Our guide on how to spend 15 days exploring the Philippines.

So you’re thinking about traveling to the Philippines—or maybe you’ve already booked your plane ticket, but you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed when it comes to planning your trip.

Well, you’ve come to the right place—we spent 15 days exploring four different islands and below we outline what you need to know if you want to wander like us!

Some stuff you should know…

• 40 Philippine Piso (PHP) = 1 Canadian Dollar (CAD) *approximately

• If you want to read about the accommodations we chose then head to our blog post: ‘Where to Stay—Philippines Accommodations’

• The term ‘tricycle’ refers to a mode of transportation commonly used in the Philippines. A tricycle consists of a dirtbike/motorbike with an attached sidecar and typically fits 2-4 passengers (depending on seats and luggage). This will almost always be the cheapest way to travel and is mainly used for shorter distances. *pictured below

• All flights—except the one from El Nido to Coron—were booked prior to the trip and will be shown in Canadian Dollars (CAD). These prices may have changed since this post was published.

• This symbol ‘~’ will be used to indicate that the price is negotiable.

Manila: The ‘real’ city that never sleeps

The capital city of Manila will most likely be the starting point of your trip to the Philippines. If you are the type of person that enjoys exploring a new city—Manila may be a place that you will want to spend a day or two. You can immerse yourself in the Filipino culture by visiting the Divisoria Market or take a walk through history and visit the old city, built by Spanish colonial settlers in the 1500s, known as Intramuros.

If you hate the thought of being another person crowded into the most densely populated city in the world—you will want to get out of Manila as fast as possible! Our flight into Manila didn’t arrive until almost midnight which meant we had to spend at least one night in the city of over 12.8 million people.

There are plenty of options for places to stay around the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) but since we were flying out early the next morning and wanted somewhere cheap but still relatively nice, we elected to book an AirBnb for the night. Use our code and you can save $45 on your first trip with AirBnb!¹

With the streets bustling and construction workers making noise well into the night—it became immediately apparent that Manila should be crowned as the REAL city that never sleeps. Luckily, we had just travelled 18 hours to get here and not even the sounds of the jackhammers on the streets below our apartment could prevent us from drifting into a deep sleep.

From chocolate hills to tarsiers, Bohol will leave you feeling both awestruck and aww-struck.

Our first three days in the Philippines were spent exploring the island of Bohol. The two most common ways to get to Bohol are listed below:

• From Manila: Fly from Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to Tagbilaran Airport — $60 CAD

• From Cebu: Take a ferry from ‘Ferry Terminal 4’ in Cebu to Bohol — 500 PHP per person²

A flight to Cebu is actually a bit cheaper ($40 CAD) than flying directly to Bohol—but this cost is negligible once you add the cost of the taxi from the airport to the ferry terminal and the cost of the ferry from Cebu to Bohol. If you plan to skip Cebu or plan to visit Bohol prior to Cebu, we recommend flying directly to Tagbilaran airport from Manila. Since we originally planned to visit Cebu first and booked our flights well in advance, we were stuck taking the ferry when our plans changed and decided to skip Cebu (more on this later)!

With pristine beaches and very biodiverse waters it is easy to see why most tourists choose to stay on the beautiful Panglao Island when travelling to Bohol. However, we chose to skip the resorts and beaches and stay in the small town of Loboc instead. Located on the Loboc River—this town offers the perfect central location for all the incredible sights that Bohol has to offer!

• Tricycle hire from the airport or ferry terminal in Tagbilaran to Loboc: ~ 500 PHP

If you have done any research about Bohol you will likely have found out that two of its most popular tourist destinations are the Chocolate Hills and the Tarsier Sanctuary. These two places can easily be seen in the same day but we recommend visiting the tarsiers as early as possible if you want to catch a glimpse of these nocturnal creatures with their eyes open.³

If you are up for a little adventure into the jungle—we also recommend going on a waterfall tour. Both Pahangog ‘Twin’ Falls and Ingkumhan Falls offer stunning jungle views comparable to those found at the ‘Instafamous’ Kawasan Falls in Cebu—but with none of the crowds! The easiest (and cheapest) way to explore the island of Bohol is to rent a scooter. However, if you don’t feel comfortable driving a scooter yourself you can book a tour or hire a tricycle to take you to all the spots you want to see. You can read more about our favourite Instagram-worthy spots on Bohol here!

• Daily scooter rental: 400 PHP

• Tarsier Sanctuary: 60 PHP per person

• Chocolate Hills: 50 PHP per person

• Ingkumhan Falls: 10 PHP per person (plus tip for guide)

• Pahangog Falls: 50 PHP per person

El Nido—a popular destination that is definitely worth a visit.

