April 8, 2026

Postcard perfect Philippines

Chiara Di ASIA, TRAVEL Boracay, Cebu, Island Life, Palawan, Philippines, Wander 2 Comments

I can see why they say ‘love the Philippines’ as I loved every minute of my time soaking up the postcard-worthy beaches and islands on my recent wander to Palawan, Boracay and Cebu.

The most difficult part of the trip had been reigning in a two-week itinerary as there is so much to explore and only so much you can fit in, but I was very happy with how it played out. And, I couldn’t have asked for better weather – though windy at times, it was pleasantly warm and not sticky at all.

I started my wander with a 7-day tour of Palawan with G Adventures. It was perfect easing in with a tour as I’d had a busy start to the year and was so ready for someone else to take care of me. The tour started in Puerto Princesa where I met my fabulous CEO Joe who welcomed me as family, as did most Filipinos I met along the way. Then we headed to Iwahig Firefly, 30-minutes from central Puerto Princesa, where we boarded a boat for a 45-minute cruise along the river to spot fireflies. The fireflies produce bio luminous light and light up the mangrove trees kind of like a Christmas tree.

The next morning we were on our way to one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, the Puerto Princesa Underground River. Along the way, we had a quick stop at the picturesque Buenavista View Deck overlooking Ulugan Bay.

We arrived at Sabang Beach hopeful the boats were departing for our underground river experience, as they’d been cancelled the day prior due to rough seas. We were in luck! We waited for the call up from our local guide to board our traditional boat known as a bangka. Life jackets were mandatory from the moment we boarded until we returned to port. We cruised 20-minutes to a beautiful bay in Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park.

We picked up a helmet and walked through the forest to the river where we got into row boats and were given audio guides. Puerto Princesa’s Underground River is the world’s longest stretching 8.2km. Being a seven wonder, there are expectations for conservation and the audio guides are to keep sound to a minimum to protect the eco-system and wildlife inside such as birds and bats. The only light allowed is from the head torch of the rower guide and you’re only able to traverse 1.5km of the river without a special permit. It was great to witness how well it is being preserved.

The formations inside the river cave are spectacular and sure do stimulate the imagination. You travel through beautiful shawls of stalactites as you enter, then to a cathedral-like dome with angel and candle-like formations, and a so-called grocery store with the likes of cacao, mushrooms, cucumber, cabbage, banana blossom and more. It was a very peaceful journey, so peaceful that I nearly dosed off!

We stopped into Cacaoyan Forest Park Restaurant for lunch and a wander through the forest filled with sculptures, before continuing our drive to Port Barton. I was surprised at how quiet and calm the roads were the whole way between Puerto Princesa and El Nido.

Then it was two nights of Port Barton bliss, a small coastal town covering one bay and still so authentic with only one hotel, a handful of hostels, hut-like stores and gravel roads. We were fortunate to be staying at the one beachfront hotel, Holiday Suites. The town reminded me a little of Hiriketiya in Sri Lanka.

On our first night, we enjoyed dinner under the stars where my plate of pancit bihon noodles was enough to feed a few people, followed by a spot of karaoke in a decked-out bus.

We spent our full day in Port Barton island hopping. Our group had a private boat and were picked up a few metres from our doorstep. We entered the boat through the water – a lot of the day was traversing through water so dry bags are recommended and can be found everywhere.

The island hopping experience took us to Starfish Island where you will find the namesake. We snorkelled Twin Reef and Fantastic Reef – the snorkelling overall was better in Port Barton than El Nido. Both reefs had an abundance of coral but only a few small fish.

We spent a couple of glorious hours at Peña Plata for lunch. The boat staff cooked up an array of local dishes onboard and we enjoyed them under a gazebo. There were swings, hammocks and a beautiful beach to swim.

The last stop was Maxima Island and Exotica Island where I snorkelled in between the two. The coral here was quite colourless but there were a few more fish.

Then it was the road to El Nido around tropical mountainous terrain – it was very picturesque! The drive took four hours, with stops, to get us to Sibaltan Community Village, a beach-side town one hour past El Nido.

The Sibaltan Community Village is a G for Good experience supported by Planeterra. It’s beautiful to see the support they provide women into careers. We were welcomed to the community with song and dance, enjoyed a beautiful lunch of local dishes, watched a weaving and roof making demonstration and had a healing with no evil spirits present for me thankfully.

The next stop was our beachfront resort in El Nido, Isla Amara, located at Lio Beach. Felt spoilt having two beachfront hotels on tour.

We did another full day island hopping experience out of El Nido and it was windier and wavier than what you’d expect seeing the pristine and calm bays. We rented reef shoes and boarded at Corong Corong Beach where we had to kayak out to our boat for the day. We had a private tour again and our island hopping guide immediately welcomed us as family. We were on Tour C which the guide described as ‘crazy’. He said Tour A was ‘beautiful’, Tour B was ‘amazing’ and forgot to describe Tour D. The four island hopping tours take you to different islands and beaches, however they do mix up the stops depending on the weather. It’s good to have a couple of back up days as all island hopping tours were cancelled the day after ours due to bad conditions.

The Tour C itinerary usually includes Matinloc Shrine, Secret Beach, Hidden Beach, Talisay Beach and Helicopter Island. We started our day with Hidden Beach, where you fight against crashing waves to get to thigh high calm waters. Around the corner you find Hidden Beach which is very postcard worthy. We had a short snorkel there, but there wasn’t much to see except a couple of Nemos.

