Philippines 2016

Introduction:

Aim of this post:

• Provide tips and a general overview of a trip to Philippines
• Share information I would have liked to know before our trip (my girlfriend and me) about itineraries, touristic attractions, mistakes and other topics trying to go straight to the point

Places visited:

• Bohol (26th,27th), Cebu (Oslob 28^th; Moalboal 29^th), Palawan (Puerto Princesa 30^th,31^st; El Nido 1^st,2^nd; Corón 3^rd, 4^th) & Manila 5^th, 6^th

Route:

• Manila-Cebu: flight 1:30h (Air Asia)
• Cebu-Bohol, roundtrip: ferry 3h (in our case RoRo ferry as we transported a rented motorbike)
• Cebu-Puerto Princesa: flight 1:30h (Cebu Pacific)
• Puerto Princesa-El Nido: van 6h
• El Nido-Corón: ferry 7h

OUR FLIGHT FROM DUBAI TO MANILA WITH CEBU PACIFIC GOT DELAYED 4 HOURS AND WE LOST OUR FLIGHT FROM MANILA TO CEBU WITH AIR ASIA. IF YOU WANT TO CONNECT RIGHT AFTER ARRIVING INTO PHILIPPINES, EITHER CONSIDER ENOUGH MARGIN (INTERNATIONAL FLIGTS ARRIVE TO A DIFFERENT TERMINAL THAN DOMESTIC FLIGHTS, AND GOING FROM ONE TO THE OTHER, ONLY 4 KM, CAN TAKE UP TO 1 HOUR IF THERE IS TRAFFIC), OR BOOK WITH THE SAME COMPANY AS IN THIS WAY THEY WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DELAY 

 Period: 25^th August - 6^th September 2016

• Rainy season but luckily rain rarely fell in our trip and had no impact at all. However, during the previous week apparently some tours were cancelled due to heavy rain…

I DO NOT CONSIDER METEO FORECAST RELIABLE AS RAIN WAS EXPECTED ALMOST EVERY DAY BUT WE DID NOT "SUFFERED" IT

• Low season: no need to book hotels or ferries in advance, even internal flight tickets remain quite cheap till last days, but obviously you normally get better rates a few days/weeks earlier

General overview:

• Kindness of locals in Philippines has to be mentioned (i.e. one of the tyres of our rented scooter was punctured and several locals helped without asking for a single peso)

• Joy of seeing plenty of children walking to the school in their village, in many streets, shops…

• Great sightseeing (beaches, mountains, green areas)
• Currency: peso (approximately $100= 4,500 pesos) as of August 2016, this was the minimum rate we got. There are some ATMs along the trip but we took most of the cash with us
• Poverty: especially in Manila the contrast between mid-class and homeless people is huge

YOU MIGHT LOVE HAVING SOME GOOGLES OR MASK IN YOUR BAG SO YOU CAN PRACTICE SNORKELING BY YOURSELF IN PLENTY OF BEACHES AND ISLANDS

Approximate budget for 12 days:

• $800 per person (including internal flights, ferries, scooter rental, budget hostels, food, touristic attractions…). Excluding arrival and exit in/from Philippines 

Visayas:

Arrival in Cebu and first tips:

• Our flight from Manila arrived on the 25^th of August in the evening.
• We had time to rent a scooter (www.motorbikecebu.com) for 5 days at 450 pesos per day. The shop, which is a cheap hostel at the same time, paid our taxi from the airport as we rented for several days. Our goal was to visit the islands of Bohol and Cebu in 4-5 days, transporting with us the scooter in ferry
• We took as little luggage as possible, approximately 6-7kg bag for each one were enough. We could not dress new clothes each day but we had greater flexibility, we could always drive and move around with our bag and our back and pocket were thankful during the trip

• Cebu is quite chaotic and can have a lot of traffic; however, the south of the island, where main touristic attractions are located, have little traffic
• Some dinner, finding our hostel and little more this first day
• MISTAKE: We went to the city center to book the scooter (15km), went back near the airport to sleep in our hostel, and next morning we drove to the city center where the Cebu port is located

