The best time to visit Palawan, month by month

Palawan has two seasons and a great deal of nuance in between. The short answer is that November to May is dry and December to April is glorious. The longer answer is that the shoulder months are quietly the best value of the year, and that a few weeks are genuinely worth avoiding. Here is the year as it actually behaves in Busuanga.

The two seasons

From roughly November to May the amihan — the northeast trade wind — brings dry, clear weather and calm seas on our side of the island. From June to October the habagat, the southwest monsoon, brings rain, and the occasional typhoon passes north of Palawan. Busuanga sits outside the worst of the typhoon belt, but it is not immune.

One thing worth knowing: rain here is rarely all-day drizzle. It arrives hard in the afternoon, empties the sky in an hour, and leaves everything green and steaming. A wet-season week often still delivers five good swimming days.

Month by month

• December to February — the peak. Dry, breezy, cooler nights, water like glass most mornings. Also the busiest and priciest, and Christmas and New Year book out first.
• March and April — our favourite months. Hot, still, and consistently the clearest water of the year. Holy Week is the one busy spike in this window.
• May — hot and building towards the rains, with the first afternoon storms late in the month. Excellent value, and the sea is still calm.
• June to August — the wet season proper. Green landscapes, dramatic skies, fewer visitors, lower rates. Afternoon rain is likely; whole washed-out days are not the norm.
• September and October — the wettest and windiest stretch, and the months when boat trips are most likely to be reshuffled. If your trip is entirely built around island hopping, choose different dates.
• November — the turn. The rain eases, the wind steadies, prices are still soft. A genuinely underrated month.

What the weather actually changes

Rain does not stop much here. The pool, the sauna, the yoga deck and the kitchen all carry on regardless, and a storm watched from a covered balcony over the bay is one of the better things this place offers. What weather does affect is boats. Island hopping to Black Island or Pass Island needs a reasonable sea, and in the wet season a trip may be moved by a day or swapped for somewhere closer in. We would rather reschedule than take you out in a swell.

Mangrove kayaking to Lolo's Island is far more tolerant — the channels are sheltered — so it is usually still on even when the open crossings are not.

Temperature and water

It is warm all year: daytime highs generally sit in the low thirties Celsius, and the sea rarely drops below the high twenties. Nobody needs a wetsuit. December and January nights are the most pleasant for sleeping, and April is the month you will be grateful the pool is saltwater and the balcony is shaded.

Booking timing, separately from weather

Two practical notes. First, with only sixteen rooms, the Family Villa, Honeymoon Suite and Seafront Suites go first in every peak window — three to four months ahead for Christmas and Holy Week is not excessive. Second, flights to Busuanga are a small market, so airfare rises steeply close to peak dates. Booking the flight early usually saves more than shifting your dates would.

The quiet argument for the wet season

If you are flexible and mostly want to read, swim, eat well and sleep, the wet season is a bargain and the island is at its greenest. Fireflies are excellent, the waterfalls run, and you may find you are one of very few guests. Come in September expecting to be on a boat every day and you may be disappointed. Come expecting to slow down and you will get exactly that.

Season by season detail on packing and what is included is on Plan Your Stay. To check specific dates, see the rooms or tell us the window you are considering and we will be straight with you about what the sea is likely to do.

Sixteen rooms, one private stretch of coast

All meals included, transfers arranged, and the run of the island. We recommend at least two nights.