We’d like to thank our friends Rasťo and Dominika for this article. Over 7,000 islands, catalog beautiful beaches, gorgeous coral gardens, wrecks of Japanese ships from World War II, volcanoes, jungle. All of this makes up the Philippines with water as warm as milk. Our itinerary mainly consisted of Palawan and Coron islands, and towards the end, we moved to Bohol island. We used the capital city Manila purely for layovers and skipped the party life on Boracay island altogether. We arranged accommodation in advance through booking.com. We wanted diversity, so we enjoyed everything from a hut in the jungle by the river, through hotels and hostels, to luxurious accommodation with an infinity pool or a private island.
Contents
General info
Flights and itinerary
Transport
1. Capital city MANILA
2. PALAWAN – PUERTO PRINCESA island
3. PALAWAN – EL NIDO island
4. CORON island
5. CEBU island
6. BOHOL island
General information
- Local currency: Philippine Pesos (PHP), exchange rate approximately 1€ = 60 PHP
- Time difference: -7 hours
- Visas: not needed for up to 30 days
- Languages: most people speak English to some extent, everything is written in Latin script
- Mobile operators: we recommend buying a local SIM card with internet and a local number at the airport – you will save significantly on data and simplify your phone calls
- ATMs: are available in El Nido and Coron, but the withdrawal fee is 4€
Flights and itinerary
We bought our tickets roughly 2 months in advance, a round trip from London to Manila with a layover in Beijing cost us 400€. After this experience, we won’t be cutting corners on flights anymore, as our journey from Bratislava to Stansted, transfer to Heathrow, followed by an 11-hour flight to Beijing, 7 hours of waiting, and another 5 hours to Manila – took forever.
Transportation
As in the rest of Asia, you can rent a motorbike/moped. If you don’t ride a motorbike, the most common means of transportation for you will be the Tricycle – a local version of a motorbike with a sidecar.
For longer distances, locals use Jeepneys and between villages/cities, there are also air-conditioned buses. You can flag them down anywhere along the road and they will drop you off wherever you need.
1. Capital city of MANILA
After almost 2 days of traveling, we finally landed in Manila. Uber operates in Manila, as well as its local competitor Grab. We called a taxi to our first accommodation through Uber. Since we were only planning to spend a few hours in the hotel (sleeping), we chose a hotel near the airport to ensure we could easily make it to the airport on time for our early flight to the capital city of Palawan – Puerto Princesa. We checked out the view from the 15th floor of the hotel overlooking the 10-million-strong Manila and listened to the concert of the first Filipino roosters.
TIP: Do not be lured by the taxi drivers who swarm you at the airport. Their prices are five times higher. You can find the official airport taxi stand to the right of the exits or ask airport staff or a police officer.
2. Island PALAWAN – PUERTO PRINCESA
TIP: We took all domestic flights through the local low-cost airline Cebu Pacific.
The flight to Puerto Princesa (46 € per person) took about 1.5 hours. The Cebu Pacific airplane was smaller but significantly more comfortable compared to the endlessly long flight with Air China. Upon arrival, we were met at the airport by a car that took us directly to the Blue Palawan Beach Club hotel. Although there was no swimming in the sea, the locals were catching shrimps and shells in it. Right next to the hotel, we discovered a typical Filipino village. Real life that you won’t just see in catalogs. We walked along rain-soaked paths and observed real life around us. Poor, dirty, but full of children’s smiles and hard work. Around us, shelters were being built, dogs and livestock were running around, locals were passing by on motorcycles or tricycles. Curious looks and waving children with the biggest eyes in the world greeted us from every corner.
Our steps led us towards a busy road. Along the road were small semi-collapsed shacks – stores. Excited about everything new, we decided to try street food. Our first meal was leftover fish in coconut sauce, noodles with vegetables, and sweet potatoes in sauce. We ate the food at an auntie’s living room, with dogs sleeping at our feet, cats wandering around, and a baby surrounded by a large family at the neighboring table. Enthusiastically, we devoured this very indistinctly flavored food and paid €1.50 for 2 people… On the way back home, we literally summoned coffee. As true coffee addicts, we always hope to come across coffee when the caffeine levels drop below critical 🙂 In a café from a different, very non-Asian world, we had 2 coffees and the sweetest muffins ever. Satisfied, we returned to the hotel, to the pool and with drinks in hand.
The next day, we waited for transportation to El Nido. You can only get there from Puerto Princesa by minibus. We used the company Lexxusshuttle, and the price is approximately 500 – 600 pesos (8-10 €) per person. You can book online or by phone – they speak good English. The shuttle picked us up at the hotel. During the journey, we picked up several local travelers and together headed towards the “bus station.” After an hour of waiting for the shuttle to fill up, we finally set off. We were squeezed into a van with 18 others. The journey lasted an endless 6 hours, as everywhere in Asia. They are also great friends with air conditioning, so don’t forget a long sleeve.
