Where should I go in the Philippines?

April 20, 2008 12:27 AM

Where should I spend 12 days in the Philippines?

My friend and I are leaving Japan for the Philippines during Golden Week. We bought our tickets to Manila a few months ago and proceeded to completely forget about the trip. Well, now we are leaving in 4 days and still don't know exactly where we are going. All we know now is that we are spending a day or three in Manila to see Intramuros and from there...who knows? So, I'm looking for some suggestions on places to go. He wants to dive (he was certified on Koh Tao this past Christmas), I want to hang out on the beach. We're both poor english teachers, so we need to keep the budget pretty low. Both of us have extensive experience backpacking SE Asia, but this is the first time in the Philippines for both of us.

Basically, we are looking for some middle path between the touristy commercial Boracay and the 6-hours of electricity a day frontier islands. Where should we go? Many have suggested Palawan to me, but I simply don't know where on that Island to go... Any help is greatly appreciated!

posted by MostHolyPorcine to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

Hm. I can only speak as far as the places I've gone to, so here goes...

As far as being non-commercial, you may want to check out the Coron/Culion area in Palawan. It's still not as touristy as Boracay, and probably less of a stress on your budget. It'll take a plane ride from Manila, and then it's just a short ride to the area in Coron with small hotels/inns that probably won't break the bank as much. Lovely beaches and islands, the food is great, and not a whole lot of people yet.

One other suggestion would be to travel from Manila to Cebu, which is in the Visayas region. From Cebu, you can probably take bus rides to other spots that offer diving and such; you may want to check out Malapascua or Bantayan Island in the northern part of Cebu. I'm personally biased towards traveling from Cebu to Dumaguete, as I think there's a whole lot more to do there outside of just diving, and there's some decent options for lodging, as well.

Take note, though, that this time of year is summer. Everybody's on vacation mode, so you may want to plan in advance if you're going out of Manila, as almost everyone else who's not tied down to their desks/cubicles will be.

Enjoy your stay!
posted by FarOutFreak at 1:52 AM on April 20, 2008

You might also consider a day trip to Tagaytay and diving in Puerto Galera. Dumaguete and Apo island are excellent diving spots, but they are bound to be very busy this time of year. If you want to get away from things, Siquijor might be a bit quieter.

I'd avoid Boracay. It is completely commercialized and expensive. Palawan is still a little expensive, but is less commercialized.
posted by joelr at 4:19 AM on April 20, 2008

I spent four days on Camigiun. It was a pretty magical place with more volcanoes per square mile than any other island on earth. I'm dying to go back. It has plenty of hiking, diving, and snorkeling.

A German who was staying at the same hotel as I was had spent a month in and around El Nido in Palawan and was thoroughly impressed. Coron is just to the north and has some amazing wreck diving.
posted by trinarian at 4:23 AM on April 20, 2008

Wow, a lot of you have been to the Philippines. meetup time.

Tubbataha in Palawan is supposedly the best place for diving, and a lot of people here agree that Palawan is great, so check that out. I saw on tv that you can rent your own island for 89$, if you'd like to try that out.

Something comparable to this is Alona beach in Panglao Island, Bohol, which is way less crowded. The setup is similar to Boracay's stretch of sand where you can just walk until you find something interesting/good food. Also, it's comparable to Tubbataha but the last time we went (two weeks ago) the fish were tinier in comparison

From Manila, you have the option to go to some of the nearer beaches (Puerto Galera) or up north for cooler weather (Tagaytay, Baguio)... but for the better beaches it's best to hop on a plane to the Visayas (Cebu, or Bohol, or Boracay) or Mindanao(Davao or Camiguin). Check out budget flights prices and schedules at Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines.

If you end up staying a bit longer in Cebu -- it's a bit more laid-back than Manila yet still urban, really really hot (well, everywhere in the Philippines really) , and you can basically use this as a jump-off point to the other islands, and we have plenty. Or actually you can do your diving in Cebu also... just go diving the whole time and go to a spa at the end of it all.

For Palawan, there's only one airport anyway so you can just get to Puerto Princesa from Manila/Cebu and get to Tubbataha/Coron/El Nido from there, if you've got arrangements that's better but I'm pretty sure there'll be taxis waiting for passengers.

MeFi-mail me if you need more info/specifics, I live here (Cebu).
posted by drea at 6:25 AM on April 20, 2008

Oh, and:

Basically, we are looking for some middle path between the touristy commercial Boracay and the 6-hours of electricity a day frontier islands. Where should we go? Many have suggested Palawan to me, but I simply don't know where on that Island to go... Any help is greatly appreciated!

The first place I thought of was Panglao Island, Bohol. Great beach, great diving, plenty of sun (and electricity) and way cheaper, but I doubt you'll want to spend more than three days in one place when you can go off and explore the rest of the country.

But definitely, go to Palawan also. You can't miss Palawan. Yeah, spend some time there.
posted by drea at 6:33 AM on April 20, 2008

Aaaand I'm back...

Seconding the Panglao Island suggestion, as we also went there on a trip late last year. There's a whole lot of places at the beachfront geared towards divers, so that may be what you're looking for. For non-divers, well, there's always the dolphins. Basically, you can just make Cebu a take-off point for wherever else you want to go to in the Visayas.

If it's beaches/dive spots in Luzon, I think it would be better to go to Anilao or maybe even Pagudpud (dunno about the diving, though) way up north, as opposed to Puerto Galera...

And oh yeah, I live in Manila, and am a local. This traveling-on-the-cheap thing is something me and my friends try to practice vehemently, as well.
posted by FarOutFreak at 6:53 AM on April 20, 2008

I spent a few days on Malapascua and really enjoyed it. It was something different, out of the ordinary for most SE Asian islands i have been to. I dived there and saw a thresher shark, which was a real buzz.

There was talk of some big development coming, so i don't know what it would be like now (I was there in April 2004). Enjoy your holiday.
posted by chromatist at 9:52 AM on April 20, 2008

Filipino here, grew up in Manila. Off the top of my head:

- If you plan to do Intramuros, go with Carlos Celdran's Walking Tours. He's a very fun, flamboyant tour guide with a great sense of history and showmanship, and everyone I know who's gone on his San Agustin-Casa Manila-Fort Santiago walking tour has had nothing but good to say about him.

- If you do go to Palawan, do the St. Paul Underground River. There's also a dive resort called Club Noah Isabelle off the north end of Palawan with great packages, all-day power, and you get the royal treatment from staff.

- My experience with Malapascua in '05 was that it was one of those "6-hour electricity frontier islands," at least in the resort we were staying in. Same for Verde Island. There's a resort off Verde Island called Bonito Island which is known for its reef sharks. Saw a few just snorkelling off the beach.

- Tubbataha is old and busted -- literally. Illegal dynamite fishing has wrecked a lot of the reefs in the area so they're not what they used to be. However, about 90 miles southwest of Tubbataha is a small but biologically vibrant reef called Basterra. The new hotness. Lots of huge fish, rays, sharks, and still quite virgin -- at least, it was the last time I dove there, which was about a decade ago.

- Get a room on the Tristar if you do Tubbataha. They're listed here. David Choy's a fun guy and the last time I was on board Tristar there were a couple of Filipino celebrities on board. Hot ones. If you do Basterra, also ask if you can dive the wreck of the Tristar-B.
posted by brownpau at 1:02 PM on April 20, 2008