Getting around the East Coast
Australia
Asia & Pacific
7,000+ islands, paradise on every one
The Philippines is what happens when a country is 90% coastline: lagoons like El Nido's that look rendered, whale sharks and sardine runs in Cebu's waters, and island-hopping as the national mode of transport. The water is the warmest, clearest, most swimmable in Asia.
It's a touch further off the classic trail than Thailand or Bali, which is precisely the appeal. Fewer crowds, bigger welcomes, and beaches you'll get to name-drop before the rest of the hostel catches on.
2 ways to do Philippines, compare length, route and price, then pick your trip.
Philippines
13 days · 12 nights · Manila → El Nido
4.9 (575 · Trustpilot)
Canyoneering at Kawasan Falls, the Moalboal sardine run, then a three-day island-hopping boat expedition from Coron to El Nido sleeping in beach huts on uninhabited islands. The Philippines at full volume.
Philippines
17 days · 16 nights · Manila → Manila
4.9 (575 · Trustpilot)
Kawasan canyoneering, the Moalboal sardine run and the Coron→El Nido boat expedition, then Port Barton island hopping and the Underground River, looping back to Manila by air so your onward flight is easy.
El Nido is the poster child of Philippines backpacker life, and it earns it. You'll spend your days on a wooden bangka boat weaving through the Bacuit Archipelago, limestone cliffs shooting straight out of water so clear the boat looks like it's floating on air. Kayak into Big Lagoon at first light before the crowds land, squeeze through the crack into Secret Beach, snorkel off Shimizu Island between grilled-fish lunches cooked on deck. The town itself is scruffy, sandy and social. Finish with a sunset at Las Cabanas Beach, a cold San Miguel in hand, planning tomorrow's boat with your new crew.
A ferry hop from El Nido, Coron is a different beast. In September 1944, US aircraft sank a Japanese supply fleet here, and those wrecks now sit in warm, diveable water, coral-crusted and eerie. Some, like Lusong Gunboat, are shallow enough to snorkel. Even if you never strap on a tank, do the short, sweaty stair-climb to the Kayangan Lake viewpoint: the karst-framed lagoon shot on every Philippines postcard. Then swim the lake itself, float through Twin Lagoon's warm-and-cold layers, and freedive the surreal thermoclines of Barracuda Lake. Coron rewards a slow few days.
Fly or ferry into the Visayas and give Bohol a couple of days. The Chocolate Hills are over a thousand grassy mounds rolling to the horizon, green most of the year, cocoa-brown in the dry season, and genuinely weird from the viewing deck at Carmen. Same day, you can meet the Philippine tarsier, a palm-sized primate with cartoon eyes, at a conservation sanctuary near Corella, then float the jungle-green Loboc River on a lunch cruise. Base yourself on Panglao Island next door: Alona Beach has the hostels, the dive shops and the cheap mango shakes.
Solo travel here doesn't stay solo long. Island-hopping boats are basically floating hostels, six hours sharing snorkels and rice lunches and you've got a crew for the week. Boracay is the party capital: four kilometres of powder-fine White Beach, fire dancers at dusk, sunset paraw sailboats, then beachfront bars around Station 2 going late. El Nido's scene is smaller and barefoot, happy hours spilling onto the sand. In Manila, backpackers gravitate to Poblacion in Makati for rooftop bars and hole-in-the-wall taprooms. Filipinos are famously warm and everyone speaks English, so you'll never drink alone unless you want to.
November to May is the dry season and the sweet spot, sunny skies, calm seas and reliable island-hopping boats. December to February is coolest and busiest; March to May runs hotter. June to October brings the wet season and typhoon risk, when boats get cancelled and some routes shut down. Book Nov–May if you can.
Two weeks minimum, it's 7,000+ islands and nothing moves fast. Our 13-day Manila to El Nido trip covers the essentials; the 17-day Manila loop adds more islands and breathing room. Ferries and small flights eat time, so fewer places done properly beats a mad dash. A month is even better if your visa run allows.
It's one of Southeast Asia's cheaper stops. Hostel dorms, street food and local beer all cost a fraction of Aussie prices, think a few dollars for a meal of silog or fresh grilled fish. Island-hopping tours and internal flights are the big spends, so budget for those. Eat local, take shared vans, and your money stretches a long way.
Island hopping in El Nido, Palawan, kayaking into Big Lagoon and snorkelling the Bacuit Archipelago is the country at its absolute best. It's beginner-friendly too: no experience needed, life jackets and lunch included, and the boat crews handle everything. If you only do one thing between Manila and home, make it this.
Direct flights run from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Manila in roughly eight hours, with Cebu the other main international hub. From Manila, cheap domestic flights fan out everywhere: El Nido via its own small airport or via Puerto Princesa plus a van, Coron via Busuanga, Boracay via Caticlan. Australians get 30 days visa-free on arrival.
One of the best. English is an official language, Filipinos are ridiculously welcoming, and the island-hopping circuit throws travellers together constantly, you'll make mates on your first boat tour. Joining a small group trip like our Manila to El Nido run means the ferries, flights and beds are sorted, so you just show up and enjoy it.
Sea turtles on nearly every snorkel, the huge sardine run at Moalboal, reef life across the Coron wrecks, and whale sharks in Donsol between roughly November and June, the more responsible place to see them. On land, Bohol's tarsier sanctuary protects one of the world's smallest primates. Go with accredited operators and keep your distance.
From El Nido: the classic lagoon and beach boat tours, or a tricycle run to Nacpan Beach. From Coron town: Kayangan Lake, Twin Lagoon and the shallow wrecks in one boat day. From Bohol's Panglao: Chocolate Hills, tarsiers and the Loboc River in a loop. From Cebu: canyoneering to Kawasan Falls near Moalboal.
Two weeks instead of one? Add a side-trip? We'll build it for free.
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