TIP: The drivers of these minibuses drive quite fast, so if you have a weak stomach, do not forget your motion sickness medication. Pharmacies are available in towns and small cities.TIP: You can also fly directly to El Nido from Manila.
We watched as the landscape around us changed – the sea was replaced by forests, huts, and huge cows, always accompanied by white storks. We had a lunch stop at a small local eatery. We made our food selection through gestures, but in the end, due to the way meals are prepared in the Philippines, it was challenging to eat. Filipinos never trim or remove the fat from meat. They believe that it will still be edible (or at least sellable as another portion), so they chop the meat with a machete. As a result, you often end up with more bones and fat on your plate than actual meat. After struggling with the meal, we continued our journey.
3. Island PALAWAN – EL NIDO
El Nido serves as a base for boat trips to surrounding islands and beaches. There is also a beautiful beach, Las Cabañas, right here.
In the center, you will find a variety of shops, restaurants, and bars with offerings and staff from around the world. The central point for tourists is the Art cafe restaurant – downstairs is a shop with any necessary equipment, upstairs is a restaurant serving European dishes, but at slightly higher prices.
There are many street vendors offering waterproof bags, cases, and pearls.
Trips to the surrounding islands are all the same and cost the same, so you don’t have to think about where to buy them. They are marked A, B, C, D, combining beaches, diving, or caves. For a fee, you can rent diving goggles and flippers, but we had our own.
TIP: Make sure to buy water shoes, as trips are impossible without them.
TIP: Definitely buy a waterproof bag and a cover for your phone from street vendors. Las Cabañas Beach
beach right by El Nido; you can get there in 15 minutes by motorcycle or tricycle. The beach is full of seashells and corals, and there are several bars and restaurants. There is also a small zipline leading to the opposite island. If you want privacy, walk to the end of the beach and turn the corner.
Nacpaan Beach
You can get here in 45 minutes by motorcycle or tricycle for 1200 – 1500 PHP. The driver will wait for you all day and take you back. Infinitely long, wide beach. You will also find several restaurants and bars.
For our first island hopping tour, we chose Island hopping Tour C, which costs 1400 PHP and includes lunch on the beach and visits to:
- Helicopter Island – beautiful beach and coral garden for snorkeling
- Hidden Beach – a beach hidden among cliffs – the boat drops you off 200 meters from the beach, which you have to swim to. We had some waves, so we were careful with the sharp rocks. A few tourists from Romania and Poland got scratched a bit. However, you will arrive at a beautiful lagoon lined with rocks and crystal clear warm water
- Secret Beach – a secret beach that you can only reach by swimming through a hole in the rock. You have to be careful with the waves and local tourists who let themselves be pulled in floating vests. Inside is a different world – calm sea, lying on millions of millimeter shells and letting the water wash over you
- Matinloc Shrine and Matinloc Island – a private island where a small Christian shrine is located. You can climb up the stairs to the rocks and take pictures with beautiful views of the surroundings. There is an extra fee of 100 PHP for entry to support the reconstruction of the shrine.
- Star Beach – lunch on the beach – typically grilled fish, rice, and fruit
On the last day, we move to the Aqua Travel Lodge hostel (20€ per person) right next to the port, and we wake up at 4:30 to catch the fast boat to Coron Island. Tickets were purchased for 1700 PHP at a local travel agency, and the transport is provided by Montenegro Lines. Don’t forget a long sleeve, the air conditioning is on full blast. The expected duration of the voyage is 3.5 hours, but we depart early at 5. From our Russian friends, we learn that we can’t smuggle mangoes. If we do, trained dogs will sniff it out. Mangoes from El Nido cannot be mixed with foreign ones.
4. Coron Island
The town of Coron is named after Coron Island, but is actually located on Busuanga Island. There is an airport on this island (a 30-minute drive from the town), making it easily accessible from Manila or Cebu. Coron is a popular spot for snorkeling and diving, with up to 13 shipwrecks from World War II located in the area.
TIP: There are no beaches suitable for swimming in the town, everything is on the surrounding islands!
From the port to your accommodation, you will be taken by a tricycle, and drivers will “fight” for you as soon as you exit the port. Our first accommodation – The Bay Area Coron (19€ per person) is located in the town center, on the main street. This is actually the only street that runs through the town. Here you will find restaurants, travel agencies, and diving centers for excursions. Since the Filipino national animal is the rooster, you will hear them everywhere, which may not seem funny at four in the morning.
TIP: Bring earplugs
On our street, we finally had a good coffee after a long time and stumbled upon a restaurant owned by a Czech, so we enjoyed European food.
