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Itinerary of 1 month in The Philippines
The Philippines has 7641 islands. As you can imagine, it is a country that allows a lot of options in terms of tours, things to do and experiences. That’s why, we bring you this complete itinerary of 1 month in The Philippines.
However, it has a VERY important handicap if you go with limited time (like most people), which is the communication between them. The infrastructure in terms of flights or roads are not the best and, unfortunately, you will have to lose some days traveling on your route.
The good news is that if you go for a month, it can be organized in such a way that, even if you lose a day of travel, you can see a lot of different places and do a lot of different things.
This is the organization of our route of 1 month in the Philippines (We leave you some days of free margin in case you want to add or remove things):
Day 1: Transfer Manila-Siargao
Days 2-4: Siargao
Day 5: Transfer Siargao-Camiguin
Day 6-8: Camiguin
Day 7-11: Bohol
Day 12: Transfer to Malapascua
Day 13-15: Malapascua
Day 16: Transfer to Moalboal
Day 17-19: Moalboal
Day 20: Transfer to Palawan
Day 21: Port Barton
Day 22-23: El Nido
Day 23-25: El Nido-Coron Expedition
Day 26-27: Coron
Day 29: Manila
In this post we will bring you our summarized route of what we did each day, where we slept and ate and we will be enriching it with specific guides by island and places.
Tips before visiting the Philippines
As we have already mentioned, patience with the transfers. They are slow, long and, many times, uncomfortable so you better prepare yourself mentally.
Check the holidays in the Philippines. It is important, Filipinos travel a lot in their country to celebrate holidays. It happened to us on Moalboal days, as you will see below.
In our opinion and after going one of the busiest periods of the year (April), you don’t need to get things well in advance. The country allows you to get things while you travel (and that often means you pay less). Keep this in mind if you don’t mind leaving things more open. The only thing you can pay a lot more for is flights, the more in advance the cheaper you can find them.
Depending on the time of the year there are regions with better weather than others. In general, the best time of the year is April-May, but in the area of Siargao and Camiguin, there is more rain. For us it rained 2 days in a month, so it is clear that it is a good time 🙂
Practically everything is paid in cash, so get a card with low commissions and be prepared to look for ATMs.
Be flexible, it is likely that they will change plane or ferry schedules a few hours before departure. We were lucky and it didn’t happen to us, but we met a lot of people who did.
- If you need to change a flight between islands due to a change of schedule, we were able to do it directly at the airport counter for 20€ per person. It is not a lot of money and it made us take advantage of many of the days we would have lost waiting at the airport.
Mobile connection in The Philippines
As you know, we always try to recommend you the best option regardless of our partners. In this case we will recommend a mix depending on your case.
As with Andrea’s phone we take a lot of photos, videos and everything is automatically uploaded to Cloud, we spent much more data than with Chris’s phone, so we opted to buy an eSIM card with unlimited data from our partner Holafly (you have 5% discount for being our readers :)). The connection, from experience, is the best, which is very important in the Philippines where there are regions with pretty bad coverage.
As Chris uses less data and didn’t need unlimited data, we waited at the airport to buy a physical data card, which we got from Smart at a pretty good price. There are two main companies, Smart and Globe, quite similar in features and price, so if you opt for this option, either one is fine.
Route day by day
Day 1: Transfer Manila - Siargao (1 month in the Philippines)
And finally we arrived in this wonderful country and started our route of 1 month in the Philippines.
Normally, most international flights always arrive in the capital, Manila (some to Cebu, but few). So you will have to take a flight to the destination you have chosen to start your route. In our case it was Siargao, the island that is farthest away, since our intention was to go from farthest to closest to end up back in Manila.
We decided to buy a Manila-Cebu flight, spend a night in Cebu near the airport, and early in the morning do Cebu-Siargao because the direct flights Manila-Siargao were too expensive. Keep in mind this option if you go with time in your planning because it is really the best.
Where to sleep: As specified, we stayed overnight near the airport. We chose 3j’s and K Apartment, only 10 minutes by Grab from the airport. Inexpensive and in very good condition.
