Chocolate Hills - Bohol
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Undiscovered
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Unreal waters @Alona Beach - Bohol
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Tropical ParadiseThe Beaches of Boracay. Blinding white powdery sand. Even better than Cancun in Mexico.
Alona Beach was unknown before but no more. There was only 1 restaurant on that beach and a few rustic hut resort. This was paradise back then. Boy have things changed from what i saw on Youtube now. Palawan has now taken off as the hotspot. Once hard to reach and malaria infested, now flooded with Chartered flights to Coron and El Nido from all over Asia. |
Where to Go
Amazing Sunsets - Bohol
kids always seem to be happy - Ilioilo
Alona Beach - Bohol Island
Places Visited in Philippines
(1 month)
Boracay (5*)
Negros (3*)
Panay (3*)
Cebu (3.5*)
Bohol (5*)
Manila (3 *)
Angeles (Mt Pinitobo) (3.5 *)
Puerto Galera (3*)
Great place!!!! You need lots of time to absorb the culture and islands. Note this was many years ago so i was spoiled. It is now a very different Philippines esp Boracay and Bohol (no more the sleepy old towns when i visited many moons ago)
Boracay was my favorite along with the more laid back Alona beach on the island of Bohol. Your only worry on these islands are what's for dinner/lunch/breakfast. Beer is cheaper than pop so beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner and lots in between. At 50 cents you can't go wrong with a San Miguel although sometimes it’s served warm or with ice (gross). The food there is a variation of Chinese food. You can get lots of great fish and western food in the tourist areas. What's excellent are the outdoor barbeque places that sell the best tasting bbq chicken, pork in the world at the cheapest prices known. At these places they will also serve excellent seafood just caught. The most famous fish being Lapu Lapu which is a grouper/snapper. I prefer the steamed way of cooking as opposed to the bbq way. Shrimps are sold by the kg. Wow. Got you interested yet? The small stalls don't have seafood. If you get bored in the bigger cities go catch a movie for 50 cents. The seats may be broken but it’s air conditioned and you can rest your feet for a few hours! Oh yeah, Philippines has the best mangos in the world!!! White Beach on Boracay has blinding white powder sand. It was beautiful and empty when i went and has now transformed to a football field of chairs and motorized sports & noise. An unprecident move was made by the government and shut down the island for over 1 yr as it became a sewage dump suffering from many yrs of rapid unregulated development. There was sewage seeping into the beach apparently ... Gross !! They have now band the rows of beach chairs on the beach to make it more natural rather than a clutter of lounges and rebuilt the sewage system. I'm not sure if i want to go back Boracay in the future. I voted the Boracay of 20 yrs ago as one of my favorite island not the current one.
Diving- is best in Balacasag, Bohol. Boracay is so so. Palawan is suppose to be great but It was too far and highly malarious area back then.
Hotels- a beach hut is very cheap between $5-$15 Cdn/night. In the city a room may be $20-$30.
Cebu island is over rated I i didn't like it that much. Just resorts catered to foreign tours from HK Japan and Germany -these people stay on the grounds and don't want to feel the relaxed atmosphere of the island. You can use the facilities of these resorts for $20 a day and you get vouchers of $10 in return to buy drinks or food. It’s a good deal if you just want to relax in a nice resort and are staying in town. Ran out of time as i intended to explore the Little Boracay of the north in Malapascua island. It was basically a few resorts and very difficult to get to back then. I heard it is currently a hopping and popular place now and much easier to get to due to the attraction of viewing Thresher Sharks. I wish i had gone before the tourism boom.
Mt Pinatubo near the city of Angeles is good too. Imagine an entire landscape covered by volcanic ash. Some places looked like the moon. Nearby towns are still buried under with roof tops only showing. You walk on roof tops or work your way down to get into buried churches. Sort of like planet of the apes. The city of Angeles caught me by surprise. Lots of older American men. Why? Young desperate Filipino girls at a bargain. Nothing happens until night when all the go go bars start coming alive. Went into one by accident but it was nicely air conditioned and the beer was reasonable and cold. Neon lights everywhere. Every male tourist is in their 40-50s and has a young Filipina by there side. Hotel rooms can get pretty noisy, if you know what I mean!!!!
Certain parts of Manila is a hole with its traffic and pollution but the downtown is beautiful and modern. The Intermuros area is interesting with it's old wall, cathedral and Spanish architecture . Emirta is a gross ghetto but lots of tourist hang out there. Check out dept stores for cheap clothing (or factory rejects!) At night, watch the sunset by the seaside of Manila. A laid back resort is Puerto Galera. Great snorkeling from the beach at small Laguna beach. The beaches aren’t too exciting there but it’s a good place to hang out. White beach is popular but no snorkeling.