The journey to El Nido can be a long one—we left our accommodations in Loboc around 8 a.m. and didn’t arrive until after 9 p.m. at night! From Bohol, there are three different ways you can get to El Nido:

1. Take the ferry from Tagbilaran to Ferry Terminal 4 in Cebu (500 PHP per person). From the ferry terminal hi1re a taxi to Mactan-Cebu Airport (~350 PHP). Fly from Cebu to Puerto Princesa ($60 CAD). Hire a shuttle from Puerto Princesa to El Nido (500 PHP per person)

2. Fly from Tagbilaran Airport to Puerto Princesa ($110 CAD). Hire a shuttle from Puerto Princesa to El Nido (500 PHP per person)

3. Repeat steps in #1 but from Mactan-Cebu Airport fly direct to El Nido with AirSwift ($120 CAD). Hire a tricycle from El Nido Airport to your accommodations in El Nido (~350 PHP).

Unless you are trying to make your trip as cheap as possible or you want to explore areas around Puerto Princesa—such as the underground river—we recommend going with option #3. AirSwift is the only airline that operates flights in and out of El Nido Airport, and while they are a little more expensive, we think it is well worth the money to not have to experience the uncomfortably long drive in the shuttle van from Puerto Princesa to El Nido!

The town of El Nido has been popularized—especially on Instagram—by the multitude of surrounding islands with jagged limestone cliffs that protrude out of the water like petrified castles. Visitors are offered four different tours to choose from that will take you out by boat to explore these beautiful islands. These tours are labeled A,B,C and D—but all of the research we did prior to our trip told us that the Tours A and C were the ones we did not want to miss.⁴

If you are looking to escape the crowded tours, and don’t feel like paying for a private boat, we highly recommend renting a scooter (or hiring a tricycle) and taking a day trip to Nacpan beach. Approximately 45 minutes north of El Nido—this four kilometre stretch of turquoise waters washing onto golden yellow sand is the perfect spot to relax for the day! To find out more about our Nacpan beach day trip and how we spent our other days in El Nido—read about our Top Day Trips in El Nido.

• Daily Scooter Rental: 400 PHP

• Tour A: 1,200 PHP per person (+200 PHP per person one-time Eco Tourism fee)

• Tour C: 1,400 PHP per person

• Nacpan Beach: Free Admission!

Scuba diving and an island adventure will highlight your trip to Coron.

Coron is a beautiful island located in the northern Palawan region and is considered part of the larger Municipality of Coron that is located on the nearby Busuanga Island. If you have been following our itinerary to this point—you will need to find your way from El Nido to Coron. Luckily, everyday at both 6:00 AM and 8:20 AM you can board a ferry that will cover this distance in approximately three hours time!

• El Nido to Coron Fast Ferry: 1,848 PHP per person

If you decide to choose this option and are looking for a reliable company, click here to visit the site we used to book our tickets! We also recommend booking as early as possible—especially if you prefer the later departure time.

Alternatively, if long boat rides make you nervous, you can opt to take the much quicker route of flying to Coron. AirSwift connects these two popular destinations with a short 30 minute flight that departs from El Nido airport. You will likely spend more time in the airport than you will in the air!

• Tricycle from El Nido to El Nido Airport: ~350 PHP

• Flight from El Nido to Busuanga Airport: approx. 6,000 PHP per person

• Shuttle from Busuanga Airport to Coron: 500 PHP per person

We booked our ferry ride to Coron well in advance and were trying to stick to a pretty strict schedule. However, Mother Nature had other plans for us when she decided to send a Typhoon towards El Nido. Due to the dangerous water conditions—all boats departing El Nido were cancelled. This meant we not only missed out on Tour C, but we also had to spend the extra money on flights to Coron! You can read all about this abrupt change of plans on this post: ‘Typhoon in El Nido: What to do when disaster strikes!’

What initially attracted us to Coron was not the beautiful island views (although those definitely didn’t hurt!) but the chance to complete our first wreck dives! The water surrounding Coron has over ten sunken ships to explore—most of which were from an attack on the Japanese Navy in 1944. We cannot comment on the reputability of other dive centres in Coron—but we can definitely recommend the Neptune Dive Center. It is conveniently located in town and the crew were hilarious and professional as well as very knowledgeable about the dive sites. Over the two days we spent in the water with them, we explored four different wrecks and visited the coral reef surrounding the island pictured below!

Another popular choice for travellers visiting the area is to book the Coron island tour. Like the island-hopping tours in El Nido—these busy tours take you to multiple locations throughout the day, provide you with a buffet lunch and are typically crowded with 15 to 20 people per boat!

Due to the aforementioned weather in El Nido leading us to miss out on Tour C—we had a little extra money to spend and decided to use it on the unique experience of a private stand up paddle board tour of the island with SUP Coron! While this tour is more expensive than the regular island tour—it offers the opportunity to get a closer look at this beautiful island and even takes you to a few spots that you will not see on any group tour.

• Coron Island Group Tour: 1,600 PHP per person

• Coron Island SUP Tour: 4,000 PHP per person (prices vary depending on group size!)

Swimming with the gentle giants of the sea in their natural habitat.