Where to eat: Day to eat at the airport and order fast food at home, so nothing special. Comment that the Grab app works very well for ordering food in the big islands of the Philippines.
Day 2: Siargao
Siargao is one of the most fashionable islands in the Philippines as it has a surfing atmosphere, party and incredible landscapes. In addition, we found it to be one of the most authentic islands, especially if you get away from the more touristy areas. We decided to spend three full days, one to explore the island at our leisure and two for island hopping.
As we have specified, this first day of the tour of 1 month in the Philippines we wanted to visit the eastern part of the island at our leisure. The best way to see the island is to rent a motorcycle, as it is very easy and pleasant to drive (there is almost no traffic outside General Luna and Cloud 9).
The eastern part of the island is to enjoy it quietly while driving on a motorcycle. It is to stop at viewpoints or beaches that you like. However, we leave here everything we were able to visit (you have all the places marked on the map below):
- Coconut Plantation Viewpoint
- The natural pools of Magpopongko
- Pacifico Beach
- Somyot Cave
- Burgos Coastline Viewpoint
- Alegria Beach
Where to sleep: In Siargao there are two options that we consider better to stay, Cloud 9 or General Luna. The first option is somewhat cheaper, since almost everyone goes to General Luna because it is where the atmosphere and restaurants are. We stayed at Sharegao, a Guesthouse without any luxury. It was a little bit small, but it was not bad. In addition, the woman helped us in everything, so we would recommend it if you want something cheap and correct.
Where to eat: As we were on route, we stopped for lunch halfway in Pacifico. We did it in a restaurant that we loved (and with good prices) called Kookaburra Restaurant.
La cena fue cerca de nuestro hotel ya que nos llovió muchísimo y no podíamos movernos. Sin embargo, fue un lugar muy rico situado en plena Cloud 9. Repetimos más de una vez, es por algo 🙂 Se llama Loka Siargao.
Day 3: Siargao (1 month in the Philippines)
Our first island hopping in this tour of 1 month in the Philippines! For those who don’t know, island hopping is the activity par excellence in this country and consists, as its name suggests, in spending the day sailing from island to island.
This tour is the most famous of the island and you can do it with many companies, depending on what you want (more partying and drinking, less crowded, smaller, crowded…). We opted for the less crowded way (there were 7 of us).
We did the tour with the company Paradiso Siargao (HIGHLY recommended) and it consisted of visiting 3 islands (Naked Island, Daku Island and Guyam Island) and stopping at two places to snorkel and relax. For us, one of the best landscapes and beaches we saw in 1 month in the Philippines. Also, we won’t give you spoilers but you will LOVE the food. It cost us 28€ per person.
To end the day, we went to see the sunset at one of the coolest places on the island for us. It is Secret Beach. There you can relax with a beer while watching the sunset and you have the option to take a tour to see fireflies (although we did it on another island).
Where to sleep: Sharegao.
Where to eat:
We had breakfast at Love Coco, a brunch place that was a bit more expensive than average, but we had arranged to meet the tour people there.
Lunch was on the tour (TOP).
For dinner, we went to one of the viral places in Siargao, Kurvada. It’s a restaurant where they have pre-cooked meals and you make your own. It’s good and cheap, but it’s not rocket science. Also they were not too friendly. But if you want to eat more western food and to your taste, it is a very good place.
Day 4: Siargao
Our last day in Siargao was a bit of a fail, as we had planned to do one of the most famous excursions that is in the western part of the island but we had a small mishap, as we arrived in the area without cash and no ATM was working. This leads us to advise you to ALWAYS withdraw money in the big cities/towns, in case the ATM fails (it happens 50% of the time) so you are not left stranded.
The island hopping we wanted to do was the one that took us to Sugba Lagoon + Kawhagan Island. To take this tour you have 2 options:
- Hire a tour, but it is more expensive and not worth it.
- Go directly to the port of Del Carmen where you can pay a private boat with entrance fees and everything. There you can select which route you want to do.
We, as we did not have cash, could only go and return to Sugba Lagoon, an option that we do not recommend because it is too short. Subga is nice, but in 1 hour you are there. Also, we would recommend taking a kayak to explore the whole area. The real beauty of this is the surrounding area and Kawhagan Island. The tour lasts about 4-5 hours, so it’s cool to do it in one morning.
