Vejret i El Nido (Palawan) i november

Regulars are honest this month can bring either great, dry weather or a genuinely severe typhoon, one memorable year seeing a strong storm hit the northern end of Palawan late in the month. Our row backs that hot, genuinely wet read, 28.8C reading as a hot 33C, over 26C nights feeling 30C, with a substantial 196.3mm of rain across 21 days and humidity at 82 percent. Regulars are consistent this remains a popular escape from winter back home regardless, snorkeling visibility staying genuinely good on the calmer days. Real year-to-year variability means neither a dry trip nor a wet one should come as a surprise. The sea sits at a bath-warm 28.5C. The record: 8.8 hours of sun, a 19.8 kph wind and AQI 29.

Regulars call this the peak of Philippine summer, very hot and humid, with rain becoming a real possibility by mid-month as the wet season approaches - short bursts of an hour or two rather than an all-day soak, though regulars are specific that island-hopping tours do get cancelled outright when a rain-driven wind picks up and the sea turns genuinely rough. Our row backs the intensity, a striking 196.6mm of rain across 24.1 days, alongside extreme heat, 30.8C reading as 37C at 81 percent humidity, over 26.9C nights. Regulars are overall reassuring that a trip this time of year rarely runs into serious problems, just the occasional lost tour day. The sea stays very warm at 29.8C. The record: 10.3 hours of sun, a 13.1 kph wind and AQI 38.

January here is governed by a named wind. The amihan, the north-east monsoon, takes over from the south-west one that stops around November and blows from December to mid-March at twenty to thirty knots. Regulars say the weather itself is fine and comfortable even in the sun; what the wind changes is the itinerary. The island-hopping tours are not interchangeable in this month - Tour B sits more exposed to the wind and waves and is the one that gets cancelled - so anyone with a particular lagoon in mind should ask which route is running before booking the day. Our row gives 28.4C over 25.7C, a 22.1 kph average wind and 102.2mm across 14.1 days. The record: humidity 79 percent, 9.4 hours of sun and a 27.9C sea.

March is inside the Philippine dry season - December to May, with June to August the wet end - and regulars name it among the best months for El Nido: hot, dry and reliable for island hopping, with cancellations unusual now. Our row's 8.9 precipitation days across 59.7mm needs their gloss, which is geographic rather than arithmetic: rain in El Nido town does not mean rain out on the islands, or the other way round, so a grey morning at the pier is not a verdict on the tour. Wind is normal here because the town faces open sea, and ours runs 19.4 kph. The heat is the real cost: 29.9C over a 26C night reads as 34C and 30C. The record: humidity 76 percent, 10.7 hours of sun, a 26.9C sea and AQI 36.