Philippines

[ParisInAKilt]

Got 6 days there end of September. Likely spend a night either side of arriving in Manila so that leaves 4 days for time in one of the islands.

Boracay looks lovely from pictures but seems touristy.

Coron looks more remote but accommodation is more, I'm guessing because it's popular for diving.

Anyone been to either?

[Mitre]

I live in Philippines.

End of September you might be lucky with the weather. That's around the end of the monsoon. Typhoon season though so beware of being somewhere too remote.

Boracay is very touristy but if you are there off-season it's a great place. White beach is a bit special.

Never been to Palawan (Coron) yet. It's about a 70 minute flight from Manila. Consider Bohol (fly into Tagbilaran) for a few days. Panglao Island is nice.

For internal flights check out Cebu Pacific, PAL Express & Air Asia. Should be some good deals on at that time of year.

Manila is not my favourite place and to be honest and not the safest town. There are just too many people & traffic so is pretty polluted. Make sure your hotel is in Makati or Fort Bonifacio as those are the safest areas. The airport is mince as well. Terminal 3 is best, T2 ok, T1 is a nightmare. Who you flying in with?

[aaid]

Used to go out there three or four times a year with work and loved the place and the people.

Everything Mitre says is pretty much spot on. I used to stay in Makati and never felt uncomfortable, pretty good mix of good restaurants and bars in and around Greenbelt and loads of upscale and generally reasonable hotels and there's P. Burgos street if you want to go off piste.

I've been around the Islands a bit but if this is your first time and you've only got 4 days then I'd recommend Boracay, White Beach is unbelievable. I was there in 2008/9 so I expect it's changed a bit.

I went to Coron in 2011 and it was fantastic but very quiet. I stayed in a boutique resort that you could only access by boat and was literally in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. That was perfect for me as I just wanted to chill, I think that was extreme but from what I remember Coron was mainly about self contained resorts.

There's a lot more to do in Boracay, you're not talking about the Magaluf anyway and out of season it'll be quieter and you should get a decent deal. Lot more to do at night and you can be as mental or as chilled as you want to be.

As Mitre pointed out, that's pretty much in the typhoon season so give yourself plenty of time to get back to NAIA for your onward flight, make sure you get back the day before your flight.

[ParisInAKilt]

Cheers guys, great advice

Will fly back to Manila on the Wednesday before the night time Thursday flight to Sydney

I've found a place in station 3 Boracay that looks perfect

[aaid]

Cocomungas is a great bar. Literally on the beach.

[ParisInAKilt]

I've got 2 nights in Manila, Friday and then the Wednesday, do you think I'm better staying near the airport and getting a taxi to places or getting a hotel in the areas mentioned above?

Also any essential things to see or do in Manila?

[aaid]

Go to Makati, pretty lively round there.

Nothing of any real interest sightseeing wise in Manila, Intra Muros is as good as it gets and even then it's a bit Meh.

Some decent stuff outside Manila but firstly, Manila is a huge sprawl, the traffic is a nightmare and getting anywhere can take ages.

Personally I like Tagatay and Lake Taal but it's at least a two hour drive from Manila. Any time I've been there I've gone with locals that have driven. Pagsanjan falls is a bit further, it's where the final up river scenes of Apocalypse Now was filmed.

Another one I did was to visit Correigidor Island which is in Manila Bay. It's an old US army base and was where the both the Americans and later on Japanese made their last stands in WW2. You get a hydrofoil from Manila, takes about a hour. I think the only option is to go on an organised tour.

You could probably find tours to the others but bear in mind you are looking at an early start, a lot of travel and a long day.

Might be worth contacting these people, Elen who runs it is a good friend of mine.

http://www.ecodesignertours.com/site/

Edited August 22, 2015 by aaid

[ParisInAKilt]

Go to Makati, pretty lively round there.

Nothing of any real interest sightseeing wise in Manila, Intra Muros is as good as it gets and even then it's a bit Meh.

Some decent stuff outside Manila but firstly, Manila is a huge sprawl, the traffic is a nightmare and getting anywhere can take ages.

Personally I like Tagatay and Lake Taal but it's at least a two hour drive from Manila. Any time I've been there I've gone with locals that have driven. Pagsanjan falls is a bit further, it's where the final up river scenes of Apocalypse Now was filmed.

Another one I did was to visit Correigidor Island which is in Manila Bay. It's an old US army base and was where the both the Americans and later on Japanese made their last stands in WW2. You get a hydrofoil from Manila, takes about a hour. I think the only option is to go on an organised tour.

You could probably find tours to the others but bear in mind you are looking at an early start, a lot of travel and a long day.

Might be worth contacting these people, Elen who runs it is a good friend of mine.

http://www.ecodesignertours.com/site/

Cheers mate, will find a place to stay in that area and have a wee think about what to do depending on how we're feeling after the traveling