We spent that afternoon walking around and buying souvenirs at General Luna and watching the sunset at Cloud 9, the mecca of surfing on this island. You can also take the opportunity to hire a teacher and surf on this beach, you will see that it is full of teachers and students.
Where to sleep: Sharegao.
Where to eat: Lunch was something to take on the way and dinner was at Loka Siargao again.
Day 5: Transfer to Camiguin
Our next island on this route of 1 month in the Philippines was Camiguin. Although they are not far apart on the map, it is not easy to get from one to the other. There are two options:
- Plane: Siargao – Cebu and Cebu-Camiguin. It is usually expensive and you lose almost the same time. It is true that both flights are less than 1 hour each.
- Ferry to Surigao, two go for 3 hours each and ferry to Camiguin. It is a long way to go but much cheaper. It is the one we chose but the truth is that it is long and heavy, so look if you have the option to do it by plane.
We arrived in Camiguin in the evening after a full day’s transfer.
Where to sleep: In Camiguin we had the best hotel for 1 month in the Philippines, the Mabini Hotel. It had a very cool restaurant, an indoor pool and super comfortable rooms.
Where to eat: We had lunch on the way in a shopping mall and dinner directly at the hotel with homemade pizza.
Day 6: Camiguin
Camiguin was probably the island we were most fond of in 1 month in the Philippines. It has a charming atmosphere, very local, with very well kept places and a nature and waters of another level. It is a place where time stands still and everything seems to go at a much slower pace.
We were only able to stay two days, but we think we took advantage of them very well. This first day was dedicated to make a part of the island by motorcycle and make one of its famous island hoppings.
This day we visited White Island, a spectacular sand tongue during the hours you want (you agree with the boatman). To get to the area where you buy the tickets, you have to go here. We stayed 2 hours but we believe that the ideal would be 3, to take pictures, snorkel and relax. It is a spectacle, as you can see in the pictures.
We spent the rest of the day getting lost in the island, specifically in the western half. These are the places we recommend:
- Itum Road, a road where you can get lost driving practically alone among volcanoes. A marvel, we liked it so much that we did it both days.
- Katibawasan Falls: A super cool waterfall tucked into a forest clearing where you can swim. We highly recommend it.
- Utopia Café: Located at the top of the island when you walk along Itum Road, is a super new cafe where you can have a dessert with views of the whole island.
- Tuasan Falls: We did not like them so much but it is also a point where we would stop, they are cool and you are surrounded by volcanoes.
- Sunken Cemetery: A giant cross in the middle of the water where you can see a brutal sunset. Also, if you are lucky and don’t catch a bad tide, one of the best places on the island for snorkeling.
As we said, we can recommend places, but get lost and enjoy this wonderful island, it was what we liked the most.
Where to sleep: Mabini Hotel
Where to eat: We ate a super tasty giant tuna at a little stall specializing in it at a very good price. It was called Tambayan Sa Kanto Tuna Restaurant.
For dinner, we wanted to try the quintessential Filipino fast food restaurant, Jollibee, a Kentucky-style chicken restaurant.
Day 7: Camiguin (1 month in the Philippines)
The seventh day of 1 month in the Philippines was dedicated to the part of the island we had not seen. There is another very famous island, Mantingue Island, with a similar operation. You go to the port that is located here and hire a boat that takes you there and picks you up when you tell it to.
Mantingue is a perfect island for some very cool snorkeling and relaxing on its beaches in the sun. There’s not much more to it, it’s just hanging out on the beach and relaxing, if you’re lucky with the sea, they say it’s one of the nicest places to dive in the Philippines. We were not able to check it out, the truth is that it was a day with very rough sea and a lot of current and there was no good visibility at all. So we spent 3 hours, more than enough time to be chatting, walking around the island and sunbathing until lunchtime.
In the afternoon, we again spent some time touring the island on our own, getting lost. Riding the motorcycle freely, without traffic and surrounded by palm trees and volcanoes is priceless. We rode along Itum Road again and stopped for a drink at the rhythm of the island.
