How to plan the ultimate island-hopping adventure in the Philippines

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Filipinos have long referred to their country as a pearl. And yes, you can find pearls here — but that’s not the only reason why. It has everything to do with the Philippines’ natural riches: among them, jade-green rice terraces, looming limestone mountains and sunsets so vivid they seem to set the sea ablaze. Add to this the country’s cities, with oceanside skyscrapers, a diverse street food scene and charming, mini-bus-like jeepneys, and you have the makings of a world-class break.  

Because the Philippines has no mainland to speak of, most trips here tend to involve hopping between some of its 7,641 islands and islets. Those craving a more laidback beach getaway are well catered for: in popular destinations like Palawan, bangkas (bamboo outrigger boats) line up by the shores, ready to whisk you to your choice of sandbar. Some are backed by barefoot bars, some are famous for snorkelling, while others are reclaimed by the water at high tide. 

But the best visits to these islands include time spent inland. Filipinos flock to the cities of the Central Visayas, where ancestral houses and museums tell tales of national heroes — revolutionaries whose names are uttered with a reverence usually reserved for saints. On less frequented landmasses like the Bicol Peninsula, on Luzon island, you’ll find forests crisscrossed with streams and dotted with crystalline lagoons, and villages built from bamboo and wreathed in woodsmoke. Motorised tricycles putter from one of these villages to the next, carrying anything from chickens and pigs to an entire family of eight. 

Diving opens up a whole new world beneath the waves, too, where coral chapels house congregations of angelfish and wrasse, while shoals of silvery sardines dance above. Some sites are frequented by bigger beasts — barracudas, manta rays, whale sharks and thresher sharks — and advanced diving credentials can bring them into view, while also giving access to the Philippines’ renowned shipwrecks. Down at those depths, you might discover creatures such as the ghost pipefish, which make their homes in the banks of black coral. And, who knows, perhaps you’ll find a shining pearl or two. 

Itinerary 1: Central Visayas

Start: Mactan • Finish: Apo Island 
Distance: 183 miles • Time: 16 days

The Philippines can be divided into three areas: Luzon, the biggest, northernmost island, home to the capital, Manila; the Visayas, an archipelago scattered at its centre; and Mindanao, the second-largest island to the south. The Central Visayas are the heart of the country, with as much culture and history as leisure and adventure. 

Begin on Mactan island. Lapu-Lapu City is named after the 16th-century chief who ordered the killing of explorer Ferdinand Magellan, whose arrival paved the way for Spanish rule. To learn more about the country’s past, cross the 5.5-mile Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway to Cebu island, where history looms large in both Catholic churches and capiz shell-encrusted ancestral houses. 

Reserve about a week for both. Then, the real island-hopping begins, with fast and frequent ferries making transfers easy. Take one to Bohol island; once there, drive straight to Tagbilaran city, on Bohol’s southern shore, and across a bridge to Panglao Island. After a couple of days recharging on Panglao, retrace your way to Bohol to explore its limestone hills. Beyond lies Negros island, where Dumaguete city is the jumping-off point for discovering Apo Island.

The undulating Chocolate Hills of Bohol are one of the most photographed natural sights in the Philippines.

Photograph by J. Banks, AWL Images

Highlights

1. Mactan
Seaside resorts line Mactan’s southeastern shore — as do dive shops, positioned to make the most of a vertiginous reef wall that’s home to sea snakes and green turtles. Lapu-Lapu City, which covers most of the island, is the Philippines’ guitar-making capital: take a tour of Alegre Guitar Factory, which sells instruments made from tropical wood. 

2. Cebu
Ferdinand Magellan spent his final days on Cebu, one of the region’s biggest islands. This is where you’ll find Magellan’s Cross, planted by the explorer after his arrival, and the Santo Niño de Cebu. While they were still on good terms, Magellan gifted local tribespeople this carved wooden image of the baby Jesus, now housed in the Basilica del Santo Niño. It’s honoured every January during Sinulog, a folk dance festival.

3. Panglao Island
There’s a beach to suit every visitor to Panglao. While most like to party on Alona, the local favourite is Dumaluan, a quiet stretch of powdery coral sand. If neither appeals, take a boat trip to the round island of Balicasag. On the way there, you may spot bottlenose and Risso’s dolphins.

4. Bohol
Bohol’s undulating Chocolate Hills are one of the Philippines’ most photographed sights, but they’re not the island’s only attraction. Spend the night in a nipa palm hut in the forest village of Loboc, paddleboarding by day and firefly-watching by night. 

5. Dumaguete
This university town sits on the east shore of Negros, an island known for its tangy inasal (barbecued chicken). Try it at Jo’s Chicken Inatô, then head to Lab-as Seafood Restaurant for liempo kinilaw, vinegar-cured tuna chunks topped with crispy pork belly. Spend the evening bar-hopping along Rizal Boulevard, sampling rums made from Negros sugarcane. 

