Climate and average weather in El Nido

In El Nido, the weather is muggy, hot, wet, and mostly clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around July.

Best: late December to mid April

Over the course of the year, the temperature in El Nido typically varies from 25°C to 30°C, and is rarely below 24°C or above 32°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit El Nido for warm-weather activities is from late December to mid April.

Hottest
Apr
30°
Coldest
Jan
25°
Wettest
Jul
362 mm
Driest
Feb
39 mm
Rain / yr
2296 mm
225 wet days
Daylight
11.3–12.7 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
36 m
11.2°N
Clearest
Apr
46% cloud

El Nido is municipality of the Philippines in the province of Palawan.

Density
56/km²
people per km²
Founded
1916

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

El Nido weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late December to mid April.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in El Nido, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in El Nido stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 30°C and low of 27°C; the coolest is January, with an average low of 25°C and high of 28°C.

Days typically run about 3°C warmer than nights year-round.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2825
Feb2925
Mar2926
Apr3027
May3027
Jun3026
Jul2926
Aug2926
Sep2926
Oct2926
Nov2926
Dec2926

How hot and cold El Nido really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, El Nido feels like about 38°C (around May 7). About 306 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdangerous heat
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31282525
Feb32292525
Mar33292626
Apr36302727
May37302627
Jun36302626
Jul35292626
Aug35292626
Sep35292626
Oct34292626
Nov35292626
Dec33292626

Average hourly temperature in El Nido

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on April afternoons, near 30°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near 25°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

El Nido weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan28° / 25°548.611.46.0
Feb29° / 25°395.911.66.2
Mar29° / 26°476.811.95.9
Apr30° / 27°5710.212.24.9
May30° / 27°17922.512.53.4
Jun30° / 26°28726.712.62.9
Jul29° / 26°36227.912.63.0
Aug29° / 26°29625.112.43.3
Sep29° / 26°33126.512.13.2
Oct29° / 26°26426.711.73.3
Nov29° / 26°20220.811.54.0
Dec29° / 26°1771711.44.8

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

El Nido gets about 2296 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is very wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 7.1 months, from around May 8 to Dec 8, peaking in June at about 90% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 26.

July is the wettest month by volume, with 362 mm over about 28 wet days; February is the driest, with 39 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetJun 28 · 90%Feb 26 · 20%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan299
Feb216
Mar217
Apr3510
May7223
Jun8927
Jul8928
Aug8225
Sep8827
Oct8627
Nov7021
Dec5417

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, El Nido collects about 2296 mm of rain across 225 wet days — roughly 191 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 362 mm, while February is the driest at just 39 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 43% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350400JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec54394757179287362296331264202177
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan549
Feb396
Mar477
Apr5710
May17923
Jun28727
Jul36228
Aug29625
Sep33127
Oct26427
Nov20221
Dec17717

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In El Nido, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around November 9 and lasts for 6.1 months, ending around May 12. The clearest month is April, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 66% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 13 and lasts for 5.9 months, ending around November 8. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 92% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecApr 5 · 70%Jul 2 · 6%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan5149
Feb5644
Mar6436
Apr6634
May3169
Jun1288
Jul892
Aug991
Sep1090
Oct2080
Nov3763
Dec4258

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 16, brings about 12 h 42 min of light; the shortest, around December 15, only 11 h 18 min — a swing of roughly 1 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.46:295:54
Feb11.66:286:06
Mar11.96:146:10
Apr12.25:556:10
May12.55:436:14
Jun12.65:436:22
Jul12.65:506:26
Aug12.45:556:18
Sep12.15:555:59
Oct11.75:555:40
Nov11.56:035:32
Dec11.46:185:39

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

El Nido averages about 7 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 17 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.0 months, from around Nov 11 to May 12. The sunniest month is April, with roughly 15 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is June, down near 1 sunny days — about 91% fewer than the April peak.

05101520JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightApr 717 daysJun 301 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan9Mixed
Feb11Mixed
Mar15Mixed
Apr15Bright
May6Gloomy
Jun1Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep1Gloomy
Oct3Gloomy
Nov7Gloomy
Dec8Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

El Nido is humid all year round — on a typical day the air feels at least humid, and there is no real dry season to wait for.

The stickiest month is January, when it feels muggy, oppressive or miserable about 100% of the time. Even in January, the mildest month, the air is dry or comfortable only 0% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecoppressivemiserablemuggy
Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan117514
Feb12808
Mar47422
Apr04456
May01090
Jun0991
Jul01981
Aug01981
Sep01981
Oct02476
Nov02773
Dec35048

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in El Nido is typically light breeze, near 16 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.2 months, from around Nov 10 to Apr 16. The windiest month is January, averaging about 20 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Apr 17 to Jul 31, with May the calmest month at about 12 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwindiercalmerwindiercalmlight breezebreezyJan 5 · 20 km/hMay 29 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan20breezy
Feb20breezy
Mar19light breeze
Apr16light breeze
May12light breeze
Jun11calm
Jul14light breeze
Aug15light breeze
Sep14light breeze
Oct13light breeze
Nov17light breeze
Dec19light breeze

Hazard calendar for El Nido

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

El Nido sits in the Pacific typhoon belt; the season peaks July–October.

