Bohol is the island the Palawan crowd most often talks about doing "next time". The Chocolate Hills, the tarsiers, Balicasag's reef wall and the calm water off Alona are a different kind of Philippines from El Nido's karst, and the two would make an obvious pair — if there were any way between them that did not run through Manila. There isn't, on any airline. This page covers the scheduled routings honestly, the reason no ferry exists, and the two-hour private flight that closes the gap. The overview of all four Visayan crossings from Palawan is in Palawan to the Visayas by private charter.
The destination airport is the reason this crossing rewards a charter more than the others. Bohol–Panglao International Airport sits on Panglao Island itself, the resort island off Bohol's south-west corner — Alona Beach is 15 to 20 minutes away by road and Tagbilaran City about half an hour. Every way in that lands at Panglao puts you at the beach for lunch. Every way in that goes through Cebu adds a pier, a ferry and a road transfer between the aircraft and the sand.
The airline route, via Manila
The dependable scheduled routing is two flights with the capital in the middle. El Nido to Manila is about 1 hour 15 minutes on CebGo; Busuanga to Manila about an hour on Cebu Pacific or PAL Express. Then a connection at NAIA of two to three hours — check whether both flights use the same terminal — and about 1 hour 20 minutes south again to Panglao. Manila sits nearly 400 kilometres north of both ends of this trip, so the loop flies roughly three times the direct distance, and seven to nine hours door to door is a fair expectation on a day when everything runs to time.
The alternative some travellers try is via Cebu: CebGo from El Nido to Mactan when it is running, a taxi across the bridge to Cebu's pier, a fast ferry of about two hours to Tagbilaran, and a road transfer to Panglao. It avoids Manila, but it swaps one connection for three, each with its own queue and timetable, and it only works from El Nido on the days the Cebu flight operates. From Coron it is not really an option at all.
There is no sea route. No passenger ferry runs between Palawan and Bohol; the long-haul ships out of Coron and Puerto Princesa go to Manila, and the slow one east goes to Iloilo, still a full day's travel from Bohol.
Private aircraft
A chartered light aircraft flies the straight line: about 490 kilometres from Busuanga, 510 from El Nido's airport at Lio, roughly two hours in the air either way, crossing the Sulu Sea, the ridge of Negros and the Bohol Sea before landing on Panglao. It is one of the two longer crossings we cover, and the aircraft type matters — a Grand Caravan carries a full group comfortably at this range, while a smaller Cessna suits two or three passengers and takes a little longer. The operator's quote names the aircraft, the block time and the luggage allowance.
ENI TAG
Cessna U206G Stationair · up to 5 passengers · 81 kg luggage
Operated by CebuTop Inc.
Whole aircraft
₱409,500
$6,700
Cross-sea legs are usually quoted rather than listed, because the aircraft has to position for the job and the operator prices that in. A request is not a purchase: choose the date and passenger count, an operator confirms availability and price, and only then does a secure payment link follow. Nothing is charged before confirmation. Give a two-hour leg a few days' notice.
The price is for the whole aircraft, so the calculation is about group size. Against the Manila loop — two fares each, a lost day, and a real chance of an unplanned Manila hotel — a family of four or a dive group of six splitting one aircraft is buying back a full day of holiday at each end for a per-person premium that shrinks quickly. A couple with flexible dates may reasonably decide the airline loop is worth the day; it is the same honest arithmetic as the cost of flying within Palawan, stretched over a longer leg.
Side by side
| Mode | Time | Cost basis | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airline via Manila | 7–9 hours door to door | Two scheduled fares, per seat | El Nido or Coron to NAIA, connection of 2–3 hours, then Manila to Panglao. Reliable, but the longest of the four crossings by airline. |
| Airline via Cebu + ferry | Most of a day | Airfare plus ferry and taxis | CebGo El Nido–Cebu when it runs, taxi to the pier, two-hour fast ferry to Tagbilaran, road to Panglao. |
| Private flight (Avian) | About 2 hours from either town | Per aircraft, quoted or live above | Any date, your departure time. Lands on Panglao itself, 15–20 minutes from Alona. |
| Ferry | — | — | No passenger service between Palawan and Bohol. |
Airline times are typical and depend on the connection; private-aircraft times are typical block times for light aircraft, confirmed at booking.
Bohol as the start of a circuit
Panglao is the best-placed airport in the central Visayas for going on somewhere else. Cebu is about 25 minutes away and priced on this site in both directions — see the Cebu to Panglao route page — and Dumaguete, Siquijor and Camiguin are each a short hop further round the arc. A Palawan crossing that lands at Panglao can therefore be the first leg of the five-island Visayas circuit, with the long leg done once and every hop after it under an hour.
On the island itself, plan the far-flung things for the days you have the most of. The Chocolate Hills at Carmen are about an hour and a half from Panglao by road, the tarsier sanctuary at Corella and the Loboc river are on the way, and the east-coast beaches around Anda are a two-hour drive. Balicasag's reef and the dolphins off Pamilacan are morning boat trips from Alona — and if the diving is the point, a private aircraft is also the only way across that lets the regulators and cameras ride in the cabin with you rather than in an airline's hold.
Finally, check the empty-legs board before you price the crossing. Cebu- and Bohol-based aircraft deliver groups to El Nido and Coron and reposition home east with empty seats, and a repositioning flight on the right date is sold at a fraction of the charter price.