·         BETTER TO DIRECTLY STAY IN THE CITY CENTRE, UNLESS YOU WANT TO DO ANY ACTIVITY NEAR THE AIRPORT (THERE ARE SOME BEACHES AND DIVING AREAS IN MACTAN, WHERE THE AIRPORT IS LOCATED)

·         NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT RENTING SCOOTER IN ADVANCE AS SEVERAL HOSTELS OFFER IT AT APPROXIMATE RATES OF 500 PESOS PER DAY. ALSO, TRANSPORTING THE SCOOTER IN FERRY IS EXPENSIVE (AROUND 800 PESOS EACH WAY), SO YOU CAN RENT SCOOTER INDEPENDENTLY IN EACH ISLAND.

• Nevertheless, we enjoyed arriving in the islands and start driving as we did not know how easy is to find a scooter almost anywhere in the Philippines

BOHOL:

• We took a ferry (Lite RoRo Ferry at 7am on the 26^th of August from Cebu port to Tubigón, central area of Bohol)

THERE ARE SEVERAL OPTIONS TO REACH BOHOL BY FERRY, REACHING DIFFERENT PORTS IN THE ISLAND SUCH AS TUBIGON OR TAGBILARAN

• We decided to take easy the first day and drove to Panglao for 1 hour approximately, where we had found a quite nice an affordable hostel (Bohol Coco Farm) which included a nice breakfast as well
• Several beaches (i.e. Alona beach), nice snorkeling with plenty of star fishes and a nice  cave on the north part of Panglao

THERE ARE MUCH BETTER SNORKELING AND SCUBA DIVING TOURS NEARBY WHICH ARE WIDELY OFFERED FROM PANGLAO. HOWEVER, WE LEFT PROPER DIVING FOR ANOTHER OCCASION (IN OUR CASE, IN CORON, WHERE THERE ARE II WORLD WAR VESSELS, RECOMMENDED BY FORBES MAGAZINE AS ONE OF THE TOP 10 PLACES IN THE WORLD TO DO SCUBA DIVING):
www.etravelpilipinas.com/tourism_news/coron-listed-in-forbes-travelers-top-10-worlds-best-scuba-spots.htm 

• You can even go for the whale shark watching in Oslob from Panglao (however, as we had to go back to Cebu, we decided to go driving two days later)
• Second day (27^th August) was a proper bike diving tour with several activities on our way (all in the same route)

EVERY TOURISTIC ATTRACTIONS HAD A SMALL FEE (10, 20, 50 PESOS…)

• Zipline (350 pesos per person). Nice views 

• Bamboo twin bridge

• Tarsier conservation area. A local guy who we asked about directions in our way had a tarsier in his shop and let us take some pictures with it. This animal is protected and I doubt how legal that "posseseion" was. In the conservation area you can see a few tarsiers in bushes and plants, but cannot touch them so we were somehow very lucky

• Chocolate  hills in Carmen
  
• Beach in Anda

• Fire flies:. On the way back, near Panglao, we took a boat (7:30 pm) and saw flies shining in vivid yellow colors. It took 1:15 minutes but for us it was too long as we were very tired already
• Next morning (28^th August) we took a ferry from TAGBILARAN (closer to Panglao than Tubigon) to ARGAO (in the middle of Cebu island, closer to Oslob) at 8am
  

CEBU (OSLOB, BOHOL):

• We arrived into Argao (approximately in the middle of Cebu island) at 11 am on the 28th August. Again this day we did not plan much and improvised what to do on our way to Oslob
• We visited a few beaches in our way and unluckily one of the tyres of the scooter was punctured after a few hours

WE WERE HELPED BY SEVERAL LOCALS WHO TREATED US WITH A SMILE WITHOUT ASKING FOR A SINGLE PESO. THEY DROVE ME TO THE NEAREST SHOP TO FIX THE TYRE AND BROUGHT ME BACK. SOMEHOW WE WERE LUCKY TO STOP OUR TRIP FOR 1 HOUR AS THE KINDNESS OF THIS PEOPLE WAS GREAT. Of course, we gave them a tip, but it is extremely nice when you receive such a selfless manner

