One Week in the Philippines?
 

Scored an excellent deal WAS-MNL for this upcoming Easter 2015. ($900 R/T minus some additional VBD vouchers). March 28-April 5th...the "Holy Week"

Time constraints limit us to one week between our travel days.

I am having a maddening time figuring out what to do. Every review is 100% love it or hate it of, well, everywhere.

We are a late 20's couple that loves a great day trek in the jungle/volcano, culture in the city, and a day on a pristine beach. The Philippines seems like it has it all...but I cant narrow it down to any Geographical area or two without coming across some god-awful trip reports from said area.

Boracay? Palawan? Cebu/Bohol? Mt. Pulag/Sagada?

Looking for some FT'er advice here. ^

Holy Week is kind of maybe not the best time to travel in the Philippines. Mainly because EVERYONE in the Philippines usually wants to travel domestically that week as many businesses and government offices close or limit hours and allot of travel related facilities go through a hectic, crowded, somewhat chaotic state as allot of the local Philippine population is off work and on the move all at once. Not saying don't go that week, it's always fun in the Philippines, :-) but when weighing travel advice keep in mind that some things are different during Holy Week in the Philippines. It's a MAJOR holiday season.

You are asking a pretty big, vague question, so here are some general thoughts...

The biggest holy week party is on Bantayan Island. Typically Filipinos go there because a Catholic Pope gave them permission to eat meat while all the rest of the Catholics are supposed to be giving up meat (read the story here). Nowadays it's just an excuse for a big party week. If you are into huge fiestas and dancing and all that, go there.

For nice beaches, definitely go to Boracay, they will also be having big celebrations that week and lots of fun. I would strongly recommend reading Eightblack's epic Boracay vacation thread here. Get an outdoor massage on the beach, rent the dune buggies, try some of those boat-towed rides.

Cebu is a big place and will be less crowded as the people are spread around different cities. You might try Malapascua Island in the north for scuba diving, nice beaches, etc. I usually stay at Exotic Beach Resort there, which is one of the more expensive hotels on the island, but the only one with a private beach. When booking a hotel in Malapascua make sure and ask if they have 24-hour air conditioning in the rooms because not all of them do. And it will be hot. Also Oslob in the south for snorkeling with whale sharks and Moalboal for scuba. That's right near the Kawasan Falls too which is a fun hike. And if you are down that end of Cebu you might want to visit Dumaguete for a change of scenery. I recommend Liquid Dumaguete for a place to stay there.

If you head to Cebu PM me and I will hook you up with a reliable driver if you need one. Holy week is no time to be taking public transport in the Philippines. ;)

Enjoy your trip!

RJ

Can I ask what airline you booked through for your deal? Looking to travel from TPA to MNL.

I booked on DL back in June. According to TFD...this fare was around from WAS last night as well. Also keep your eye open from DFW and the west coast cities.

I appreciate the thoughts and opinions. It is what I am looking for. I have just never traveled anywhere where the trip reports I research are so strongly positive or strongly negative. People love/hate Cebu, Boracay, etc. The FT'ers seem to be filled with similar minded people to myself so I value your opinions more. ^ You turned me more on to Boracay when I was leaning towards Palawan.

I suppose one thing I am definitely looking for is a place with "inland" non-beach activities as well. We are looking for amazing beaches...but like going on nice hikes and whatnot as well.

Well, don't let me turn you off Palawan, it's a wonderful place to visit. If you are a scuba diver, the WWII wrecks around Coron are amazing. And then of course there is the world-famous underground river. There is no reason for me to recite the list of attractions from Wikipedia, take a peek yourself. ;)

Boracay has a nicer beach, but it's more touristy and smaller. Palawan is bigger with more to do, but a little more hassle to get around once you are there (Coron is a trip). IMHO if you want to spend a week in one place, Palawan is the better choice. If you want to do some island hopping inside a week, go with Boracay and Panglao (a tourist beach location in Bohol, they have a fast ferry from Cebu City). There are some fun things to do on Bohol, the Lobuc river cruise, the Tarsier monkeys, Chocolate Hills and you can see all those things in one day from an air conditioned tourist bus. Also some good scuba diving around Panglao.

Note that if you are staying at a resort for a few days, they will probably include transfers for free. So if you want to visit Panglao, you take the ferry to Tagbilaran and the resort you are going to will send a van to pick you up and take you to the resort. It would be sort of a hassle to manage your own transfers otherwise. So whatever resorts you stay at, ask them if they can arrange all your transfers for you.

Again just some random thoughts. If you narrow it down to a rough schedule I can recommend some resorts or activities. You should probably book your resorts and domestic flights early due to the holiday week.

Boracay is very good. But given that you want more than a beach vacation, I second the Panglao/Bohol suggestion. I was there a few months ago. The beach itself is very good, not great. But you also have some day trips, like snorkeling around Balicasag or swimming with the whale sharks over at Oslob (not the best ride though, check reviews to be sure you want to do it), the tarsiers, as well as the chocolate hills. You can take the ferry from Cebu or just get your domestic flight into Tagbiliran. If you want to do a bit more, you can head back to Cebu and go to some places around that island quite easy.

Note flights to MNL from the smaller airports are quite late sometimes. Lots of posts recommend getting into MNL a day before your int'l flight, although if you have 3 or 4 hours or more advance arrival back to MNL, I usually feel that is enough leeway.

ETA: I went to Palawan and it was ok, but long drives between places, not much sea-life. Very nice views, and some fun island hopping. I flew out from El Nido cuz I couldn't take the long ride back to Puerto Princesa. And the boats from El Nido to Coron I was hoping to take were not comfy (wooden benches for 8 hours) and looked, um, not seaworthy, to say the least. But to each his own. If you like that idea, Tao Adventures does a fun camping/snorkeling tour from island to island. They're booked well in advance, but lots of people like it a lot.

Thanks...I have a better idea what each area involves now. Just need to decide what type of trip we are looking for.

I will probably bump this back up once I have some sort of itinerary ironed out. ^

Go see the festival in San Fernando, Pampanga, where a few volunteers reenact the crucifixion by themselves being nailed to the cross.

I haven't checked it out mainly because of fear of traveling around during such a heavy volume time for locals to travel.

Have been to Boracay twice but it's probably a lot more built up now. Small and very fragile place, but beautiful if they don't ruin it. Also went to Sabang, Puerto Princesa and Dos Palmas in Palawan (before the attack) and all that was quite nice. El Nido and islands off the north end are likely even more scenic, but air access is a tad pricey and low-volume. Malaria and access to medical care also used to be issues for that area, but the situation has probably improved in recent years.

Cebu has historic sites and is more compact and manageable than Manila, and Bohol has both some beaches and the Chocolate Hills. Have also been to Bantayan, where locals are friendly but the beach is no great shakes.

Boracay is the closest to a fly-in/fly-out type of beach like Thais have with Phuket or Samui. Some of the other better natural attractions take effort to get to.

Holy Week is a major travel time in the Philippines as a lot of people travel back home for the week. Better book your Cebu Pacific Air or PAL tickets soon.