It seems that lots of people skip Philippines during their Southeast Asia trip, just because it’s that little bit further away and flights might be a bit more expensive. The sad thing is, that the place has had a bad rap too recently and we ourselves were warned to ‘stay safe’ while we were there. Truth is, we loved this island nation and all the people we met. Here’s why.
The people
Filipino people just have this way about them. Generally, everyone is super friendly and everyone’s super keen to make a good impression on the tourists. Politeness is up there and Mike became ‘Sir Michael’ from all the hospitality staff. It also turns out that out of all the tourists we met our trip, two of our faves were Manila locals that we met in Coron on holiday themselves. Not only were they incredible people but gave us some decent food tips too. Thanks to them we reckon next time we visit we’ll be landing and staying in Manila. This guy in Boracay loved that I loved his t-shirt as much as him.
That water
While we didn’t have time to do as much of Philippines as we would have liked, both Boracay and Coron made an incredible impression on us. Both areas have breathtaking coastline, greens and blues that we’d never seen before and all sorts of lagoons and bodies of water we’d never experienced. Coron in particular is a special place and has coral reefs that Disney movies would be jealous off. Check out our Coron highlights here.
That’s not to say Boracay isn’t one of the most beautiful places we’ve been. Here’s what we did in Boracay.
Getting around
Manila has the biggest airport and everywhere pretty much flies here, even if it means leaving Vietnam at 2am and flying through the night like we did. We connected through to Caticlan Boracay where you have to boat from the airport (via a short bus ride) to the island itself (all pretty straight forward, more tips here), then flew direct to (Busuanga) Coron with Air Juan which we’d totally recommend. Way easier than taking a boat or trying to figure out the cheapest way to fly. They fly the route a couple of times a week.
Philippines Air and Cebu Air are also worth checking out and it’s worth looking at their own websites as their routes didn’t always come up on skyscanner.
Getting around in Coron and Boracay is easiest done by getting a ride on one of these trikes, they’re a bit fun and each one is owned by a family.
Even the food.
Filipino food doesn’t usually make the list of top ethnic foods, but we found some special food, particularly in Coron where the food is more local and less international. Try Adobo, sisig and Lechon Kawali (deep fried pork belly). Boracay offers all the choices from all over the world, so you’re bound to find something good.
So if you’re umming and ahhhing about Philippines, say yes. Give our Boracay or Coron blogs a read too, they might just convince you.