• We spent the night at Germaroze Guesthouse, from where you can literally jump into the sea, with beautiful sunset and break of dawn views, and less than 10km far for the main whale shark watching spots in Oslob. Besides, the price was very reasonable: during our entire trip spending lot of money in hotels was not in our minds

• 29th August we went for a whale shark watching briefing, paid 1,000 pesos and in a small boat we went to swim with whale sharks. It is impressive an beautiful. However, it is extremely touristic and some people criticize this practice, as people in boats unnaturally attract whale sharks by throwing fishes into the seawater
• Regardless of your choice, in the following web you can read a few reasons against this practise: http://dive-bohol.com/conservation/5-reasons-not-go-oslob/

WHALE SHARK WATCHING TAKES PLACE FROM 6 TO 12:30 PM. THE EARLIER YOU GO THE BETTER IT IS AS YOU MIGHT SEE MORE WHALE SHARKS AND THE AMOUNT OF TOURISTS IS LOWER  

• We continued the trip around the island aiming at spending the night in Moalboal, seeing several waterfalls on our way
• Tumalog falls: less than 10km far from whale shark watching, it is a lovely place to visit and has a fee of 20 or 40 pesos per person
  
• Aguinad falls: nice place but we were very disappointed because it was compulsory to go accompanied by a guide in order to visit the different pools and falls. Entrance per person is 40 pesos and then you are "kindly" requested to tip your guide
• Dao falls: clearly the best of all we visited, but requires 20 minutes walk through lovely places, reaching a massive waterfall at the end. Again, 40 pesos fee per person and a guide accompanies you, but this time is nice because they explain several things on your way but you enjoy the final waterfall by yourself
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• For more information about waterfalls in Cebu you can read the next article: http://sugbu.ph/2016/9-waterfalls-in-cebu/
• We spent the night in Moalboal, in Nipa Huts & Camping Moalboal: a few small cute huts for a very cheap price and near the center of the village
• 30th August we had one of the best surprises of the trip. we went snorkeling in Moalbal, as we have heard you can swim with sardines, but not more. We went to the beach (Chili Bar as a reference). We found it extremely beautiful; moreover, we were very lucky to see a turtle and see it swimming to the surface and going away
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Later, we drove 2.5 hours to Cebu-Mactan airport as we had a flight to Puerto Princesa that afternoon 

Palawan:

Tour in Palawan:

• Evening 30th August - morning 5th of September 
• Puerto Princesa, El Nido & Corón

PUERTO PRINCESA:

• We arrived in Puerto Princesa in the evening on the 30th of August. We found a "videoke" which is a karaoke in Philippines, something locals love, and we had some fun.

NIGHTLIFE IN PUERTO PRINCESA TAKES PLACE IN A FEW STREETS VERY NEAR THE AIRPORT!

• In our hostel, nothing big to mention, we talked about going to the Underground River next day and they offered a tour for 1,500 pesos per person. We went by ourselves with a scooter but there is important information you need to know: 

YOU NEED TO COLLECT A PERMIT IN PUERTO PRINCESA CITY COLISEUM (IN PUERTO PRINCESA, NEAR THE AIRPORT, 70KM FAR FROM THE UNDERGROUND RIVER)

IN TOTAL EACH PERSON PAYS AROUND 600 PESOS (PERMIT, FEES, BOAT, GUIDE, ETC), plus in our case we rented a scooter for other 600 pesos plus we paid some petrol (nevertheless cheaper than the tour)
IMPORTANT: DO NOT GO DIRECTLY FROM THE AIRPORT TO THE UNDERGROUND RIVER IN SABANG WITHOUT COLLECTING THE PERMIT UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO BOOK A TOUR WITH ANY COMPANY

• Almost arriving into Sabang (where the Underground River is located) there are lovely views of Cleopatra Needle
  
• Then we arrived in Sabang and reaching the touristic point is very easy. You pay some fees in an office there, pay for the boat (groups of 7, unless you are willing to pay for a private boat which obviously gets expensive); as I have said, in total you pay 600 pesos per person as the cheapest option. 

