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I'm planning on visiting Palawan, in the Philippines in the next few days. I am just a little concerned about the weather, it seems like the wet season isn't over yet. Even if it's officially supposed to end in October.

Weather forecast still shows daily rains and thunderstorms.

Has anybody been there around this time? I remember this part of the country being hit by a severe typhoon last year around this time.

Weather talks on the web are all rather confusing with mix and match reviews.

Some locals (or recent travellers) insights would be much appreciated.

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  • Where did you see the claim that the wet season ends in October? It seems to have been stretching out in recent years with rain and typhoons into November and December. However, unless there's an actual typhoon inbound (and I can't find evidence of one) you'll be fine. It'll rain a bit but it's still warm and it doesn't last that long. However I'm in Manila, so hopefully someone will come along and answer for Palawan specifically.
    – SpaceDog
    Nov 18, 2014 at 6:37
  • @SpaceDog, I read it on various travel blogs, guide books, etc. And some websites promoting tourism in Palawan stated wet season ended in October. But, indeed, seems like it stretched. Thanks for your answer.
    – Sam
    Nov 19, 2014 at 17:23
  • @pnuts. Who are you? The TSE police? Questions about weather in the travel section are legitimate. Thanks.
    – Sam
    Nov 19, 2014 at 17:26
  • @Sam Apparently, yes, officially the rainy season does end in October. Although I would wonder if that should be updated given the late rains and typhoons in the last few years -- I don't know how many years something has to go on before it's regarded as a consistent change rather than a temporary deviation.
    – SpaceDog
    Nov 20, 2014 at 0:55

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The answer to this will vary year to year, you can see that Wikipedia and the official Philippines tourism site climate page both state that rainy season is May to October. Although you can also see on the Wikipedia page that a fair amount of rain does fall in November and December (depending where you are).

Further you can see on the Weatherbase page for Puerto Princessa that rain drops off in Nov, but not by that much really:

> Average Number of Days With Precipitation (Years on Record: 15)  
> JAN  FEB  MAR  APR  MAY  JUN  JUL  AUG  SEP  OCT  NOV  DEC
>  4    3    3    4    8   13   15   15   14   15   12   8

So while November might be technically out of the rainy season, it's nowhere near dry. But that should really be a problem, rain tends to be fairly fleeting. There may be thunderstorms with heavy rain but they tend to move fairly quickly, the climate is warm enough the even a steady drizzle is not that annoying. Chances are you'll get some good sunshine some of the time and some impressive thunderstorms. You can also generally see (and for a really good storm, feel) the weather changing, so plenty of time to get indoors.

As for typhoons, there was a major one at the start of November last year (Haiyan/Yolanda) and you can see from this Wikipedia page that major typhoons have been hitting as late as December in recent years. However, since typhoons travel in from the sea in a generally westward direction you will get plenty of warning before anything hits Palawan.

All in all I wouldn't worry about it too much, it depends what you're planning on doing. Normal rainfall isn't going to disrupt that much of anything (people are used to it). Although I would probably try and avoid being in a boat if there's an approaching thunderstorm. You'll have enough time to react to any incoming typhoons. It's maybe not the best time to visit if you're dead-set on baking on a beach all day, but there's plenty of stuff to do there that isn't tied to it being good weather.

Full disclosure: I've never been to Palawan, this is based on my experience elsewhere in the Philippines and information from the internet.

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Weather is very unpredictable but generally, November is quite a good month to travel in the Philippines. It's the late rainy season but rain is very occasional. Sunny but breezy. Rainy, unless of course if there's an impending typhoon.

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Usually in the month of November, rainy season would be over; but it can be very unpredictable nowadays due to climate change. I'm from the Philippines but I haven't been to Palawan yet. You can check out this link to view a six-day forecast exclusively within the Palawan region.

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