Het weer in Puerto Princesa (Underground River) in januari

January is the coolest month of the Palawan year, which regulars put around 25.5C on average, and it sits inside the dry season - though they warn the rains have been known to run into it. The thing that decides a trip is the amihan, the north-east trade wind that blows from December to March at fifteen to twenty knots: cool and dry and thoroughly pleasant ashore, and rough once you are on the water, which matters on an island where the sights are reached by boat. Our row puts the wind at 17.7 kph and the rain higher than the word dry suggests, at 148.3mm across 18.1 days under 31.3C that reads as 36C. The record: 24.5C nights, 9.5 hours of sun and a 28.1C sea.

Forum posters describe August as squarely within rainy season for Palawan, with storms and occasional typhoons a real possibility, though Puerto Princesa specifically benefits from sitting on the island's western side, shielded by Luzon and the Visayas from most Pacific-originating typhoons. Posters are consistent that even during the rainy season, a downpour rarely lasts more than an hour or two rather than washing out a full day. Posters note popular non-diving activities - the Underground River, the Crocodile Farm, Iwahig Penal Colony and the Butterfly Garden - all remain available even when some dive operators and hotels scale back for the season. Posters generally describe Puerto Princesa's rainfall as comparable to Cebu's, notably drier than El Nido and Coron further north and closer to Luzon. Posters generally rate August as genuinely rain-prone but relatively typhoon-sheltered and manageable for Puerto Princesa, land-based tours a reliable fallback when the rain does come.

Forum posters call February a strong pick for Palawan generally: stable weather, lower humidity, cooler nights, and clearly cooler than the ramp-up to peak Filipino summer heat in March-April. It sits within the region's dry season (roughly November-April), with posters noting weather can still vary quite a bit by specific location even within that window, since parts of the province see wet-season patterns at different times of year than others. One scheduling upside specifically for February-March: it's before Holy Week in April, when Filipino domestic travelers flood Palawan and both crowds and hotel prices climb noticeably.