First question that everybody asks you if you're an Indian and you're travelling to Philippines is WHY Philippines? and that too for 15 days?! Why not NZ, Europe, Thailand, America, etc.
My answer to that question is Philippines is few of the unexplored places in the world. Being an Indian I had no friends, relatives going to Philippines for a trip and definitely not for honeymoon. So I have never heard any stories of Philippines or got any chance to know about such a beautiful country. Also, there are around 7,500 islands so practically even 15 days are not enough to explore the breathtaking views that Philippines had to offer us!!
We covered total 5 places in Philippines - Manila, Puerto Princessa (PP), El Nido, Coron, Cebu. (PP, El Nido and Coron are a part of Palawan island)
We missed out Boracay (one of the best islands with amazing white sand beaches and nightlife) cause 15 days are not enough to have accommodated a new location. But would definitely recommend skipping any one location as per your preference and covering Boracay instead!
So, I'd like to begin the journey, initial few days were boring but after third day the actual fun starts and island hopping begins!
We took a flight from Bombay to Manila which was our major expense of INR 67,000 for two people (around $900). Our reason to land to Manila was to avail visa on arrival as I have tourist visa of the US. My husband however had to get a Philippines visa which was pretty easy to get. Our stay in Manila was just for a night to avoid extensive travelling. We landed in Manila around 2 pm. We had booked an Airbnb near airport to avoid travelling in the interiors. We then went to Rizal park to chill and roam around. It's quite a big park and there was a light show after sunset which was treat to eyes. It can be seen in the picture below:
We flew from Manila to our next location Puerto Princesa (PP). We booked an Air Asia flight at morning 9 am so that we could spenour entire day in PP by doing an half day city tour. But our flight was delayed till 3 pm and we reached PP by 5 pm. We had booked Airbnb hosted by Marifi Christine with name Bahay ni Takeshi Transient (https://www.airbnb.co.in/rooms/12337477?source_impression_id=p3_1581674512_9f%2BmmJP4I0pEfnEL). The host was really amazing. She came to pick us up at the airport and after that we went to Baywalk of PP for a stroll and watch sunset. Baywalk images shown below.
Ah, the fun starts now!
So our host made amazing vegetarian breakfast for us and also helped us with our booking of the underground river tour worth PHP 2,000 per person (around $40) which is one of the UNESCO world heritage site. Being such a big attraction, there were long queues for entry. So, our tour guide suggested that we could do other activities in Sabang beach which is zipling, rafting, chilling at white sand beach. We opted to do zipling. Sabang zipling has a stretch of 800 meters with a super scenic view.
After zipling we did the underground river tour, we saw thousands of bats and limestone formations. It was cold inside and we all were awed by nature's creation.
El Nido is truly a paradise!!
We spent 4 days in El Nido and enjoyed every bit of it. Our Airbnb PP host helped us to book a van transfer from PP to El Nido. Van transfer costs PHP 600 (around $12) and the duration of journey is about 6 hours. We reached El Nido around 2 pm and checked in to our Airbnb Bahay Tulugan house (https://www.airbnb.co.in/rooms/30681108?source_impression_id=p3_1581676935_OK9YVDxgnMehFQFH) hosted by Justine and Rusty. We then went to Corong Corong beach to chill and watch sunset. We went to Outpost to grab some food and drinks and watch sunset from there.
It's our second day in El Nido. We went to Canopy walk adventure to catch a sight of the beautiful El Nido bay. If you're a hiker and want to encounter even more picturesque sight of El Nido bay, you can hike upto Taraw Cliff. (Early morning 5 am hiking is recommended along with a guide!)
After Canopy walk we went to Vegan restaurant for breakfast (if you're a vegetarian and you're visiting Philippines, vegan restaurant is heaven for you :p).
After breakfast we headed to Nacpan beach. We rented a scooter for PHP 500 (around $10), fuel cost is around PHP 70 to 100. The drive from El Nido town to Nacpan beach is very scenic - roads covered with palm trees and greenery. Nacpan is paradise for beach lovers. White sand beaches, shacks, turquoise blue clear waters, good food and drinks. It was a super chill day!!
We did island hopping tour on our third day in El Nido. We did following things
1. Kayaking at Big lagoon
2. Snorkelling at many sites
3. Visiting secret lagoon
4. Chilling and swinging at seven commando beach
5. Lunch and snorkel at Shimizu Islands
It was tiring yet super amazing day!
SCUBA!!
Our last day in El Nido surprised us the most. We saw some of the most beautiful corals, colorful fishes (we found Nemo :p), sea horse, sea turtle. The water was super clear and we had a great instructor with us! We did total 3 dives at Helicopter island, Paradise beach and Payong beach of 45 mins each. It's discover dive package (for first timers). Total cost was PHP 5100 ($100). Thanks to Submariner Diving for making our first experience so memorable.
For Scuba videos and pictures refer the link below -
We went from El Nido to Coron in Fastcraft (Montenegro Fast Ferry). It's duration is around 4 hours and it starts at around 6 am. We reached Coron around 10 am. We checked in our hotel Kokosnuss garden resort.
We took a half day city tour that covers
1. Mt Tapayas
2. Maquinit Hot Spring
3. Other small locations
Mt Tapayas has great town view and is one of THE BEST sunset place. To reach till Mt Tapayas you need to climb around 700 steps.
Maquinit hot spring is a very good place to relax.
City tour in Coron is highly recommended!
Island hopping day again. We did Super ultimate tour in Coron. We covered following locations -
1. Kayangan lake
2. Barracuda lake
3. Coral reef garden
4. CYC beach
5. Twin lagoon (and since we took kayak we also had a chance to see blue lagoon, green lagoon and secret lagoon)
6. Skeleton reef
We snorkeled in almost all locations, saw a Japanese sunken ship, beautiful corals, big Nemo, multicolor fishes, one of the finest rock formations in Barracuda and Kayangan lake. Chilling at beach and watching sunset.
Beauty of Coron is unmatched!
We took an early morning flight from Coron to Cebu. (Coron airport known as busuanga airport opens at 5.50 am so no need to reach early by 5 if you have a 7 am flight). We reached Cebu around 9. It was a chill day. Just a day off from travel.
We took a trip to Kawassan falls and osmena peak. Kawassan falls is one of the prettiest falls. We did cliff jumping here, swimming and just chilling.
Osmena peak is a 10min hike one way and you can encounter some of the breathtaking views from here.
(We missed the chance to do whale watching in Oslob and canyoneering in Kawassan falls. These activities are highly recommended!)
We did a city tour on the second last day. We covered many historic locations of Cebu City, Sirao Pictoral garden and Temple of Leah. Sirao Pictoral garden is also known as Little Amsterdam. It is the most picturesque place I've ever been to!
It was a leisure day at beach resort Crimson resort and spa Mactan. Swimming in infinity pool, relaxing in beach shacks, eating buffet was the best way to end this super amazing trip.
We had early morning flight from Cebu to Manila and then Manila to Bombay!
Chilling in beaches, snorkeling, kayaking, scuba diving, eating halo halo, drinking Buko, zipling, island hopping, hiking, cliff jumping, partying, watching sunsets, clicking pictures was our perfect beach honeymoon.
