Twin lagoon.
Oh boy was it hard to pick what Islands I would explore. I had been waiting to visit this beautiful side of the world for soooo long and I kept putting it off because the planning for it is difficult. The Philippines is composed of over 7,000 islands and transportation from island to island is not that simple or convenient at times depending which ones you want to see).But guess what I finally made an itinerary and it worked out perfectly and now I am back. I still can't believe I checked off The Philippines from my country list. I will be back one day to explore more for sure! Before embarking on this journey I knew it would all be beautiful but once there it exceeded my expectations. If you love nature, beaches, waterfalls, cheap food and learning about a new way of life this is a must country to visit.
I did a lot and saw a lot below I will do a little bit of my favs.
My favorite activities where:
- Swimming with whale sharks
- Canyoneering Kawasan Falls
- Coron Ultimate Tour
- Calauit Safari for the Giraffes
My favorite food was corn on the cob on the streets, mango shakes and lechon ( mmm this is a dangerous one- fatty pork)
My favorite accommodation was Archery Asia Huts- a sweet bungalow in the jungle with bucket showers! in MoalBoal area, Cebu. Also Hop Hostel was lit in Coron.
My favorite thing about traveling in The Philippines: Cheap transportation!
All in all all the bodies of water were incredible. I had never seen such blue watered waterfalls in my life! and the beaches were all very gorgeous!
Here is my Itinerary:
Day 1: Landed in Cebu-Mactan airport at 2:30am. Got a taxi to South Bus Terminal ($3) and from there took a bus to Oslob ( we told them our hostel and they dropped us off right in front (cost per person $3 for a 3 hour 2.5 hour comfy bus ride) The line of buses is called Ceres. We got our hostel around 5:30am and our room was not ready but we left our luggage at the front desk and got ready to head out for the day #teamNoSleep. We went to downtown Oslob and hired a tricycle for the day for $7, he took us to Tumalog falls, the hidden falls and Agunid Falls. It took all day especially since the tricycle was kinda slow...lol but it was wonderful and sooo cheap since we split the $7 between 2 people. The falls were a dream! I have never seen such amazingly blue water falls! See for yourself below:
Day 2: We woke up super early to go swim with the whale sharks! We got dropped off by a motorcycle at this one place, that charged us each $4 more than what we should have been charged. The government price is 1000 pesos which is $20. Sometimes people will take you to their friends in exchange for a cut, do not let that happen to you. Anyway that was a blast! The end of the day we spent at Sumilon Island where we burned our skin and enjoyed the sandbar to ourselves for a while. Do not let time run by you and then forget to re-apply sun screen we looked like dummies walking around with our peeling skin the days after. Getting to the island by boat round-trip was 750 pesos or $15 a person.
Day 3: We took a bus from right outside our hostel, you just literally need to stand on the roads where the buses pass and stop the bus, so easy and so convenient. We caught a bus to Bato which was $1 for about an hour and a half ride. We got off at Bato and caught the bus towards Moalboal our next stay but we asked to get dropped off at Kawasan Falls since it was on the way and there is no time a wastin! that ticket was also $1. We saw Kawasan falls and had lunch there too! Afterwards we headed to our second accommodation of the trip, Archery Asia, which I highly recommend if you like camping ( it is camping style sleeping arrangements) We were dropped of in what seemed to be a jungle and we were greeted with a much needed cold water and friendly smiles, the staff is so kind there! We were assigned the Mango Bungalow which was the cutest! Late that night we headed into MoalBoal town and got an aloe vera massage for our burned skin (750 pesos or $15) but regular massages are only 8 to 10$.
Day 4: We hired a canyoneering expedition through our accommodation which was kinda spendy ( 2,500 pesos or $50) And I say expensive because later on we noticed signs for the same expedition on the street advertised at 1,500 pesos! which is $20 cheaper, that extra money goes a longgggg way in The Philippines.
