Philippines: Island hopping on some of the world’s most spectacular islands

For tourists the Philippines is best known for its islands and beaches. Everyone we spoke to and everything we read had different suggestions for the “best” islands. We decided to island hop, spending a few days on each of several islands that were most recommended.

Cebu

Cebu City was our first stop in the Philippines. It is a city of several million people. It was a harsh introduction to the Philippines. The 12 kms from the airport to our hotel was gridlocked with traffic. The last several kilometres were past shantytowns. Plywood and corrugated steel shacks lined the road. Every home had one or more fighting cocks tied up outside, just beyond reach of each other.

The bus the next morning took over an hour to travel the 20 km into downtown. Driving in Cebu requires nerves of steel. The streets are jammed with trucks serving the port, cars, jeepneys, buses, and scooters. Craziness. The city has a modern, middle-class area but most of the history is in its old quarter. The area is compact so we walked it from end-to-end. The walk from where the bus dropped us was another eye-opener. Broken pavement, rundown houses, garbage filled canals, all interspersed with busy neighbourhoods with ordinary homes and businesses.

Most of the historic sights date from the early Spanish colonization in the 1500s: the first cross planted in the Philippines by Magellan, the defensive battlements of Fort San Pedro and countless Catholic churches.

The star attraction is the Basílica Minore del Santo Niño, home of the most famous religious icon in the Philippines. We happened to arrive on the first day of the Sinulog-Santo Niño Festival, the annual festival in honour of Santo Niño. It attracts a million or more worshippers each year. Being day one there was only a fraction of that at the Basilica. It was still bedlam. The midday mass was overflowing. We never got inside the church but did line up with everyone else to view Santo Niño.

That day overloaded our senses and the traffic was daunting. We confess we spent the next day poolside at our hotel, something we rarely do.

Bohol

A quick ferry ride took us to Bohol and Panglao, our first beach destination. Our hotel was a short walk from Alona Beach, the main beach on Panglao. When we first arrived the beach was deserted but for a few divers coming back from exploring the nearby coral reefs. A tropical storm lingered offshore. Instead of turquoise water and brilliant blue sky, the ocean was a murky grey, reflecting the rain clouds. Within a few hours the weather improved. The beach came to life. The restaurants and bars were packed with tourists.

Bohol has two other star attractions. The first is the Chocolate Hills, a geological formation of over a thousand cone-shaped hills. In the dry season they are a uniform chocolate brown colour, resembling Hershey chocolate kisses, hence the name. We were there in rainy season. The hills were lush green, not quite the effect the tourism association promotes. Nonetheless, the steep 200-step climb to the viewing platform was worth the effort.

The second star attraction is the Tarsiers, possibly the cutest animals on earth. They are an endangered species so we could only visit them in a breeding sanctuary. Even in the sanctuary they were hard to spot in the trees. They only weigh around 100 gms and are about 10 cm long. What makes them so endearing, and a bit creepy at the same time, are their huge, bulging eyes and bat-like ears. They supposedly inspired the the Yoda character in Star Wars. There is definitely a resemblance!

Boracay

Next stop was Boracay, one of the top islands in Asia according to Travel+Leisure magazine. Its endless white sand beaches and clear blue waters lived up to the hype. The most famous beach is White Beach which stretches 4 km. The beach has the finest white sand that we have ever experienced. The sunsets are legendary. Our hotel bar overlooked the beach and Happy Hour happily coincided with sunset. We relaxed with cocktails enjoying the beautiful sunsets and watching crowds of Instagrammers trying to get the perfect shot.

There are other, less crowded beaches. We hiked to a couple of them and took an electric tuk-tuk ride to another, the secluded and deserted Puka Shell Beach. The ride was a reality check. Enroute we passed a massive police operation dismantling squatters’ shacks. For about a kilometre the roadside was piled on each side with the meager belongings of the families being evicted from the land. It was like a scene from John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath”.

El Nido

We saved the best until last – El Nido on northern Palawan Island. It was mind boggling how beautiful this northern part of Palawan Island is. El Nido town is nice, but the better beaches are further afield. We hired a tricycle (actually a 175cc Kawasaki with a sidecar welded on) for a day tour. It was a blast sputtering along the highway with the driver’s favourite singer, Engelbert Humperdink, blaring over the tinny roar of the engine. He drove us down bumpy gravel roads to Lio, Nacpan and Marimegmeg Beaches. All were magnificent and not crowded. Palawan is definitely an island we would like to explore further.

A seven-hour tour on the S.S. Minnow

Like everyone else visiting El Nido, we took an island-hopping tour to some of the smaller islands and lagoons. We knew it would be memorable when we had to wade out in water up to our armpits to board the boat. Things went downhill from there. As we set off the boat lost steering and banged into nearby boats. The problem became apparent when the skipper held the steering wheel up in the air. This didn’t appear to be the first time this had happened. With help from the rest of the crew the skipper soon re-attached the steering wheel using several metres of fishing line. Off we went.

First stop was kayaking into a sheltered lagoon. Maria, who doesn’t swim and has never kayaked, was going to stay behind. The guide explained that wasn’t an option. So we jumped down into the kayak and paddled off. We had a blast, and didn’t embarrass ourselves paddling in circles.

Next stop was lunch at a secluded beach. So secluded that the boat couldn’t go in. We had to swim ashore. Did we mention Maria doesn’t swim? Before Maria could say “No thanks”, the guide grabbed her and another non-swimmer by the back of their life jackets and towed them to beach. After lunch we hired one of the local beer peddlers to paddle us back to the boat. Much safer.

Manila

A lot of friends, including many Filipinos, suggested not spending much time (if any) in Manila. We followed their advice and spent only a day there. We stayed in the financial district of Makati. It is a vibrant area of modern towers, shopping malls, cafes, hotels and restaurants. Not at all what we’d been told to expect of the city.

However once we left Makati we saw a different side of the city. Gritty, congested and rundown, with many people living in abject poverty. The main attraction is Intramuros, literally the area that was within the walls of the original Spanish city. Intramuros was almost completely destroyed in WWII. There is much work still to be done, but the government has done a remarkable job of rebuilding the neighbourhood.

After a drive through a very congested Chinatown and the obligatory stops at Catholic churches, it was off to the airport for our late evening flight out of the Philippines.