Philippines

Where can I see your posts on the Philippines?

Click the see articles button on the right sidebar, or scroll to the bottom of the page for mobile.

When did you travel to the Philippines?

Fletch and I spent two weeks in the Philippines in February 2016.

Which areas of the Philippines did you visit?

We spent several days each in Malapascua, Bohol, and finally El Nido on the island of Palawan. We only spent one night in the capital city of Manila on the way out of the country, so that we could go to the movies.

Why did you go to the Philippines?

After living in Palau for a year, we were ready to travel. Manila, being one of the few direct flights from Koror, was a place where many of our friends from Palau had been, and so having to fly through somewhere to leave, we decided to make a trip of it.

How did you get to your various destinations?

We flew direct from Palau (ROR) into Manila (MNL) (3h), which I’m sure almost no one will be looking for directions on how to get from Palau to the Philippines (and if you are, there are two weekly flights from United Airlines). For that reason I will instead focus on how we got from Manila to our various islands.

Manila to Malapascua

→ Fly from Manila (MNL) to Mactan-Cebu City International Airport (CEB) (1h 30m).

→ From the Cebu City airport, stand in the line for the white taxis and ask them to take you to Northern Bus Terminal. If they try to haggle a price, insist they use the meter. I’m still not exactly sure what the difference between the white and the yellow taxis were, just that all the locals were standing in the white taxi line.

→ At Northern Bus Terminal find a bus going to Maya. Some will even tell you Malapascua, but know that the bus doesn’t go all the way there, only as far as Maya where the boats are. Maya is the end of the line so no need to worry about missing the stop. The yellow, Ceres busses were recommended to us, and worked out just fine. The bus ride is 5 hours and 160 pesos. Be careful at the rest stop, because the bus will leave again with no warning.

→ The bus drops you off directly at the pier in Maya. Boats leave every 30 minutes to one hour. The price is supposed to be 50 pesos, but I also heard that foreigners almost never get the fare for less than 100 pesos. The ride is about 30 to 45 minutes.

→ The boat will drop you off on the beach. There may be boys walking the beach who offer to porter your bag. There aren’t a lot of motorized vehicles on the island so you will probably walk to wherever your final destination is.

Malapascua to Bohol

→ Follow the above directions in reverse, back to Cebu City.

→ From Cebu City take the ferry to Bohol. Beware the first class cabin is positively frigid! Normal seating is still air conditioned but not nearly as bad.

→ Once on Bohol, tricycles are aplenty to get you to your final destination.

Bohol to El Nido, Palawan

→ We were able to arrange transport to the airport via our hotel. We flew cheap, local carriers from Bohol to Manila, and from Manila to Puerto Princesa. Even though the flights were only 1h 30m apiece, the journey took all day due to an endless string of delays. Always plan for a full day for travel in the Philippines.

→ The airport at Puerto Princesa is very small. Just walk outside the baggage carousel and there is a tour office that offers mini bus rides to El Nido. The journey is about 5 hours. This shuttle is very easy to book on the spot, and costs of fraction of the price compared to what you might end up paying if you try to book ahead through a third party.

What advice do you have for someone visiting the Philippines?

→ My number one piece of advice to heed above all else is this: always plan for a full day of travel when going to a new spot in the Philippines. It doesn’t matter if that spot is the next island over or across the country; it doesn’t matter if you’re traveling by boat or by plane. Every mode of transportation gets delayed and canceled more often than not. ALWAYS SET ASIDE A FULL DAY FOR TRAVEL!

→ We traveled to the Philippines after living for a year with basically no internet, and so we had only booked our first stay in Malapascua in advance. The rest we had no problem winging. The Philippines is probably one of the few places that is still safe to ‘just wing it.’

→ If you are a scuba diver and a fan of sharks, then Malapascua is a must. This little island has the only known thresher shark cleaning station in the world that is within recreational dive limits. It is a trek to get there, but the vibe is reminiscent of what you’d imagine Thailand was like before all the tourists.

→ On Bohol, we enjoyed the Bohol Bee Farm so much that we left our hotel we had booked, and went and stayed at the Bee Farm instead. Beware that around dinner time, tour busses full of Chinese tourists show up and invade the restaurant. Aside from that hour, the Bee Farm is a very peaceful place to be.

Basic Information:

→ Capital: Manila

→ Population: 100,981,437

→ Area: 120,000 square miles (300,000 square kilometers)

→ Currency: Philippine peso

→ Time Zone: UTC +8 (PST)

→ Official Languages: Filipino, English

→ Religions: Roman Catholic (80.5%), Islam (5.5%), Evangelicals (2.7%), Protestant and others (11.3%)