The Philippines was the last country we visited on our trip through Southeast Asia but it wasn’t actually on the plan until the middle of our trip. We had two extra weeks to spare and decided to pick another country. We were deciding between Myanmar and the Philippines and since we prefer beaches over temples we decided the Philippines. I was overall pretty happy with our decision. The beaches were incredible, amazing waterfalls, and a great place to relax and enjoy sunsets every night. But do have to admit that because there are so many islands and how far apart they are it takes quite a while to get to any of the islands so we spent a lot of our time traveling.
Despite that though I think the Philippines should definitely be a bucket lister, there are 7000 islands with some incredible spots to visit. Just be mindful to research and take your time planning out your trip beforehand. This was definitely one of the more difficult countries to plan simply because of the quantity of islands and distance between them.
Good to Knows
- Currency: Philippine Peso
- 46 pesos = $1
- Visa = No (entry valid for 30 days)
- Fee = $0
Getting Around
The easiest and best way to get from island to island is flying. There are ferry options however most take 8+ hours which eliminates a whole day of vacation for you. There are some islands where ferries are the only options but most of the major islands have airports so I highly recommend flying especially if you have limited time. However do note that majority of flights between the islands will stop through Manila, so that will take some time out of your travel as well. It’s a bit tricky to plan your routing based on finding the best one way flights and the islands you’d like to go to, but just take some time to research and be patient!
Upon arrival at the islands they have public transportation options similar to tuk-tuks and actually have Uber in some of the more major cities like Manila and Cebu. Here’s the breakdown of our trip:
- Hanoi – Manila: Flight Cebu Pacific – $130
- Manila – Caticlan: Flight Cebu Pacific – $80
- Caticlan – Boracay RT: Ferry – $10
- Caticlan – Cebu: Flight Cebu Pacific – $80
- Cebu – Boljoon RT: Bus – $6
- Cebu – Puerto Princesa: Flight Cebu Pacific – $55
- Puerto Princesa – El Nido RT: Shuttle Bus – $20
- Puerto Princesa – Manila: Flight Cebu Pacific – $55
I will be honest and say it’s a lot of traveling. We spent majority of our time in buses traveling from one city to the next. We didn’t get to spend as much time as we wanted in each of the cities we traveled to but I definitely don’t regret it!
Featured Cities
- Boracay
- Boljoon – Cebu
- El Nido
Time of Year
We spent about a total of 2 weeks traveling in the Philippines at the end of March and the weather was pretty perfect. Not too hot and great beach weather so for a last minute decision we got it pretty spot on in terms of time frame. This is also a great time for whale sharks, which is a popular destination in Boljoon, Cebu.
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