Attention: Filipino cuisine is really different from Vietnamese, Thai, or Indonesian! They don’t know how to cook!
The available tours are mostly similar in content and price, so it doesn’t really matter where you book. We went on three: the snorkeling Reef and Wreck, beach Island Escapade, and the favorite Ultimate TourReef and Wreck Tour(1400 PHP per person)
You will see two wrecks of Japanese ships – Lusong and East Tangat – sunk by American aviation during World War II and you will snorkel in the coral garden near the wreck of Lusong. Lunch will be served on Pass Island, where you can sunbathe and swim.
Island Escape Tour(1700 PHP per person)
This tour is similar to Island hopping in El Nido, where you will visit three islands and their beaches: Banana Island, Bulog Dos, and Malcapuya Island. Especially the latter two are truly beautiful places where you can take postcard-like photos.
Island Ultimate Tour(1400 PHP per person)
This tour is the most popular and therefore the most crowded by tourists both on the boat and at the locations you will visit. You will start with snorkeling at Siyete Pecados and then move on to Kayangan Lake. You will also visit the Skeleton wreck – there were so many people on this 40m wreck that we decided to return to the boat. Twin Lagoon – you will swim through a hole in the rock to enter – be careful, you will swim quite a distance, so if you are not a strong swimmer, consider wearing a life vest or fins. An interesting feature is that in this lagoon, fresh and saltwater mix, resulting in very poor visibility for diving. You might feel like your diving goggles are greasy. Lunch will be served at Smiths Beach where you will also snorkel in Coral Garden – we have seen prettier corals elsewhere. Barracuda Lake is a highlight of this tour – it is a freshwater lake in a former volcanic crater. You will have to climb about 60 vertical meters, so be prepared for some stairs, but the place is truly worth it.
For the second part of our stay in Coron, we move to the Westown Lagoon Coron hotel (25 € per person). It’s a beautiful hotel with a pool and amazing beds… However, there are roosters constantly crowing early in the morning 🙁 . The hotel was under construction during our visit, so we had all-day noise and smoke from the construction site by the pool. After 2 nights, we head to Cebu Island with a hotel transfer (200 PHP per person). Our flight got canceled and rescheduled for the next day, so Cebu Pacific brought us back to the hotel, covered our accommodation and food expenses, and gave us a free flight voucher for each person! We return to the pool with the sound of the circular saw from the construction. The next morning, we fly to Cebu city without any issues.
5. CEBU Island
Cebu is the second largest city in the Philippines and the second airport hub. There is an international airport with flights from, for example, the Emirates. We take a taxi to the port (350 PHP).
TIP: On the right side of the airport exit, there are official White taxis and Yellow taxis.
At the port, we buy tickets for a fast ferry to Bohol.
Attention: Buying a ticket here can be confusing, but do not let the “helpful” street assistants deceive you.
After we asked where to buy a ticket, one such “good Samaritan” started asking for a Passport! Passport! claiming we would miss the boat and he would buy the tickets for us. Feeling stressed, we refused to give him our passports, but we made him accompany us to the ticket office. For this, the “good Samaritan” then receives a few pesos as a tip. Later, we find out that ticket counters are also inside the port – you can choose from various companies: Supercat, Fastcat, OceanJet, and Starcraft. As is customary in the Philippines, there are additional fees everywhere, so in addition to the ticket, we pay a port fee and a baggage fee.
TIP: Always have enough small change with you, you never know what other fees might surprise you 🙂
The boat journey takes about 2 hours, again with full blast air conditioning, a long sleeve or scarf comes in handy.
TIP: boats depart every two hours, with the last one at 17:45. Ticket price (600 PHP per person)
6. Island BOHOL
Coron – Cebu – Bohol[/caption>
You will arrive on the island of Bohol in the town of Tagbilaran, where the airport is located. There are also plenty of international fast food chains here – McDonald’s, KFC, PizzaHut, Wendys, etc. The main attraction on Bohol is the Chocolate Hills, there are several rope parks and ziplines, and you can also see the Tarsier (a small primate) here.
Our accommodation is at Ocean Suites Bohol – a large room with big windows, a huge bed, and an infinity pool. Good coffee. (27 € / person) The hotel is located where Spanish explorers sealed a blood compact with the local chieftain in the 16th century. A tricycle ride to the town costs around 100-150 pesos.
TIP: There is a great local burger place across the hotel.