El Nido's rainy season runs May–December, when most of the year's rain falls.

Pacific typhoon
Rainy season
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit El Nido

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in El Nido throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early April, El Nido is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit El Nido for general outdoor tourist activities is from late December to mid April, with a peak score in the first week of February.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 3 · 6.3

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan5.9good
Feb6.2good
Mar5.9good
Apr4.9fair
May3.4poor
Jun2.9poor
Jul3.1poor
Aug3.3poor
Sep3.2poor
Oct3.4poor
Nov4.0fair
Dec4.8fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit El Nido for hot-weather activities is from late December to late April, with a peak score in the first week of March.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationMar 7 · 7.8

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for El Nido, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

El Nido packs about the same all year — highs hold near 30°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, rain gear, sun protection and a windbreaker.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, El Nido sees daytime highs around 30°C and nights near 27°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection. Worth having: rain gear. About 10 days see rain.

Sea temperature near El Nido

Average ocean temperature at the nearest coast, month by month, banded into swim-comfort zones — the other half of the beach question.

The sea at the nearest coast (about 21 km away) is warmest in May at about 30°C and coldest in February near 27°C.

The water stays above 20°C all year — warm enough for a swim any month.

26°28°30°32°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecwarmtropicalcomfortable to swim
Sea temperature (°C)Comfort
Jan28Warm
Feb27Warm
Mar28Warm
Apr29Tropical
May30Tropical
Jun30Tropical
Jul29Tropical
Aug29Tropical
Sep29Tropical
Oct29Tropical
Nov29Tropical
Dec28Tropical

UV index (midday) in El Nido by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in El Nido peaks around August 17 at about 14 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 10 at about 9 (very high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeVery highAug 17UV 14Dec 10UV 9
UV index (midday)Level
Jan11Extreme
Feb13Extreme
Mar13Extreme
Apr14Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun13Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug14Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct12Extreme
Nov10Very high
Dec9Very high

Average hourly UV index in El Nido

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in August the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan7.55
Feb86
Mar86
Apr8.56.5
May8.56.5
Jun8.56.5
Jul86
Aug86.5
Sep86
Oct7.55.5
Nov75
Dec75
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

El Nido is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. El Nido banks about 6,379 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around April.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan522
Feb475
Mar545
Apr552
May570
Jun534
Jul538
Aug540
Sep517
Oct532
Nov523
Dec533

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

El Nido receives about 5.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 4.3 and 6.4 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around Jan 24 to Jun 5. The brightest month is April, averaging about 6.3 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is December, down near 4.4 kWh/m² — roughly 29% less than the April peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 76.4 kWhDec 104.3 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.9Bright
Feb5.6Bright
Mar6.1Intense
Apr6.3Intense
May5.5Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul4.5Bright
Aug4.9Bright
Sep4.6Bright
Oct4.6Bright
Nov4.5Bright
Dec4.3Bright

Where is El Nido?

El Nido sits at 11.2°N, 119.4°E, 36 m above sea level, in Philippines. The nearest listed city is Roxas, 96 km away.

RoxasCulionCoronPuerto PrincesaSan JoseSablayanNarraMamburao

What El Nido looks like

Topography around El Nido

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of El Nido.

Within 3 km, the terrain around El Nido has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 440 m around an average of 41 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 666 m; within 80 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 979 m.

The land around El Nido is covered by trees (49%) and water (46%) within 3 km, water (55%) and trees (41%) within 16 km, and water (82%) within 80 km.

3 km
440 m
16 km
666 m
80 km
979 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswatermangroves
Nearby: Roxas 96 km · Culion 104 km · Coron 126 km · Puerto Princesa 176 km · San Jose 224 km · Sablayan 236 km · Narra 239 km · Mamburao 261 km

Philippines travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B / C
230 V · 60 Hz
Prices
≈ 33% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$4,171
2025
Happiness
6.2 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
48%
of population, 2024
Homicide rate
4.3
per 100k, 2023
Road deaths
12
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Upper middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 569
Religion
Roman Catholic 79%other 8%Muslim 6%other Christian 4%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for El Nido (11.1858°, 119.3956°, elevation 36 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. Tropical-cyclone seasons are the published climatological basin seasons (NOAA National Hurricane Center / regional warning centres). Sea temperatures are the NOAA OISST v2.1 1991–2020 monthly climatology (public domain), sampled at the nearest ocean point. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).