Then we took advantage of the hotel pool.
Where to sleep: Mabini Hotel.
Where to eat: We ate at Samuel by VjANDEP. Correct and economical, a good option in Población.
For dinner, again at the hotel, this time hamburger.
Day 8: Bohol (1 month in the Philippines)
With all the sorrow in our hearts we had to say goodbye to this wonderful island. We took the ferry to Bohol, where the next 4 and a half days were waiting for us, discovering part of the island.
Bohol was divided into two parts: 3 days in Loboc and 2 in Anda. They are two areas 3 hours apart and somewhat different, Anda being the less touristic area.
As soon as we left our things at the hotel, we went for lunch and as we were tired from the trip, we wanted to do only one activity nearby, which was to visit the zip line of the Loboc Ecotourism Adventure Park. The truth, we did not expect too much and we liked it, it is fun and the scenery is amazing, so if you do not have vertigo I would recommend you to go.
Then we proceeded to have a drink near Loboc but in front of the sea watching the sunset.
Where to eat:We liked the hotel in Loboc. It is a rather humble area, so there are no big luxuries in most places. The hotel was called Michelina Princess Guesthouse, right value for money.
Where to eat:
We ate at Sarimanok Inn & Resto, a good place and VERY good value for money. The plates are gigantic, be careful.
For dinner, we went to Palo Beach Bar, a perfect place to have a drink. The food was not great but if you want to have a drink with a view, it is ideal.
Day 9: Bohol (Loboc)
We started our tour of Bohol visiting the main attractions in the Loboc area. During this first morning we visited:
- Bilar Man Made Forest: It’s nice to drive through it, but we didn’t find it to be a big deal. Our advice is not to stop where everyone else is, go a little further and you can be a little more alone.
- Chocolate Hills: It is a curious landscape to see and I would recommend going, but they are a bit overrated as we do not find anything spectacular.
- Tarsier Sanctuary Corella: You have to be careful if you want to see the tarsiers (smallest monkeys in the world) and choose a place that does not take advantage of the animals, as there are several places that do. This place takes care of them, studies and protects them, so it is a visit you must make as they are super curious.
After these visits and a snack to take away, we had a super top activity that we were really looking forward to, a kayak excursion on the Abatan River. It was two activities in 1, which lasted from 2pm to 9pm. The tour consisted of:
- Overview of the activity to be done.
- First activity of 2 hours duration. Guided kayak excursion through the mangroves of the area. SUPER GUAY, an incredible feeling to be paddling among nature.
- Hour and a half break with snack.
- Another kayak tour to see fireflies. It was amazing, there were lots of them in the trees, they looked like Christmas trees. A great moment of this 1 month in the Philippines.
- A typical Filipino dinner. We have to say that here we tasted the best chicken adobo in the whole Philippines.
If you like this kind of activities we highly recommend it. We did it with Kayakasia Philippines, a service of 10.
Where to sleep: Michelina Princess Guesthouse.
Where to eat: We ate food from 7Eleven and had dinner on the kayak tour.
Day 10: Bohol (1 month in the Philippines)
On our last day in Loboc, we decided to visit the most touristic area of the island, Panglao. Specifically, we wanted to snorkel in one of the best places in the whole Philippines, Balicasag, a “”protected“” area.
Be very careful with this kind of tours. In the end, if you dive we would recommend you to do it this way, as they have maximum daily quota of divers. The snorkeling activity is what everyone does. The idea is that they take you to the island of Balicasag and assign you a person who takes you as a guide to look for turtles. We saw two turtles and the seabed was amazing. Ask very well how they do the tour, if you go with other people, if it is respectful and INSIST A LOT, we did it and even discussed and, the truth that the guide behaved 10.
After this, we decided to go see the town of Panglao. In our opinion it was the worst of our 1 month in the Philippines. An ultra crowded place, with party tourism and a bit decadent. We would not recommend staying here or visiting at all.
As we lasted maximum one hour, we wanted to go to a nearby beach to have a drink and watch the sunset. We went to Libaong White Beach.
