Best Time To Visit Palawan Island in the Philippines

Palawan is a must-see Island when visiting Philippines. Situated in the southwest of the capital city of Manila; Palawan is an amazing natural delight in the west-most boundary of the Philippines islands. Palawan is majorly famous for its unusual natural beauty and weather which treats the visitors with the incredible fusion of golden sun, pristine turquoise green and aqua blue waters, and some of the Philippines finest white sand beaches and palm trees. Many resort islands attempt to imitate this beauty but few measure-up to the absolute wonder and incredible paradise.

Best Month to go to Palawan Island

You can magnify the pleasure of visiting Palawan Island if you visits this piece of heaven at the right time. We have brought you all the necessary information that you need to know before flying to Palawan.

Dry & Wet Seasons of Palawan

Palawan is the largest island in the Philippines in terms of land area. Palawan is generally free from typhoons and is away from any major earthquake belts. The island experiences majorly two types of climates i.e. Dry Season and Wet Season.

The months of November to May are known as the Dry Season and the months of June to October are considered to be Wet Season of the island. During the dry season, the temperature ranges between 25⁰C (78⁰F) to 29⁰C (84⁰F). The humidity is not as high as in the wet season.

The island gets shorter rain bursts and showers till the month of March and the heat is also not unbearable; in fact it sometimes become quite breezy and chilly in the evening.

The Wet Season commence once it starts raining in June and marks the time of the year when it is strongly recommended not to head to the area. The Wet Season usually last from June to October, but it typically worst till September as the heavy monsoon rains and typhoons hit the island resulting in flash flooding and storm damages at regular basis. During the wet season, the temperature ranges between 29⁰C (84⁰F) to 33⁰C (91.4⁰F) with very high humidity rate.

When to visit Palawan

First and the foremost advice is that it is best to avoid heading to the area in the wet season, because flooding and tropical storms are very common and that makes it very difficult to get around the island. Likewise, heading to the area during the extremely dry season because it is the hottest time of year in the area and there is frequently high levels of humidity which makes it very uncomfortable stay for longer.

While planning you trip, you must also know that the rainy season lasts longer on the eastern side of Palawan Island than it does on the northern, southern and western sides of Palawan so if the eastern side is raining, try heading elsewhere to get out of the rain.

The months of March to May serve as peak season for Philippines’ summer, which is later takeover by the wet season from June to October. Thus the best time for tourism in Palawan kick starts form November, as the rains have also calm down to tolerable amounts, except in that eastern part of Palawan.

The rains continue on through the beginning of March but intermittently. Although the months from November to March are suitable to plan a Palawan trip, but early March is the excellent time to plan to make the most out of the trip, because the weather is not yet unbearably hot but the rains have tapered off.

A lot of people also prefer to visit during the month of December, but the accommodation prices often shoot up during the month due to Christmas and Holy Week/ Easter season in the Philippines. So if you want to visit during December, be sure to book in advance since some hotels can get booked out months prior.

In sum, the best time to visit Palawan is the late dry season. Pack for clothing that are suitable for lightly-wet weather if you travelling between November to June and pack for t-shirts, swimwear, singles and shorts for the rest of the months.

Also keep a jumper with you if you are originally from a warmer climate, as it can get chilly in nights. One last but the most important thing is to keep mosquito and insect repellents with you during the wet season.