Philippines Itinerary
After completing a two week tour around the Philippines, I thought I'd share the itinerary that saw us get around this beautiful collection of islands and take in the majority of sights the nation is known for. In short our route was: Manila > Bohol > Cebu > Palawan (El Nido) > Manila
As ever this itinerary is just a base template and there's definitely more to do depending on time and budget - for example I would have loved to experience Coron as well as some of the lesser visited islands to the east. Before I breakdown the trip though, I thought I'd provide a general overview of each region:
Manila - The capital of the Philippines and home to around 1.8 million people, Manila is a sprawling urban environment which is most likely the first port of call to visitors of the country. While the 'old town' of Intramuros offers several points of interest such as Fort Santiago and the San Agustin Church, the city's main feature is its density and sense of constant busyness - summarised by these photos which for the most part only required a walk outside of the hotel to capture.
Bohol - About an hour's flight from Manila, the island of Bohol stands out in the Philippines as despite the country being known for its clear-blue seas and white sand beaches (of which Bohol has), I would say instead it is marked by its greenery and in-land nature. The majority of the island's sights can be experienced on a one-day tour, taking you the town of Loboc (known for its zipline, river and man-made forest), a tarsier sanctuary and most notably the Chocolate Hills - a landscape of around 1,500 hills marked by their uniform shape and brown colour at the end of the dry season.
Cebu - Accessible via ferry, the island of Cebu is larger and more populated than Bohol - yet the town of Oslob, in which we stayed, was a ghost town in comparison to Alona Beach. Although large, the benefit of this was that Cebu offered a regular bus service around the island for an extremely low price and enabled us to make our way to Kawasan Falls, the most popular waterfall on Cebu alongside Tumalog Falls. While it is awe-inspiring to unwind in the scenery of these waterfalls, a first-time trip to Cebu is nothing unless you have a morning swim with the Whale Sharks in Oslob. While the practice could come across as problematic in regard to the ethics of wildlife tourism, there are stringent rules in place so as to protect the physical and mental wellbeing of these grand creatures.
El Nido - While geographically a hidden gem in northern Palawan, the growing reputation of the town of El Nido could soon see it lose its 'hidden' status given the parallels drawn to an island paradise. Nevertheless El Nido is not as developed as I first thought, with more hostels and inns than hotel resorts and a sense of authenticity which only boosted the charm of the region. Although the beaches of Nacpan and Las Cabanas are worth visiting to relax, the main appeal of El Nido is its access to the Bacuit archipelago which provides the bulk of tourist income in the form of island hopping tours.
Day 1 - Arrive in Manila and acclimatise
Day 2 - Explore Manila
Whilst I don't want to come across as overly cynical, it has to be said that Manila doesn't particularly offer visitors a vast array of attractions (hence why it's commonly recommended to just stay here for a day before heading off elsewhere). Nevertheless you can't sit around in your hotel/hostel, so your best bet is heading to the Intramuros region of the city - marked by its Spanish architectural and cultural influences. Sights here include Fort Santiago, San Agustin Church and Rizal Park.
Day 3 - Fly to Bohol (Tagbilaran Airport)
Our flight was just before mid-day and with the short duration of around an hour, this still gave us plenty of time to settle into our accommodation in Panglao and relax on Alona Beach. I'd recommend staying here for your time on Bohol as it's a lively location yet still budget friendly.
Day 4 - Bohol Day Tour (Blood Compact Statue, Baclayon Church, Loboc Zipline, River Cruise and Lunch, Tarsier Sanctuary, Man Made Forest, Chocolate Hills (incl. ATV experience))
One of the most common activities on Bohol is a day trip around the island with a driver. While the trip was relatively good value for money the Bohol experience on a budget can be achieved if you're either confident enough to drive and navigate a moped around the island, or simply inform your driver that you don't wish to partake in some of the activities which required an extra fee. Although enjoyable, it wouldn't have been regretful to not take on the zipline or ride the quadbikes near the Chocolate Hills - especially as we hadn't considered these in our plans anyway.
Day 5 - Alona Beach
After almost a week travelling it's probably a good idea to take it easy for one day. Head to the beach and unwind.
Day 6 - Island Hopping Boat Tour (Balicasag Island & Virgin Island)
At Alona Beach you'll be inundated with offers to take part in boat/island hopping tour and, after agreeing on a reasonable price the day before, we headed off in the morning with several others. We decided not to take part in the snorkelling on Balicasag based on a combination of price, reviews and the fact that we'd get our fix of the activity later down the line.
Day 7 - To Oslob (Ferry to Dumaguete, then bus towards Oslob/Cebu City)
Probably the most stressful part of the trip, mainly because the majority of itineraries online go from Oslob/Cebu to Bohol rather than the other way round. From the information we had seen we decided to take the ferry to Dumaguete, get a trike to Sibulan port, another ferry to Liloan (despite asking to go to Samboan), and then a trike to our accommodation. Little did we know that for a lot less time, effort and money we could have simply got a bus when arriving at Dumaguete - d'oh!
Day 8 - Whale Sharks
If you're in Oslob, you're almost certainly there to experience swimming with the Whale Sharks that convene close to shore in the few hours after sun rise. Because of the early start, you can fit in visits to other attractions on Cebu - most likely the several waterfalls available to visit.
Unfortunately Tumalog Falls was undergoing a dry period during our visit, therefore we experienced Aguinid Falls and the canyoneering on offer. Despite our hotel guide/driver being lovely, it was a waste of money to hire him considering the ease and low fare of getting the bus, as well as the fact that you need to rely on and pay the staff at these locations anyway.
Day 9 - Waterfalls and Beach
Although some may say this is a day too long in Oslob, it did give us enough time to enjoy Kawasan Falls - arguably the most impressive waterfall on Cebu. The bus journey was around 1.5 to 2 hours but was still incredibly cheap.
Day 10 - To Cebu City
As mentioned, buses are incredibly cheap and frequent. Getting from Oslob to Cebu City (for an onward flight) takes around about 3 hours.
Day 11 - Fly to Puerto Princesa & Transfer to El Nido
Take an early flight from Cebu City to Puerto Princesa, the main airport of Palawan. Unfortunately from here it's roughly a 5 hour minibus ride to El Nido which can get a bit uncomfortable as most likely you'll be travelling with several others. On the up side, drivers will provide several rest breaks and charge a surprisingly low amount for such a long journey (500P).
Day 12 - Boat Tour A/B/C/D
Tourism in El Nido is fuelled by the many boat tours visiting the stunning islands and reefs surrounding the coastal town. Routes are split into 4 (A/B/C/D) so you know what you'll be paying for, and fortunately for us our accommodation (Dreamland) ran their own trips which meant we didn't have to trek into the main town of El Nido and, if agreed with other guests, we could construct almost a custom itinerary.
Day 13 - Boat Tour A/B/C/D
You'll often find that online reviews suggest taking tours A and C for the sights on offer, and upon arriving we quickly handed over the cash to get us on the former. However on our second day, tour B surprised us given its lower popularity and subsequent serenity. Tour A took us to some breath-taking coves, but the charm became slightly diminished when boat upon boat arrived to offload tens of visitors at a time.
Day 14 - Nacpan/Las Cabanas Beach
If you have enough time and money, you could do all four boat tours - however I fear the novelty would become somewhat stale part-way through the third trip. Equally so if you have the budget to hire a motorbike or pay a trike driver, it would be logical to visit the white sands of Nacpan beach. Alternatively, as we did because of budget constraints on our final day, you can visit Las Cabanas beach which is situated only 5/10 minutes away from the main hub of El Nido.