The next stop was Talisay Beach for lunch. Everywhere took a little longer to get to due to the swell and windy conditions. This time the food was pre-prepared in eskies so the serving time was quick. While that was happening, I was taking a selfie on the upper deck and my phone slipped out of my hand and bounced off into the water. One of the Filipino deck hands dove straight in and saved the day. My phone is still alive thankfully but what a stomach dropping moment!

After lunch we went to Cadlao Lagoon for a kayak through the gorgeous lagoon. Our final stop was Ipil Beach instead of Seven Commando due to the strong winds. We had a quick swim before returning to port.

On our free day in El Nido, most of the group went to explore Nacpan Beach, renowned as one of Asia’s most beautiful, and still quite untouched with access via a dirt road. Visitors need to register their visit and pay a small environmental fee at the entrance. I was glad we arrived before 10am as it got much busier there after, especially with tripods and photoshoots. It was quite windy and dumpy conditions so we enjoyed a quick dip and spent a lot of time relaxing on the sun beds.

Our last evening together was at Maramegmeg and Las Cabanas beaches where we enjoyed sunset drinks and dinner. It was the perfect way to farewell our time altogether in Palawan.

We had a very quick stop into colourful El Nido town which was abuzz with people, bars, dining and market stores.

I then travelled to Boracay direct from El Nido – there’s one direct flight per day and it’s on a small propellor plane. I was more than delighted to land. Once at Caticlan Airport, you need to take a bus or van transfer, a boat and another vehicle transfer. I used Southwest Tours which was door-to-door and seamless.

I arrived at Red Coconut Beach Hotel, in the heart of Station 2, in time for sunset and settled in on one of the hotel’s sun beds. First impressions were that Boracay was much busier, but the sand was whiter, the water calmer and the tripods more frequent. Unfortunately, the water wasn’t as clear as usual due to it being algae season from February to May. I eased in with dinner and the nightly fire show at my hotel, and was lucky that my room wasn’t facing the nightclub that all the reviews comment on.

I had no plans for Boracay and it felt amazing. I spent my days walking along White Beach to each side of the island, lazing and reading on the sunbeds, taking dips, watching sunsets and receiving massages – hilot is the style local to the Philippines. There were so many picture-perfect moments!

There was also a lot of great cuisine in Boracay from healthy bowls to tasty grilled chicken and Filipino favourites. I even snuck in some Italian.

The only activity I booked was a sunset party cruise on a double storey yacht with an inflatable slide. It started with a bit of waiting around for everyone to board but the DJ was bringing the vibes from the moment I walked on. Once we started moving, the boat host ‘aka chief party starter’ got on the mic and set the scene for the day. He danced and sang with the guests, who were mainly Filipino, for the whole time.

The yacht only travelled a few hundred metres from dock, where it anchored and guests could enjoy water sports or stay on deck and dance. There were canapés and a cocktail station featuring some kind of blue and red concoction. The Filipinos were all so lovely and welcomed me into their celebrations.

My last stop was Cebu for two nights and I sure jammed a lot in. I arrived and was straight off to a city history and food tour. I met my guides Philip and Nescian and a fellow traveller and we took a traditional public transport Jeepney with the locals to Pungko-Pungko Sa Fuente for a taste of street food. It was a tight squeeze when the Jeepney was full! We tried lumpia (spring rolls), crab meat, ngohiong (deep fried egg crepe with vegetables and ground meat) and ginabut (pork intestine).

We then jumped into a Grab to Yap-San Diego Ancestral House, one of the oldest homes in the Philippines which is open as a gallery.

We walked to Cebu Monument, Cebu Metropolitan Church, Basilica del Santo Niño and the Carbon Night Market selling fresh produce. Our final stop was Puso Village for Cebu’s delicacy, lechon (roast pork). Our guides also cooked up tuslob buwa for us to dip our pork and rice – it tasted like gravy but we were told later it was pig’s brain – wish I knew prior!

My full day in Cebu was spent on a 14-hour experience to Moalboal and Kawasan. It was a three-hour drive to Moalboal where we met our guides, collected a snorkel and witnessed the sardine run against a very strong current, where thousands of sardines swim in synchronicity. We were also lucky to snorkel amongst some turtles.

Then it was a 25-minute drive to Kawasan, where we arrived to lunch on the table at PH Kawasan Canyoneering. We were kitted up with life jackets, helmets and water, assigned a tour guide each and driven to the starting point of our canyoneering experience. You can choose to walk or zip to the canyon but all of our group did the walk. The canyon itself is both stunning and adventurous, with turquoise waterways, waterfalls, cliff jumps and slides throughout.

There were jumps at different heights including 2m, 5m, 7m and 8m – 5m was my limit. They usually have 10m and 12m jumps too but these were closed due to low tides. The scariest part was a 5m slide down the cliff edge which was the only way down – crazy! The experience took me about three hours to complete, but you have to wait for everyone to finish before the three hour drive back to Cebu. It was a massive day.

It really was a perfect two-week wander of the Philippines and I was stoked with how my itinerary turned out. The people were as beautiful as the picture-perfect landscapes, islands, beaches and bays. I’m sure I will be back.

Next up I’m getting ready for my big 4-0 wander to Africa which I’m both very excited and very nervous about.

Until then…

LWL xxx