Our plan on the island also includes diving with whale sharks in Oslob. This is another island, a 2-hour boat ride away. So we wake up at five in the morning to be on the boat by six. Still, we have to wait for other tourists. We depart from Alona Beach, where small caterpillars roam in the morning. Upon arrival in Oslob, a tricycle takes us to the whale sharks, and there we pay an entrance fee of 1000 PHP per person + 100 PHP for some additional fee…again. It’s crowded, but we look forward to the sharks. They are fed from boats about 30 meters from the shore – the sharks are accustomed to this and come to this spot, allowing for diving near them. We board small kayaks for 8 people, they take us closer to the sharks, we put on our diving masks and dive in. A once-in-a-lifetime experience, the fish are 6-8 meters long. If only we weren’t crowded and all the Chinese tourists were more focused on taking selfies than swimming. We want to touch them, but since it’s prohibited, we resist. In the water, we realize that there are fish feeding around us, but we feel safe ☺
We return to Bohol on the same boat, grab our bags, and move to Fox and Firefly cottages by tricycle (16 € / person).
It’s by the river, where you can go paddle boarding. Or start your day with some yoga. The accommodation, which we initially approached with caution, turned out to be exceptionally good. The Danish hotel owner had a visible influence, offering a variety of activities for tourists – from bike rentals to paddle boards. They cook excellently, and in our cottage, we had a beautiful open-air bathroom, so we showered right under the canopy of trees.
Bohol river
In the morning, we head towards the zipline and the Tarsiers, the journey takes us a long time as we couldn’t hail a tricycle.TIP: If you don’t have a motorcycle, you can use a jeepney or the big Yellow busy for transportation.
Tarsiers are very cute animals, but they are nocturnal creatures, so you need to be very quiet around them during the day (as they can reportedly commit suicide due to stress from being awakened). You will see them in groups of about 6, each about the size of a palm.
In Bohol, you can find them in two places: the Tarsier sanctuary in the village of Corella and the Tarsier conservation area. The second option is closer to other attractions, but we accidentally ended up at the first one 😀 The disadvantage of getting lost without your own transport is that it’s hard to find a way back. All visitors arrive on their motorcycles, and you are left with no one to hitch a ride with. So, you’ll have to walk. The advantage is that it’s not a long walk 🙂 Throughout our stay, we were lucky that whenever we reached the main road, a jeepney or bus heading exactly where we needed would stop by.
Zipline – The largest zipline in Bohol is at the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park, where you can spend a whole day combining it with a view of the Chocolate Hills. We experienced the zipline at the Loboc Eco Tourism Adventure Park and consider it one of the highlights of our vacation.
Returning to the city of Tagbilaran in a jeepney, it’s raining, and our luggage is traveling on the roof because there are 31 of us crammed inside. In the city, we take a tricycle and head to our final accommodation – the luxurious Mithi Resort and Spa. This resort has its own little island, infinity pools, massages, and a spa (73 € / person). Tricycles are not allowed to enter, so we wait like hikers, completely soaked, with backpacks at the gate guarded by armed security, until a golf cart arrives to take us to the reception in the downpour. We enter a land of wonders – no dogs, roosters, cats, dirt. An hour later, the rains stop, and we fully enjoy the pool, coffee, relaxation, and the sea. If it weren’t for the loud Chinese tourists, it would be a paradise.
Bohol Mithi resort and spa[/caption>
We use a voucher for a canceled flight from Cebu Pacific and within 15 minutes, we book flights by phone from Tagbilaran directly to Manila, saving us the boat trip to Cebu and then the flight to Manila.
What we learned:
- Pack only one travel bag. If it doesn’t fit, you don’t need it. Loose workout shirts that wick away sweat and moisture were the most useful for us.
- Print out your itinerary, accommodation details, flight tickets, and all important information. Your phone shouldn’t be the only safe keeper of these valuable details – even a waterproof phone can be lost.
- Get a local SIM card – it will come in handy. Data will save you when you get lost in the jungle.
- Keep a record of your expenses. Don’t carry large amounts of cash or big bills (such as the 1000 pesos note!).
- Accept the fact that whatever you pay, it’s almost never the final amount. Welcome to the land of hidden fees. Negotiate with tricycle drivers.
- Replace your bulky camera with a GoPro if you’re going island hopping.
- Don’t forget to buy water shoes, a waterproof bag, and a waterproof phone case for island hopping.
- If you’re not a fan of roosters, remember to pack earplugs.
- Buy local insect repellent, or you’ll be eaten alive.
- Don’t skimp on the airline. At least basic comfort and non-poisonous food are a necessity.
- Be careful when choosing travel insurance. Despite paying for the Exclusive package, the insurance company refused to reimburse our damaged luggage, arguing that luggage insurance does not cover baggage in transit. Makes you wonder what it does cover ☺
The Philippines are not just a country of a thousand sunsets but also a paradise of catalog-like beautiful beaches, children with the biggest eyes in the world, and undoubtedly a haven of pearls, non-burning fast food, and hidden (or additional) fees ☺. We definitely plan on returning, at least for diving to shipwrecks.