There were a lot of things on our list of things to do while planning our trip to the Philippines—but the one thing at the top of that list was to swim with whale sharks! Although there are many locations all over the world that allow you to share the water with these endangered fish, not many of them treat these animals with the care and respect needed to protect their habitat and well-being.

During our initial research we found that Oslob, a municipality on the island of Cebu, was a popular spot for tourists to visit when they wanted to swim with whale sharks. If you remember earlier in this post—we decided to skip Cebu in favour of the lesser known Donsol. Our reason for this? Exactly what is mentioned above—the whale sharks that are being lured to Oslob as a tourist attraction are not being treated appropriately!

Unlike Cebu, Donsol does not offer year-round opportunities to see whale sharks as they are only in the area between November to June—with the largest amount of sightings reported from January to April. We certainly understand the allure of having the guarantee that you will see whale sharks in Oslob but we strongly urge you to do your research before making your choice. You can read our reasons for choosing Donsol here.

• Donsol Whale Shark Interaction: 300 PHP per person (plus additional 300 PHP if renting snorkel gear) *3500 PHP boat fee is split between all passengers

If you have the money and are confident in your skills as a diver we also recommend diving the Manta Bowl during your trip to Donsol. This drift dive carries you along the bottom of the Ticao Pass and is appropriately named for the Manta Rays that can be found all year round—except, of course, for the one day we went diving!

• Donsol Scuba Diving: 6000 PHP per person (plus additional 1000 PHP per person for gear rental) *price varies depending on number of divers

We chose to do our diving with a local dive shop called Giddy’s Place and were lucky enough to be the only one’s on the boat! If you are looking to book with the same company that provides the whale shark interaction—check out the Bicol Dive Center.⁵

Getting to Donsol was no easy task. If you’re planning to follow this itinerary then you will need to fly from Coron to Manila first. From Manila there are two options—fly to the city of Legazpi or take a bus. While the bus is definitely the more economically- and environmentally-friendly option—something about sitting for over 12 hours just did not appeal to us.

• Flight from Coron to Manila: $120 CAD

• Flight from Manila to Legazpi: $55 CAD

The easiest way to get from Legazpi to Donsol is to hire a private vehicle or taxi that is waiting outside the airport (~2,000 PHP). Alternatively, if you are looking to save some money—you can hire a tricycle to take you to the Grand Central Terminal and then hop on a public shuttle to Donsol.⁶

• Tricycle to Legazpi Bus Terminal: ~50 PHP

• Public Shuttle from Legazpi to Donsol: 75-80 PHP per person

• Tricycle from Donsol Bus Terminal to Accommodation: ~50 PHP

If we had more time…

Here are some places we would have visited if we had more than 15 days!

• Cebu: Even though we skipped Cebu on this trip—we would love to go back to see Kawasan Falls and dive the sardine run in Moalboal.

• Siargao: A surf trip to Siargao is definitely in our future!

• Boracay: An island paradise previously known for its nightlife.

• Siquijor: Waterfall adventures mixed with beautiful beaches await on this mystical island.

• Sohoton Cove: Near Siargao on the island of Socorro—this national park has definitely made our list for our next visit!

Recap

If you were wondering when the actual itinerary portion of this post would show up—here it is!

• Day 1 - Manila to Bohol*

• Day 2 - Bohol (Tarsier Sanctuary + Chocolate Hills)

• Day 3 - Bohol (Ingkumhan Falls and Pahangog Falls)

• Day 4 - Bohol to El Nido

• Day 5 - El Nido (Nacpan Beach)

• Day 6 - El Nido (Tour A)

• Day 7 - El Nido (Tour C)**

• Day 8 - El Nido (Las Cabañas Beach)***

• Day 9 - El Nido to Coron

• Day 10 - Coron (Scuba Diving)

• Day 11 - Coron (Scuba Diving)

• Day 12 - Coron (Coron Island Tour)

• Day 13 - Coron to Donsol

• Day 14 - Donsol (Scuba Diving or Whale Shark Interaction)

• Day 15 - Donsol to Legazpi****

*If you take our advice and fly directly to Tagbilaran Airport from Manila you will have some extra time this day. Wondering what to do with your extra time? Take a tour of Panglao Island and maybe even get in the water with some sea turtles!

**Unfortunately we were not able to participate in Tour C due to some inclement weather. But this island beaches tour is one you will not want to miss out on!

***This turned out to be one of our favourite days! While we had originally planned to leave for Coron this day—the typhoon kept us stranded in El Nido. Looking back, we were grateful for the extra day there!

****If you decide to take a taxi or hired van back to Legazpi you can plan the Whale Shark Interaction for the morning of this day. If you take the public shuttle you may be in a rush to catch the last bus of the day! (Trust us… We know from experience)

We hope that this outline of our 15-day Philippines itinerary has given you a head start into planning your adventure. If you have any questions or would like some help with your itinerary—we would love to help! Leave a comment below or send us a DM on Instagram and we will do our best to answer any of your questions!