Bohol island is definitely worth going to. One highlight is endless rolling Chocolate hills (that look like hundreds of Hershey kiss) and the other is to take great jungle Loboc River (just like Apocalypse Now movie). Go on a unmotorized boat so you can hear the sounds of the jungle. You can watch everyday life along the river and there's a small waterfall to jump into at the end. As previously mentioned, Alona Beach is great but has now transformed into a mainstream destination. Tagbilaran is the big town. Not much there but Hint: go during fiesta time in April/May and you will definitely get invited to local homes for a fiesta. Very friendly people
The Island of Negros is famous for it's sugar cane plantations. The town of Bacaloid on Negros and Iloillo on Panay, are busy small towns good for a stopover when you island hop.
I'll be back and want to hit Palawan/Coron area and definitely scuba dive there.
Boracay was my favorite along with the more laid back Alona beach on the island of Bohol. Your only worry on these islands are what's for dinner/lunch/breakfast. Beer is cheaper than pop so beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner and lots in between. At 50 cents you can't go wrong with a San Miguel although sometimes it’s served warm or with ice (gross). The food there is a variation of Chinese food. You can get lots of great fish and western food in the tourist areas. What's excellent are the outdoor barbeque places that sell the best tasting bbq chicken, pork in the world at the cheapest prices known. At these places they will also serve excellent seafood just caught. The most famous fish being Lapu Lapu which is a grouper/snapper. I prefer the steamed way of cooking as opposed to the bbq way. Shrimps are sold by the kg. Wow. Got you interested yet? The small stalls don't have seafood. If you get bored in the bigger cities go catch a movie for 50 cents. The seats may be broken but it’s air conditioned and you can rest your feet for a few hours! Oh yeah, Philippines has the best mangos in the world!!! White Beach on Boracay has blinding white powder sand. It was beautiful and empty when i went and has now transformed to a football field of chairs and motorized sports & noise. An unprecident move was made by the government and shut down the island for over 1 yr as it became a sewage dump suffering from many yrs of rapid unregulated development. There was sewage seeping into the beach apparently ... Gross !! They have now band the rows of beach chairs on the beach to make it more natural rather than a clutter of lounges and rebuilt the sewage system. I'm not sure if i want to go back Boracay in the future. I voted the Boracay of 20 yrs ago as one of my favorite island not the current one.
Diving- is best in Balacasag, Bohol. Boracay is so so. Palawan is suppose to be great but It was too far and highly malarious area back then.
Hotels- a beach hut is very cheap between $5-$15 Cdn/night. In the city a room may be $20-$30.
Cebu island is over rated I i didn't like it that much. Just resorts catered to foreign tours from HK Japan and Germany -these people stay on the grounds and don't want to feel the relaxed atmosphere of the island. You can use the facilities of these resorts for $20 a day and you get vouchers of $10 in return to buy drinks or food. It’s a good deal if you just want to relax in a nice resort and are staying in town. Ran out of time as i intended to explore the Little Boracay of the north in Malapascua island. It was basically a few resorts and very difficult to get to back then. I heard it is currently a hopping and popular place now and much easier to get to due to the attraction of viewing Thresher Sharks. I wish i had gone before the tourism boom.
Mt Pinatubo near the city of Angeles is good too. Imagine an entire landscape covered by volcanic ash. Some places looked like the moon. Nearby towns are still buried under with roof tops only showing. You walk on roof tops or work your way down to get into buried churches. Sort of like planet of the apes. The city of Angeles caught me by surprise. Lots of older American men. Why? Young desperate Filipino girls at a bargain. Nothing happens until night when all the go go bars start coming alive. Went into one by accident but it was nicely air conditioned and the beer was reasonable and cold. Neon lights everywhere. Every male tourist is in their 40-50s and has a young Filipina by there side. Hotel rooms can get pretty noisy, if you know what I mean!!!!
Certain parts of Manila is a hole with its traffic and pollution but the downtown is beautiful and modern. The Intermuros area is interesting with it's old wall, cathedral and Spanish architecture . Emirta is a gross ghetto but lots of tourist hang out there. Check out dept stores for cheap clothing (or factory rejects!) At night, watch the sunset by the seaside of Manila. A laid back resort is Puerto Galera. Great snorkeling from the beach at small Laguna beach. The beaches aren’t too exciting there but it’s a good place to hang out. White beach is popular but no snorkeling.
Bohol island is definitely worth going to. One highlight is endless rolling Chocolate hills (that look like hundreds of Hershey kiss) and the other is to take great jungle Loboc River (just like Apocalypse Now movie). Go on a unmotorized boat so you can hear the sounds of the jungle. You can watch everyday life along the river and there's a small waterfall to jump into at the end. As previously mentioned, Alona Beach is great but has now transformed into a mainstream destination. Tagbilaran is the big town. Not much there but Hint: go during fiesta time in April/May and you will definitely get invited to local homes for a fiesta. Very friendly people
The Island of Negros is famous for it's sugar cane plantations. The town of Bacaloid on Negros and Iloillo on Panay, are busy small towns good for a stopover when you island hop.
I'll be back and want to hit Palawan/Coron area and definitely scuba dive there.