A boat takes you to a beutiful beach where however you cannot stay longer that the visit to the Underground River

• Some guides are waiting the arrival of boats to that beach. We walked 1 minute and in another small boat we went into the Underground River: 

• THE FEE PAYMENT INCLUDES AUDIOGUIDE IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THAT PAYMENT BUT IT IS ACTUALLY NICE TO HAVE SOME UNDERSTANDING OF ITS FORMATION, HISTORY, ETC 
• In my opinion, this visit is highly recommended; the cave inside is impressive, huge, full of bats and other animals and the explanations are nice

• Even if you canot stay in that beautiful beach, you can always stay in Sabang beach

A GUY WE MET LATER ON TOLD US HE TOOK THE ZIPLINE FROM SABANG TO SECRET BEACH AND SPENT THE NIGHT THERE. APPARENTLY HE LOVED IT AND WAS ALMOST EMPTY AND BEUTIFUL, SO YOU MIGHT HAVE A LOOK AT IT

• We drove back (1.5 hours), gave back the scooter and took a van from Puerto Princesa to El Nido in the afternoon leaving from San José Terminal (5km from Puerto Princesa airport)

THERE ARE MANY VANS AND BUS COMPANIES IN SAN JOSE TERMINAL LEAVING ALMOST EVERY 2 HOURS, ALSO AT NIGHT AND EARLY IN THE MORNING. AT LEAST IN LOW SEASON, THERE IS NO NEED TO BOOK IN ADVANCE

YOU CAN ALSO ORGANISE A DIRECT TRANSPORT FROM THE UNDERGROUND RIVER TO EL NIDO AS THERE ARE PEOPLE IN SABANG AND SEVERAL TRANSPORTS READY TO TAKE YOU TO EL NIDO. HOWEVER THE FIRST HOUR YOU DRIVE THE SAME ROAD YOU TAKE TO COME BACK TO PUERTO PRINCESA

EL NIDO:

• The trip from Puerto Princesa to El Nido is quite tiring, around 6 hours, with a few stops for drinks or food
• We arrived on the 1st of September in the evening, took the first hotel we ramdomly saw and went for a walk in El Nido, which is a small beuatiful village full of bars by the sea coast. 
• Definitely El Nido is the place with more PARTY & NIGHTLIFE in our whole trip (Boracay an other places are also popular "party" islands)
• There are many diving companies and tour agencies, and you can be constantly offered 4 tours: A, B, C & D:
  
• These tours are offered from 1,200 to 1,400 pesos depending on your choice. However we chose tour A for the next day and as it was low season we got it for 1,000 pesos each, even being picked up at our hostel (just 1km far)
• Early 2nd August we did TOUR A, starting theoretically at 9am. However, it started at almost 10am because they wait to have around 15-20 people per boat. It finishes at around 4:30 pm

Places visited in Tour A are beautiful, and I had the feeling almost all tours must look quite similar.

• The tour stops in 3-4 places where you have around 45 minutes to enjoy. you can rent a kayak, buy some drinks, ice creams, etc
• Food is included in the package, and we really felt it was amazing: fish, chicken, rice, sauces, plenty of fruits, salad, juices... much more than we expected
• Last stop takes you to 7 Commando Beach, place we loved, and here we spent almost 2 hours

• In this beach there is a nice swing. The following picture is quite common, each one with their style

• I consider the price of the tour is more than reasonable and we were quite and exhausted after it

USE SUNSCREEN DURING THE TOUR. I WAS COMPLETELY BURNT AFTER THAT DAY, HAD TO SWIM NEXT DAYS WEARING A T-SHIRT AND I PEALED RIGHT AFTER MY HOLIDAYS