Where to sleep: Michelina Princess Guesthouse
Where to eat:
The food was very good at a sandwich place (I recommend the pulled pork). It was called Bread & Blend.
For dinner we stopped at a kebab place on the way home and it was very good. It is called my friend Sawarma.
Day 11: Bohol (Anda)
We changed area to go to another place on the island, this time a little less touristy and secluded, Anda. We had a 3 hour drive to the hotel, so we got up early to head there.
Anda is a super quiet place, where you can discover waterfalls, cenotes, dream beaches and relax. For us, it is the best of the island, we really liked the area and one of the quietest of our 1 month in FIlipinas.
This first day we headed to what for us is the best beach on the island, Quinale Beach. It is a beach to stay for hours, as it is super uncrowded and the waters are dreamy. We spent two hours in the water and sunbathing.
After lunch, we headed to Cabagnow Cave Pool, a curious cenote where you can have a good swim and jump into the water from above. To end the day, right next door you have access to two beaches that are also super quiet, White Beach and Talisay Beach. We went for a swim at Talisay.
Where to sleep: We stayed at R&D Travellers Inn. We liked it very much, a quiet place, with a large pool and very well located. A 10 for value for money.
Where to eat: We ate at a restaurant that was quite good value for money and which we repeated, it was called Hangover Restobar.
For dinner, we probably tried the best 1 month restaurant in the Philippines (also a bit overpriced). It was called The old plantation.
Day 12: Bohol (Anda)
Second day in Anda and last day in Bohol. We wanted to take the opportunity to see some of the waterfalls in the area and its famous tea plantations.
We went to Cadapdapan Rice Terraces and Can-umantad Falls. Both are next to each other and you pay the entrance fee at a booth at the gate of the place. From there, they offer you to hire some motorists to take you to the waterfalls. We would say that it is almost obligatory because otherwise it is a long walk.
First we visited the rice terraces. They were small but we liked them very much, they were very authentic and little crowded, perfect for a 20 min walk and take some pictures. Then on the way to the waterfalls, which are nothing to write home about, but they are good for a dip.
From there we wanted to go to an area where they recommended diving or snorkeling because it is a turtle area. It is a hotel called Blue Star Dive Resort, which also has a restaurant (we ate there). The truth is that we saw two turtles and in the coral reef snorkeling was brutal, so it is a good recommendation if you like it.
We finished the day relaxing in the hotel pool.
Where to sleep: R&D Travellers Inn.
Where to eat: We had lunch at the Blue Star Dive Resort snorkel hotel.
Dinner again at Hangover Restobar.
Day 13: Transfer Bohol - Malapascua (1 month in the Philippines)
As we mentioned above, the Philippines is always synonymous with long transfers. In this case, the transfer was organized by our hotel in Malapascua. We took the Bohol – Cebu ferry and there we were picked up by a van that took us to the port of Maya. Once there, a 30-40 minute boat ride to the small island.
This day we found a pretty big party at the basketball court of the island since it was Saturday night, in case you are interested 🙂
Island tip: From the location of our hotel you can see absolutely amazing sunsets (at least in April when we were there).
Where to sleep: A place we liked, the Blue Corals Beach Resort. Good value for money, perfectly located, good rooms and not too expensive.
Where to eat: We ate on the way at a fast food place and had dinner next to the hotel, a restaurant called Villa Potenciana, perfect for cocktails on the beach while listening to live music.
Day 14: Malapascua (1 month in the Philippines)
Malapascua is known worldwide for its diving to see the thresher shark, one of the most spectacular shark species in the world.
But Malapascua is more than that. It is relaxation, good vibes, slow pace and lots of sea. We were able to stay 3 full days which were some of the best we spent in our 1 month in the Philippines.
We took this first day to contact the island and see what we could do. We got the contact of a guy who was the person who got us the activities on the island, very nice (if you want the contact, ask us on Instagram).
That afternoon, we decided to go on a snorkeling tour that took you to 5 spots around the island. The truth is that it is not something that is highly recommended if you go to Malapascua, but we recommend it 100%. They give you a tour around the island, you see the highlights and they take you to 5 snorkeling spots that are amazing. You can go to:
- Coral Garden
- Japanese wreck
- Langub Beach
- An amazing underwater cave.
