My Perfect Philippine Trip I

Visayas and Tubbataha

I’ve been a traveler and scuba diver in the Philippines since 2009. This article will explore what I’d do if I had three weeks in the Philippines, as a scuba diver who wants to see nice things on land as well. Almost all of this trip is happening in the Visayas region of the Philippines, which has been my home for the last few years. There will be two more Perfect Philippine Trip blog posts: one about places up north which I have visited and which I enjoyed, and one with my Philippine travel “bucket list”, which places which I hope to visit in the next few years.

The Itinerary Overview

Your will fly and ride from you home to Cebu - Tubbataha – Dumaguete/Dauin – Siquijor – Bohol – back to Cebu & back home.

The Diving

The first part of your trip will take you to Tubbataha, an isolated set of reefs in the center of the Sulu Sea. Tubbataha is quite different from almost all of the other diving destinations in the Philippines. Due to its distance from coastal populations, and hence poachers, and due to a very ambitious marine park authority, Tubbataha is very well protected and near-pristine in its ecosystem health. You’ll see sharks on almost every dive and lots and lots of happy fish. The reefs are heartwarmingly intact. Tubbataha has to be dived from a live aboard dive boat (no day trips possible due to the distance from Palawan), and usually only in the spring/eary summer, March-June.

The second part of the diving on the trip is in Dauin. Dauin is an amazing place for muck diving. Muck diving is diving in otherwise featureless areas, not on coral reefs, in sandy plains or in seagrass meadows. Muck diving lets you observe a variety of animals uniquely adapted to these ecosystems, often bizarrely shaped and camouflaged. If you’d like to dive with me in Dauin, contact me directly or message Sea Explorers Dauin.

You can also dive in the Siquijor and Bohol parts of your trips, these places offer top dive sites close to shore, which you can reach via beach entry or a short boat ride. In Siquijor I recommend Apo Diver in San Juan. There is really no bad diving in the Philippines, but Siquijor and Bohol have lots of things to do on land as well, and Tubbataha/Dauin stand out as unique diving spots to me. So, hence the recommendation to dive in these two spots to make it a mixed-interest trip.

The Charming City

Spend a day in Dumaguete, a charming provincial town with good food, a good vibe, and history to experience. Visit the Sans Rival, a café with a lot of tradition and excellent pastries. Check out the Rizal boulevard. Mingle with the locals on Silliman beach. Everyone speaks English, and often folks will chat you up. Be social, explore.

Insider tip: Check out the Silliman University Anthropology Museum, which harbors absolute treasures and rarities from the history of the Philippines. This isn’t a well-known, promoted tourist attraction, but definitely worth a visit for the educated traveler.

Siquijor

Head to the magic island of Siquijor for a few days. There are regular ferries leaving from Dumaguete harbor.

The beaches in San Juan are absolutely fantastic, not over-run, and have super amazing sunsets. Siquijor is the place to relax for a few days. There are a monastery, a butterfly farm, a giant fig tree, and a few more old churches. It’s a fun day trip to visit these sights.

Tourism in Siquijor is centered around San Juan. The capital town of Siquijor, also called Siquijor, isn’t all that interesting. Siquijor is known for its magic/faith healing/doctor quack-quacks. Around Easter they convene, and it’s possible to see some of this convention if you plan ahead and ask local travel guides.

Bohol!

Next, head to Bohol, which is easy to reach from Siquijor via ferry. Visit the Bohol tarsiers, which are an amazing species of primates, very close to the common ancestors of all monkeys, including us. The tarsier sanctuary is a very well-run conservation facility, headed by the conservationist after whom the species is named. You can see the animals in their natural, shrubbery environment.

Visit Baclayon Church, which was built from coral rock in the 1590s, and rich in historic sacral artefacts. You can still see the textures formed by the coral polyps on the surface of the church, it’s amazing. The inside of the church hosts all kinds of statues of saints and Mother Maries, propped up un-orderly in the halls of the monastery. The Philippines haven’t been fully commercialized/streamlined/Starbuck-ized yet, in contrast to many other parts of the world, and this church is one of the places where you can see that. Charming.

The Loboc river is also worth a tour. The chocolate hills are spectacular from a drone or low-flying helicopter, but I always thought the place most tours bring you to see them is cringeworthy touristy – too many souvenir shops around the viewing platform.

Toy can stay in Alona on Panglao, an island connected to mainland Bohol, where there is great food and fun nightlife. It’s busy, but it’s still fun, a lot of the bars and restaurants have ocean views. Lots of Korean tourists visit here, so you can get ace Korean food. If you’d like to have things more chill, head to Anda, on the southern coast of Bohol.

Insider Tip: Don’t ever think of missing the Bohol Bee Farm ice cream. My grandpa had an ice cream shop, I’m a certified ice cream gourmet. Bohol Bee Farm’s ice cream is top quality, and they have all these interesting flavors from tropical fruit, like durian, dragon fruit or ube. A culinary firework.

Fort San Pedro in Cebu

Go to Cebu a day early. You never know: the ferry might be defective, over-booked, or the ocean might be rough, and the boats possibly can’t leave. You don’t want to miss your international flight because you scheduled your arrival in Cebu too closely ahead of your flight. If you have time, visit Fort San Pedro, near the ferry port, one of the oldest military installations in the country from the Spanish colonial period.

Logistics

I recommend flying into Cebu internationally, not Manila. The Manila airport can be a bit of a headache. Mactan/Cebu airport is new, smaller, well organized, rarely crowded.

The itinerary below is a suggestion, and you can easily add a day or two somewhere. If you have less time, cut out one destination. I don’t advise rushing things, as explained here:

Day 0: Flight to Cebu. Stay near the airport for a night.

Day 1: Fly to Puerto Princessa, Palawan. Board the Live aboard of your choice. I had great experiences with Infinity, and Sea Explorers also runs a live aboard to Tubbataha, starting in 2024.

Day 2-6: Diving in Tubbataha.

Day 7: Fly back to Cebu, catch a connecting flight to Dumaguete in the afternoon. A travel day.

Day 8: Explore Dumaguete.

Days 9-12 Diving. Car transfer to Dauin in the morning, 30 minutes or so. Get your hotel to send you a van. Dive in Dauin. Check out Sea Explorers if you’d like to dive with me.

Day 13 Travel to Siquijor by ferry from Dumaguete. Best to be at the ferry port early to buy a ticket. Best to show up there in person, online purchases don’t work well since the ferry schedules can change. I don’t recommend third-party apps or webpages for ferry ticket purchases. Weather, technical difficulties, or holidays/over-booking can make it hard or impossible to get a ferry ticket on the very day you want to travel.

Days 14-16 Siquijor: Enjoy the amazing sunsets and endless beaches, talk to people, drink cold beer, visit the waterfalls and the butterfly farm. It’s easy to go around the island on a tricycle which you can rent for a day, plus the services of a driver. Renting your own scooter? Maybe not, as explained here:

Day 17: Travel to Bohol by ferry from Siquijor. Start enjoying Bohol.

Days 18-20 Bohol: Visit the tarsiers, do a river tour, possibly spend time in peaceful Anda or stay in buzzing, fun Alona on Panglao, a brief drive from Tagbilaran, Bohol’s capital.

Day 21:  Travel to Cebu by ferry from Tagbilaran/Bohol.

Day 22: This is a buffer day, in case of bad weather, a canceled ferry, or any other delay. This happens. Visit Fort San Pedro, an important piece of Philippine history.

Day 23 Flight home. 3 weeks + 1 day excluding your flight days.