• 2^nd  September we did a 3-hour trekking nearby from 6-9 am. We saw a “climbing” advertisement in our hostel and they contacted a guy who charges 500 pesos per person. It is not real climbing but a trekking but the views to El Nido from the top are nice and it is something different to do in El Nido, we do not regret it at all
  

• Right after, we rented a scooter for the day and went to Nacpan beach (fee of 50 pesos per person). It is a beautiful beach with and has a nice restaurant where we had a lovely fish and seafood lunch. Together with 7 Commando beach, it is the best beach we visited in the whole trip, not for diving though
  

• From Nacpan beach we walked 10 minutes to have views of Twin Beach, pretty as well
  

• In the afternoon we went back to El Nido, to Cabañas beach, where apparently sunset views are the best
  

• Next morning we took a ferry from El Nido to Corón at 8am. It takes approximately 7 hours, including a simple lunch of fish and rice. We booked in advance for $31 each but I think you can find cheaper prices while in El Nido. Besides, during low season the ferry was quite empty. However, in high season booking might be necessary
• We booked 2 nights in “Corón Guapos Guesthousel” and it was a great surprise: only 500 pesos per couple per night, humble but very clean, and very well located
• That afternoon we tried the Maquinit Hot Spring (200 pesos per person) … basically a large swimming pool with hot water…nothing big but ok to relax
  

• For next day we booked 3 dives + lunch with Rocksteady dive center (http://www.rocksteadydivecenter.com) for 3,100 pesos per person (instead of 3,500 as officially stated due to low season). There is a large offer within the city but I had contacted with them previously and they were very helpful. They looked professional as well and we were that lucky to have an instructor only for us two
• IN CORÓN THERE ARE WRECKS OF II WORLD WAR VESSELS, WITH UP TO 10 VESSELS DROWNED AT DEPTHS OF 10-40 METERS. ACCORDING TO FORBES, IT WAS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST 10 DIVES IN THE WORLD
• We did 3 dives: TERU KAZE MARU, MORAZAN MARU, LUSONG GUNBOAT. You can go all around the vessels and there are nice sea life at the same time, so completely worth it. We started around 8am and were back at 4-5pm
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• 5^th morning we had a short walk to Mount Tapyas from the hostel, from where you can have a better view of Corón
  

• In the afternoon we flew to Manila for the last day of our trip

Manila:

• We had only 24 hours in Manila, starting in the afternoon on the 5th September. We were quite tired and initially we did not feel like visiting Manila. However we changed our mind later
• As we knew traffic in Manila airport is a pain in the ass, we decided to go to our hotel by metro. However, the closest metro station from Terminal 4 (domestic) was Baclaran station (2.5 km away), so we walked half an hour. We crossed a huge market with clothes, fruits, food, etc… where I bought some shorts very cheap
• Metro was only 20 pesos per person, we went till Doroteo Jose station and walked to our hotel “Sun Star Grand Hotel”, a bit more expensive than previous ones but quite nice
• Both 5^th evening and 6^th morning we walked around the same areas, where you can breathe Spanish influence, mainly the following:
• Rizal Park
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Intramuros
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• These areas were much nicer than expected and we actually enjoyed our 24 h in Manila
• On the other hand, outside these areas we saw plenty of people living in the streets. I had only seen something similar in some places in India
• One attraction in Manila is the “jeepney”, an American vehicle which works as a public bus
  
• The trip came to an end and 6^th September in the afternoon we flew back to Dubai
• Honestly I am surprised Philippines is not as touristic as other South East Asian countries but I am sure tourism will keep growing a lot in this country

• In 2017 I spent a day in Manila again and I visited Taal Volcano, in the south. This time I had no much time so I went with colleagues in an organized tour for approximately $50. We took a van for 2 hours, then a boat to cross to Taal (20 minutes) and there we were able to take a horse or walk till the top. I was granted beautiful views during the whole journey, really recommended
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• I hope you have found helpful some of this information