Day 5: We spent traveling up to Cebu on ceres bus ( from moalboal to cebu city 115 pesos or $2) we woke up early and had a yummy breakfast at our lil bungalow, planed to leave at 7am to make our 1pm flight since it is just 2:40hr away....but we chilled and left at 8am. MISTAKE. the traffic was horrible. The bus ride took over 4 hours and we made it to the airport 40 minutes before our flight took off and they did not let us board. We had to wait till the next flight. Jollibees for lunch and dinner it is....
Day 6: We finally arrived to Coron Islands! we immediately did the Coron Ultimate Tour (1200 pesos or $24) this tour includes pick-up and drop off, a BBQ lunch by the ocean and transportation and kayak use during tour. We visited Twin Lagoon, kayangan Lake, CBY (or something like that) island and some other famous landmarks and spots. It was a very good tour- highly recommend. We stayed at HOP Hostel which was amazing and brand new!
Day 7: We did the Island escapade and went island hopping, also had a nice BBQ dinner by the ocean. Banana Beach and Malcapuya Beach were absolutely stunning! That evening we had an amazing dinner at Altrove Pizza! go early the line and wait gets long.
Day 8: We toured Coron by ourselves ( instead of doing the Coron town tour! it is cheaper to do on your own and at your own pace! everything is walking distance minus the springs) We went to St Augustine Church which was very pretty, checked out the souvenier shop area, hiked Mt Tapyas and had a had left over pizza for lunch. That evening we got a foot massage 450 pesos and went to Maniquit Springs after dark for a nice dip ( 200 pesos per person)
Day 9: We just chilled and bought souvenirs, we tried to go to Calauit but we woke up too late. We said our goodbyes, since my prima was leaving the next day.
Day 10: I went on the Calauit tour which was 2300 pesos, it started very early, I was picked up at 5:30am. We had an amazing beachside sunrise breakfast and then took a boat to Calauit Island. Spent a good chunk of time feeding and looking at the giraffes and zebras ( the other caged animals are sad af, if you can opt out of this portion- DO!) we had the best lunch I ever had by the ocean and the evening we went to Dibutonay Island which was gorgeous. We also got dinner fr this tour.
Day 11: I moved on to my last hostel and chilled for the day getting ready to head back to Japan. I stayed at Fat Monkey Hostel my last day. The hostel is pretty standard but the vibes were super chill and the nicest people I met were all here.
Cost Breakdown (without flights because that will vary. Also I flew from Japan and Taiwan which is way cheaper. Within The Philippines Cebu Pacific is a cheap airline to use and what I mainly used):
- Taxi from airport to south bus terminal 150 pesos
- Bought phone data 700 pesos for 15 days of internet data
- Bus ticket to cebu 150 pesos
- Elote and a shake 100 pesos
- Swimming with sharks 1200 pesos
- Waterfall tricycle hire 350 pesos
- Tumalog entrance 20 pesos
- Hidden falls entrance 60 pesos
- Tips for photographer 100 pesos
- Water bag 550 pesos
- Dinner 200 pesos
- Bus from boljoon to bato 60 pesos
- Bus from bato to kawasan 55 pesos
- Kawasan entrance 45 pesos
- Lechon lunch 300 pesos
- Bus 20 pesos
- Snack 40 pesos
- Archery for two nights 765 pesos
- Massage 750 pesos
- Dinner 200 pesos
- Motorcycle ride 50 pesos
- Canyoneering 2500 pesos
- Ride to moalboal station 80 pesos
- Moalboal to Cebu city115 pesos
- Dinner 150 pesos
- Coron ultimate tour 1200 pesos
- Shuttle from airport 150 pesos
- Coconut 50 pesos
- Lunch 100 pesos
- 1500 beach tour
- Maniquit springs 200 pesos
- Calauit safari 2300 pesos
- ***missing some food and other small things but this is the gist.
Average cost for 10 days in USD: $285 !!!!!!!!
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