido is five to six hours from Puerto Princesa by van on a road that is paved but slow, or a short flight into the small Lio airstrip nearby. Coron is on a separate island entirely, reached by its own airport at Busuanga or by a four-hour fast ferry from El Nido.

Two things follow from that. First, a week in Palawan realistically covers two of those three places, not all three. El Nido and Coron is the strongest pairing, since both are about the water and the ferry links them. Second, build buffer around the ferry, because it is weather-dependent and cancellations are common in the wet season.

Within towns, tricycles are the local transport and cost very little. Motorbike rental is available and the roads outside town are quiet, but the surface is variable and helmets are often an afterthought.

Palawan Packing FAQ

When should I visit? The dry season runs roughly late November through May, with March through May the hottest and driest. June through October is the wet season with heavier rain and more cancelled boat days, but it is cheaper, greener and far quieter. Typhoon risk is real in the wet months, although Palawan sits further from the main typhoon track than much of the Philippines.

Is Palawan safe for solo women? Yes. The tourist areas of El Nido, Coron and Puerto Princesa are comfortable for women travelling alone, Filipinos are notably welcoming and English is widely spoken, and group island tours mean you spend most days with other people. Note that travel advisories for some parts of the southern Philippines do not apply to Palawan, so read them carefully rather than by country. The genuine risks here are water and sun: boat safety standards vary, so look at whether there are life jackets before you board, and heatstroke and severe sunburn are the most common things that actually go wrong.

What about the marine life? Do not touch or stand on coral. Sea urchins are common in shallow rocky areas, which is the argument for water shoes. Jellyfish appear seasonally. Box jellyfish are present in Philippine waters, so ask locally rather than assuming.

Do I need cash? Yes, a lot of it. ATMs in El Nido are limited, frequently out of cash, and charge fees, and many small establishments do not take cards. Withdraw in Puerto Princesa or Coron town before heading out, in Philippine pesos.

Is there reliable internet and power? Improving but not dependable. El Nido has had chronic power and water issues, and brownouts happen. A power bank is genuinely useful, and charging your phone and camera overnight rather than assuming you can top up during the day is the right habit.

Can I drink the tap water? No. Bottled or filtered only. A filter bottle cuts a great deal of plastic on an island where waste management is strained.

The Short Version

Two merino long-sleeve base layers, two swimsuits, a rash guard, a packable rain shell, a light fleece for the air conditioning, water shoes, walking shoes, a wide-brimmed hat with a chin strap, mineral reef-safe sunscreen bought before you fly, a 10 to 20 litre dry bag, a quick-dry towel, a power bank, a filter bottle, and cash in pesos withdrawn before you reach El Nido. Book the boat at the pier. Cover up rather than reapplying.

You can read more about building a merino-first travel wardrobe on the Roman Trail merino wool base layer guide, and there is a full Philippines travel guide for women covering the rest of the country. Browse the full collection at Roman Trail women's merino base layers.

If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.