- Babyshark point
Where to sleep: Blue Corals Beach Resort.
Where to eat: We ate at what became our trusted restaurant, Joshua al Fresco. VERY cheap and very good quality, a perfect place to try different typical food and one of our favorites of our tour of 1 month in the Philippines.
We had dinner again at Joshua al Fresco as they make fresh grilled food by weight in the evening. Highly recommended for dinner on a day like this.
Day 15: Malapascua (thresher shark)
For sure this was our favorite day of our whole 1 month in the Philippines. We are big lovers of the sea and diving and it was one of the best experiences we have ever had. Also, it was the first time we encountered a shark diving.
The thresher shark is a species that can be seen in very few places in the world, Malapascua being famous for it. As a good viral site, it has become a bit overcrowded, but they still keep the quota of divers and do not harm the environment. Also, they try not to do any kind of feeding or anything, which is appreciated and if it happens in other parts of the Philippines.
The dive we took can be done as Open Water or higher. There are 3 dives, one in Monad Shoal, a way to get in touch with diving, ideal if you haven’t done it for a long time and then two dives in Kimud Shoal, the spot where the thresher shark is located.
Really, if you visit this country and you like diving, this place is a must to put in a route of 1 month in the Philippines. If you need us to recommend you our dive school (in Spanish) talk to us on Instagram and we will put you in touch.
In the afternoon, after all the morning diving, we rested quietly strolling around the island.
Where to sleep: Blue Corals Beach Resort.
Where to eat: We ate at Joshua al Fresco for the last time.
We had dinner at Bakhaw Kiwi. It is tasty but it took us almost 2 hours to be served, so we will not recommend it.
Day 16: Malapascua (1 month in the Philippines)
To complete our 3 days in Malapascua, we decided to visit one of the most famous sand tongues of the country, Kalanggaman.
To make this excursion from Malapascua, you leave early from the port of the island and make a 2-hour drive to the island. Once there, you have free time for about 1 hour, eat on the boat Filipino food that they prepare themselves in the embers of the island and then you have 2 hours more.
We liked the island, the waters are spectacular, you can snorkel with turtles and the sand tongue is cool when it appears. But the truth is that the boat ride of almost 4 hours is a drag. It is a plan that you can do and you will not regret it, but if you go with just enough time, we would prioritize the snorkeling tour, route around the island or diving.
When we got back to the island, we tried to snorkel again at babyshark point to see if we could see any more. No luck 🙁
Where to sleep: Blue Corals Beach Resort.
Where to eat: We had lunch on the tour to Kalaggaman and dinner in the island’s central market at Avril’s restaurant.
Day 17: Transfer Malapascua-Moalboal
For a change, another almost full day trip to Moalboal. This time we also arranged it with our contact on the island, who got us a ferry + van to Moalboal.
The trip was somewhat shorter than other days, but we arrived for lunch, so the afternoon was simply to reconnoiter the area and we took the opportunity to see another beautiful sunset from the town’s beach, Pagnagsama.
Where to sleep: Babas Guesthouse. We recommend it 100%. It is away from all the hustle and bustle inside Panagsama Beach and the girls are very nice.
Where to eat: We ate at SmoothCafé Moalboal, more western food (more expensive).
For dinner we went to Moalboal Market, a place with food from all over the world with very good atmosphere to eat and drink.
Day 18: Moalboal
The days in Moalboal were the worst of our tour of 1 month in the Philippines since we took the days of Holy Week. Filipinos are mostly Christian, so they take the same holidays. They also travel quite a bit between islands and Moalboal is quite a popular destination. This made our days here MASSIVE and with many things closed for vacations (even waterfalls and activities). So we will try to tell you about the things we did and the things we had planned but couldn’t do.
The first day there, we wanted to start with one of the star activities of the area, going to Kawasan Falls, the most famous waterfalls in Cebu and almost in the Philippines. But it was a mistake as they were not open to the public, only for canyoning (we do not recommend it any day, it seems to be overcrowded).
