Philippines in 10 days

Best time to go: the best time to visit the Philippines is during the dry season from November to February as from March to October it can get very hot and humid.

General advice: for all the beaches you will need to buy aqua shoes (similar to diving or snorkelling neoprene boots) as there are loads of pebbles and small rocks so it can be quite painful to get off the boat if you don’t have them. Also I recommend you to take a dry bag with you to put your phone or camera in, if you want to take them out of the boats. Buy a SIM card at the airport, especially if you are going to drive around!

If you are planning on taking boats to go from an island to another you have to arrive to the port 1 hour before departure as there are a few security controls to pass and taxes to pay.

As you will see this a trip where you are going to spend many days at airports or ports that could be quite stressful so bear this in mind.

Day 1: Manila - Bohol

We arrived at Manila in the evening and took an internal flight straight away. We didn’t stay at Manila as we were told that this is a very dangerous city and there is not much sightseeing to do either. You can take a direct flight with either CebuPacific or AirAisia to Bohol- Panglao airport.

Hotel recommended at Bohol: "North Zen Villas".

Day 2: Bohol

I must say that I really liked Bohol and surprisingly it was not crowded by tourists so it was very nice to explore. There are a couple of things that worth doing in Bohol.

First is to visit the tarsier sanctuary, this primate species only lives in few islands of southeast Asia and is about to be extinct. At the sanctuary you can see them on their natural habitat while you follow a path around the jungle.

You can also visit the Chocolate Hills that are a group of unusually shaped hills located in the middle of the island. This extraordinary landscape is unique and it is a wonderful experience to drive around the area and get to the top of one of them to enjoy the view and take incredible pictures.

Day 3: Bohol – El Nido

El Nido is located at Palawan island. The main airport of Palawan is in Puerto Princesa which is a 5hours drive from El Nido. To go from Puerto Princesa to El Nido you can book private transport for 5,000 pesos. However, El Nido also has a super convenient airport 10 min away from the town that not many people know about.

I would definitely recommend to take a direct flight from Bohol /Panglao to El Nido airport with AirSwift airlines. For some reason you will not find their flights on a common flight search website but if you go directly into the AirSwift website you can book perfectly.

After check in at your chosen hotel, I would recommend you go to Panorama bar to watch the sunset. An incredible experience in a super nice bar right on the beach.

Hotel recommended at El Nido: "Frangipani El Nido" or "Mahogany Resort & Spa".

Day 4: El Nido

The most famous activity to do in El Nido is Island hopping. There are 4 Island hopping boats set up tours to do A,B,C and D. We were told that A and C were the best and that is what we did.

For the tours usually you book a shared boat with 12 people and it costs 1,400 pesos per person per day. However, I would definitely go for a private tour.

We paid 10,000 pesos for our private boat, for 4 people for one day, this included: the food for the day (it was a super nice bbq on the boat), snorkelling goggles and environmental tax (don't lose this paper as you will need it during all your boat rides).

This day we did tour C that was our favourite as it is not that popular we didn’t find that many people and the places were incredible. We requested to do the tour in the opposite direction where there are less people around the islands and beaches so I would advise to do this as well.

Restaurant for the night: Big Bad Thai Bistro & Bar good affordable Asian food.

Day 5: El Nido

Spend one entire day at Nacpan Beach. This is a very long sandy, spectacular beach where you can spend the day and have lunch at one of the fish restaurants on the beach. This is located 40 min drive from El Nido.

Restaurant for the night "Atrove" very good unexpected pizzas in a cute place. Take into account that you will have to queue outside for at least 20 min.

Day 6: El Nido

Private boat again and we did in this case tour A. This is the most famous tour but it's worth it, as you go either to the small lagoon or the big lagoon, which you need a slot during the day to visit - I would recommend to book this tour the sooner the better. We actually only managed to get a slot to go to the small lagoon. A piece of advice here.. you need to rent the kayaks to move around the lagoon… swimming is just a very bad, exhausting idea!!

The contact who facilitated both of our boat trips was Amir (+972 54 8166736) and he referred us to April (+63 995 843 2881).

Have a drink after dinner at "Sava".

Day 7: El Nido – Coron

Coron is an island particular famous for scuba diving. If scuba diving is not your thing you might want to try snorkelling (that is definitely my case ;-))

To go from El Nido to Coron you have 2 options:

1. Flight from El Nido airport with AirSwift – probably the most comfortable option and very quick! Just a 40 min flight!

2. Fast ferry that takes around 3 hours – this is the most popular option and can be difficult to find tickets so book them in advance.

Hotel recommended at Coron: "The Funny Lion"

Day 8: Coron

In Coron there are six large sunken intact WWII ships and that is why this island is so famous for diving. In order to dive here you must be an Advanced Diver and have a good experience. If that is not your case, you can always enjoy your day snorkelling.

The reef surrounding Black Island is perfect for snorkelling. You can see lots of different coral and fish species here! There are also a couple of beaches that are worth exploring on this impressive island.

Day 9: Coron – Manila

Time to come back home… you can fly from Coron to Manila with a few companies: Skyjet, Cebgo and Philippines airlines.

Do you have more days? Continue your trip visiting Siargo island, the suffers island! You can find flights from Coron to Siargo with Philippines Airlines.