6. Apo Island
This coral cornucopia is one of the country’s best-loved dive spots. Beginner-friendly sites include the Chapel, where moray eels slither among sea fans and leather corals. For experienced divers, Coconut Point has schools of trevally and the occasional hawksbill turtle.

How to do it: 
Bamboo Travel has a 16-day Mactan to Apo Island trip from £3,495 per person based on two sharing, including flights from London, transfers and accommodation on a B&B basis. 
For more information, click here.  

Itinerary 2: Palawan

Start: Puerto Princesa • Finish: Coron Town
Distance: 310 miles • Time: 14 days

Although a map might convince you it’s one giant mass of land, Palawan is a quintessential island-hopping destination. Around 1,780 islets are scattered around the shores of Palawan Island — the archipelago’s biggest by far — ranging from jagged peaks to blinding white sandbars. But it’s the sea itself, and what lies within, that truly dazzles. 

The best place to start is the provincial capital of Puerto Princesa, on Palawan Island. It faces Honda Bay, a smattering of islands that sink and reemerge with the ebb and flow of tides. Riding a bus through Palawan Island’s interior, you’ll find bamboo villages full of crowing cockerels, set against the silhouette of indigo mountains. It’s a fine taster for the UNESCO-listed Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, which draws visitors from the Cabayugan River’s brackish mouth into a shadowy cathedral of caves. 

Palawan’s northeastern tip is a limestone wonderland, its chiselled karsts attracting climbers, kayakers and photographers. From here, take a multi-day boat trip to Coron Town, your last stop and base for reaching the waters of Coron Bay. It’s a world-renowned wreck-diving destination: Japanese warships lie in shallow graves, with coral and sea turtles claiming their rusting hulls.

Highlights

1. Puerto Princesa
Palawan’s capital is your base for the first few stops of this itinerary. Pay a visit to the Palawan Heritage Center, an interactive museum that houses both ancient artifacts and modern arts and crafts. In the evening, head to the seafront Baywalk promenade, where you’ll find a variety of laid-back, family-owned restaurants and bars. Don’t miss the Palawan honey-infused beer at Palaweño Brewery, the Philippines’ first female-owned craft brewery, a 20-minute walk into town.  

The ​Bacuit Archipelago is easily explored in a paraw – a ​traditional Filipino sailing boat

Photograph by Scott Sporleder

2. Honda Bay
The islets in Honda Bay, north east of Puerto Princesa, are blessed with biodiversity. On an island-hopping day tour from the city, operator Corazon Travel & Tours will have you swim among horned sea stars, damselfish and iridescent wrasse, pausing for a picnic lunch of freshly caught fish. On the larger islands, coconut vendors ply their trade on many beaches and will gladly hack open a freshly fallen fruit for you to drink from.

3. Mount Magarwak
The beginner-friendly trek up Mount Magarwak — a cluster of hills between Honda Bay and the taller peaks of Puerto Princesa — is best done as a half-day trip from the city. Most guides will pick you up before sunrise; this way, you’ll reach the summit in time to see the sun’s first golden rays skim the bay below. On the way up, you’ll encounter native ironwood and katmon trees, as well as some of Palawan’s 445 species of butterfly.

4. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
In this national park on the western coast of Palawan Island, an underground river winds for five miles through a mountain. Small-boat tours from the nearby village of Sabang take you up to its halfway point, gliding through echoing caves where bats chatter overhead. Although most travellers will visit on an organised day trip from Puerto Princesa, it’s worth staying overnight in Sabang to explore the surrounding forest, home to endemic species such as the Palawan peacock pheasant and Palawan porcupine.  

5. El Nido
This town is the base for visits to the Bacuit Archipelago — 45 craggy limestone outcrops that rise from the sea like mountains. To escape the day-trippers, it’s worth booking a tour through an operator such as Tao, which takes you to Coron Town for several days of snorkelling in the furthest-flung islands, eating and sleeping by the sea in bamboo huts.

6. Coron Bay
During the closing stages of the Second World War, the US Air Force launched a surprise attack on 12 Japanese warships anchored in Coron Bay, sinking them in a matter of hours. Their wrecks — particularly that of the Okikawa Maru, with its cavernous propeller room and resident population of neon nudibranchs — are now popular locations for experienced divers.

How to do it: 
Bamboo Travel offers a 14-day Puerto Princesa to Coron trip from £3,995 per person based on two sharing, including flights from London, transfers and accommodation on a B&B basis.

For more information, visit Palawan Tourism. 

Published in the April 2024 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

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