As this failed us, we went to the other star activity of Moalboal, snorkeling in the sardine bank. To do this, you have to go to Panagsama beach and right there, you will see many people snorkeling, you can’t miss it. We quite liked it, it is curious to see it and swim among thousands and thousands of sardines.
If it had been open, we would have hired a diving / snorkeling tour to Pescador Island.
In the afternoon, when everything was closed, we went to White Beach, which was also very crowded but beautiful, we recommend going when it is not crowded.
Where to sleep: Babas Guesthouse.
Where to eat: We ate at The Nomad Music Bar. We recommend you try the bacon burrito, very good.
For dinner we went to Jollibee.
Day 19: Moalboal (1 month in the Philippines)
Surely, this day was the day we were most angry to miss in our route of 1 month in the Philippines because of the overcrowding of the area. Our idea was to do a tour of the many waterfalls in the area on a motorcycle. But you could hardly get in because of the crowds.
Some waterfalls in the area require a guide because they are semi canyoning (some jumps and trails). We wanted to do this route:
- Aguinid Falls
- Binalayan Hidden Falls
- Dao Falls – we visited these and liked them.
- Inambakan Falls – They were good but there were so many people that we had a bad taste in our mouth.
With this we would have covered the day perfectly, since each waterfall takes you a while between arriving, bathing…. Apart from the coincidence of the Philippine vacations, this area in low season is a real spectacle of nature and for lovers of canyoning. So, do not hesitate to include it in your itinerary on the island of Cebu.
Tip of the island of Cebu: We take advantage of this space that we have, not to recommend under any circumstances the area of Oslob. From Moalboal you will see a lot of offers to see the whale shark in that area of the island. But it is a sighting through the practice of feeding and it is a real animal exploitation. We got them to explain to us why they were doing that in this area and it has a cultural reason but we still do not share these behaviors with the animals.
Where to sleep: Babas Guesthouse.
Where to eat: We ate on the way back to the hotel from the waterfalls at a restaurant that we liked quite a bit (especially the pasta with Tuna). It was called Cosina Organica.
For dinner, we tried a Ukrainian food restaurant that we recommend you to try. Its name is Davidov Chef Restaurant.
Day 20: Transfer to Port Barton
Another day of transportation and transfer, the umpteenth in our tour of 1 month in the Philippines. This time, we had to:
- Take a public bus Moalboal-Cebu (3h)
- Plane Cebu-Puerto Princesa (1:30h)
- Van Puerto Princesa-Port Barton (3h).
Day “light” of transport to be able to take to this marvel of site that is Port Barton. The exhaustion was well worth it.
Where to sleep: Back Trippers Inn, a humble cabin style lodging, nothing fancy and far from downtown. The best thing is that it was very cheap and they were super friendly.
Where to eat: We had lunch at the airport and dinner at a somewhat expensive restaurant near the hotel (but it was very good), Mojitos Restrobar.
Day 21: Port Barton
Surely the place that surprised us the most of our 1 month in the Philippines. It is a very local, humble place, but with spectacular beaches. We found it a super cool place to relax. We wish we could have stayed two more days in the area just to disconnect and rest.
You have many options to visit the area, the most typical is to do an island hopping. However, we had read that it is starting to get very crowded, so we preferred to make a plan on our own.
We went to Port Barton beach and rented a kayak for the whole day. With this, we were able to go to two beaches that we thought were the best of the trip, White Beach and Coconut Beach. We spent most of the day relaxing and sunbathing on these two wonderful beaches.
Where to sleep: Back Trippers Inn.
Where to eat: We had a hearty breakfast at Milano Café (they just closed it permanently) and dinner at Kusinero del Barrio, which we liked very much as it offered very tasty Filipino food.
To watch the sunset and have a drink we recommend Happy Bar.
Day 22: El Nido (1 month in the Philippines)
Did you think we were not going to include the most famous place in the Philippines in our tour of 1 month in the Philippines? Well no, we also went to El Nido.
We went by shared van for 3 hours from Port Barton. We were dropped off near the hotel and we strolled around the area and bought some souvenirs. The truth is that this area has a lot of foreign atmosphere and little to see, besides the restaurants are more expensive compared to the rest of the country. The demand is what it is…
We would recommend you to go to see the sunset at Las Cabañas Beach.
