Where is your MUST SEE place(s) to go in the Philippines?
For
1. Diving 2. Beaches
3. Scenery 4. Other/Adventure
Thanks for any advice!!!
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Boracay would be a must be in beach in the Philippines. If you dive Cebu (Mactan Island), Bohol (Panglao & Balicasag Is.), Dumaguete (Apo Island) and Palawan would be excellent.
I live in Manila and I would suggest if you want to see the
beauty of the Philippines...you should spend little time
here in the city and travel to : the island of Palawan, and
to Bohol ( Balicasang is great diving and on Bohol island
are the famous chocolate hills and the tarsier creatures.)
For beauty that is not under the sea... take a three day
side trip from Manila to Angeles City and from there
organize a trek into Mount Pinatubo...it is an easy 5 hour
walk in through the ash of the Pinatubo volcano that erupted
in 1991( the largest eruption of this century). Pinatubo is
surreal, breathtaking, hot and at the end of the walk - camp
in the volcanoes crater. And ...swim in her beautiful
natural spa / crater lake.
If you are into caving and the beauty of mountains and some
traditional culture...head North in Luzon to Banaue. In
Banaue, find a lady named Rita at the viewpoint and go for a
3-5 day trek through the rice terraced mountains. She is
great and the views are amazing. Then, head further north
to Sagada and go caving in massive caves that are
spectacular. Experienced guides will help you.
Accomodation is comfortable, cheap and available in both
Banaue and Sagada.
under no circumstances spend any time in manila. it is a
cultural desert with nothing of consequence to see and do.
in this respect consequence means wasting your hard earned
vacation time. go to walsall, des moines, wuppertal or north
sydney for more consequences and culture. that is unless you
count p. burgos street in makati. go immediately to your
beach, diving, scenery or other adventure and look upon
manila as an airport with 12m residents. i am sorry to
offend filipinos living in manila, but let's be straight
manila is just for jobs, jams and money. the beauty, and
there is lots of it, is elsewhere.
Try white water rafting. The outfitter is Tribal Adventures
check it out in Manila and get some info, sorry I dont have the number. The best tip I can give you about this adventure is to look up an article in a business daily website. www.bworld.com.ph Go under destinations then archives and click on stories. There is a couple of articles about this rafting tour. Goodluck to you and have fun with your travels.
PS Pls respect the people and they will do the same to you. Just use common sense and remember the Philippines is a thirld world country and may not have some of the things you are accustomed to.
Have fun!
Jon
try to go to philippine tourism website...www.tourism.gov.ph
Regarding Diving:
I spent 5 weeks in the Philippines last summer, and did a
lot of diving. If you are there in the right season, a 5-7
day dive trip to Tubbataha Reef is a superb idea. Excellent
vis, beautiful wall dives, many exceptional sites.
For wreck diving, go to Coron, on Busuanga Island. Dive with
Dive Right- they have excellent, well maintained rental gear
and friendly staff. The wrecks are quite impressive, even
though the visibility is quite often crap. Worth every
penny.You can get to Coron by boat from Taytay (Palawan) or
by air from Manila.
I also did some diving at Puerto Galera, and although the
diving was pretty good (excellent drift dives)P.G. kinda
sucks. Lousy beaches, crowded, touristy, altogether
unpleasant. Obviously this is just my opinion, but I
guarantee there are much nicer places to stay and to dive in
the Philippines. Enjoy your trip!
P.S.- If you have time, take the trip to Banaue and the rice
terraces. Quite beautiful, very cheap (basic)accomodation.
Walk to the waterfall, its a great place for a swim.
1. best diving--tubattaha reef is FANTASTIC ... if you need
to stay a bit closer to manila: anilao, batangas is only a
3-hour bus ride away from manila, but definitely not as
impressive. puerto galera is also popular, and there are a
lot of other things to do aside from diving (such as
hiking, visiting the indigenious tribes, etc.) ... but it's
not the best place to "get away from it all" because there
are too many tourists.
2. best beach--boracay island (supposedly one of the best
in the world) ... but if you're expecting first-world
amenities, DON'T go there because part of its charm and
pristine beauty is the fact that it's still somewhat
untouched by the horrors of "civilization." i point this
out because the last time i was there, i overheard these
two foreign tourists complaining for hours on end about how
"the tap water is SALTY! there are BUGS in the bathroom!"
well WHAT DO YOU EXPECT--if you want CITY-life, then stay
in manila and forget about rural adventure!!!
3. best scenery--i could go on forever .... in the far
north, go to Sagada (around 8 hours away from baguio city,
which in turn, is about 5 hours away from manila). there
you can visit the rice terraces, go spelunking in the
BEAUTIFUL caves (don't forget to visit the hanging coffins--
an ancient burial site), and chat with the indigenous
people. south of manila, you could go to bicol and visit
the mayon volcano--with its 8000 feet perfect cone. it's
an active volcano, though, so you probably won't want to
climb too high up. far south--a plane-ride away from
manila--is palawan which is a nature-lover's absolute
PARADISE!
4. others: if you're into history, spend a day in
corregidor island for a trip back in time to the second
World War. you might also want to go to Vigan to visit the
old colonial houses preserved since the Spanish times.
by far. Just there 2 weeks ago and there is loads of green algae all over the 4 km beach. The place I enjoyed the most was El Nido in Palawan and Romblon Island. El Nido for its dramatic beauty and lovely surrounding islands. Romblon because it is almost untouched by tourism, you can have a gorgeous beach all to yourself and stay in some quiet, off the beaten track places. Both places have really good snorkeling (I don't know about diving). Romblon is easy to get to from Batangas. El Nido less easy unless you fly or get a ferry to Coron.
Certainly, Davao City.
It's one of Asia's Best Cities (Ranked #15 in Asiaweek) and
has the second best source of potable water in the world
(aacdg. to WHO). It's got the islands (pristine white sand
beaches of Samal is just a mere 5 minute motorboat ride) and
highlands (Mt.Apo, the country's highest peak, and Southeast
Asia's 2nd highest). Food is cheap (seafoods galore!) and
has a variety of cheap accommodations. Davao gulf is a
diver's paradise (Davao best kept secret!). Going to Marilog
(1 1/2 hours away from downtown) is an adventure (see its
caves, waterfalls, springs!). One of the safest cities
in the country (our Police Office was voted the best in '98)
And we are outside the typhoon belt!
Check us out: www.philonline.com/davaotourism
www.davao.net www.davaocity.com