Погода: El Nido (Palawan), декабрь

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.

April is the peak of El Nido's dry season and the peak of its crowd, and the forum treats the second as the bigger problem. Holy Week at the start of the month is the part regulars say to avoid outright - things go from busy to manic - and Philippine school holidays keep it full afterwards, with weekends worse than weekdays. On the island-hopping tours the advice is tactical: Tours A and C are the popular ones, so take B and D if you are going out at a weekend, and expect many boats at the same beaches regardless. June to November is the wetter, emptier alternative. Our row is not dry in the strict sense - 11.2 precipitation days carrying 50.4mm - and a 30.9C day feels like 36C. The record: 26.8C nights, 11.1 hours of sun and a 28.7C sea.