Where to sleep: We recommend sleeping at Lola Flor’s Guesthouse, a good, nice and cheap place in the center of El Nido.
Where to eat: We ate on the way to El Nido and had dinner at a good value Chinese rice place called Rice8Spice.
Day 23: El Nido
The star activity at El Nido is to do one of its island hoppings. They are divided into 3 options, A, B and C, being A and C the most requested and recommended. We joined the C tour through a company called Soledad Tours, since we talked to a group of Spaniards through the blog Viajar por Filipinas to hire the private tour (it is the best way).
Our honest opinion is that we didn’t think the island hopping was that great. We saw much more spectacular things during our 1 month tour of FIlipinas and we found it a bit overrated. Is it beautiful? Yes, but it is overcrowded and there are better things. From what we heard from the Spaniards we did the tour with, the A tour is similar, so we got the same feedback.
Honestly, for us this activity was a bummer. If it is the first stop of your trip, we recommend you to do 1 of the island hopping. If it is the last stop of your trip and after having been to islands like Siargao or Camiguin or even the Port Barton area, it will probably happen to you as it did to us, you will not find it so much, or at least not enough to do the 3 tous that are recommended.
Where to sleep: Lola Flor’s Guesthouse.
Where to eat:We had lunch on the tour and dinner at a great Mexican restaurant called Caliente El Nido.
Days 24-26: Expedition El Nido - Corón
Our next 3 days in this 1 month itinerary in the Philippines are a bit different. We decided to do one of the most famous activities in the country, the expedition from El Nido to Coron. But just know that there is also the option to do it the other way around, from Coron to El Nido, depending on the itinerary that suits you best.
This is an all-inclusive 3-day excursion that, honestly, is a blast. You will tour lost islands, sleep in beach huts, sing karakoke while drinking rum cola and sail through spectacular scenery. We think it is a very cool experience to live in this country and we would recommend it to everyone. Soon we will bring you a more detailed post about the experience.
We did it with the company Yo Soy Juan. We booked everything through GetYourGuide and it was a 10/10, the crew, the food (the best I would say) and all the organization and management.
Days 27-28: Coron (1 month in the Philippines)
If you’ve made it this far in this 1 month in the Philippines itinerary, we have a confession to make. Our Philippines trip was the last stop before returning home after a 7-month journey through Asia and Oceania. This means that our spirits and energies were coming to an end. So these last days we would recommend you what we wanted to do and finally didn’t do (we took it pretty easy).
Coron was not an island we visited but we did get information from the expedition people about what would be good to do. Our recommendation is to spend at least two days on the island, one to dive one of the Japanese wrecks sunk in WWII and another to visit the beaches or do some island hopping. Everyone has told us that it is a great island, so we have an excuse to come back with more energy 🙂
Where to sleep: We slept at Hiraya Homestay, which was super nice. A very humble place, tiny but super neat and clean. It had shared toilets.
Where to eat: We had lunch at a local restaurant called Tres Marías. And we had breakfast and dinner at another very nice place with a lovely family called Señorita Restaurant.
Days 28-29: Manila
To get to Manila from Coron there are two options:
- Plane: Depart from the airport of Francisco B. Reyes airport. They are usually quite expensive in high season.
- Night ferry: Unfortunately, it only leaves on Sunday nights. For us it is the best option, we were comfortable and saved a lot of money. Besides, we had to try a night ferry on this route of 1 month in the Philippines 🙂
We, spent a whole day in Manila resting, but we considered that if you have the strength, we would take a tour to see the things that the city has (especially its history). We decided to stay near the airport since we had an early flight out the next morning.
Here are some activities of interest below.
Map of the route of 1 month in The Philippines
The Philippines took a piece of our hearts. It has been one of those trips that will mark us forever for its wonderful people, its calm pace and one of the best seas we have ever seen. I hope we have illustrated to you how much we enjoyed this itinerary of 1 month in the Philippines.
If you have any questions about any of the above, feel free to ask us in comments or on social media.
