Philippines worth seeing?

Quoting aspirants2011

Hey!!
The Philippines, tropical islands in Southeast Asia, is a land of fascinating cities and vast tracts of natural beauty.
It's worth watching

I agree with you...

The philippines is a beutifull and fascinating country with alot of tourist attractions. Their culture is very different though.

It is so pathetic how people keep posting PROMOS of and for the Philippines on this site. I wonder, who gets to post more promos here (I mean countries).

It is good to be able to go to the Philippines, but you are not missing much if you don't.

Hi fellow Dom!

Ive just come from the Philippines. Like you, I went overland through SE Asia and then flew out of Singapore. Cheapest flight I found was with Tiger to Clark,about 2 hours outside of Manila. Sure its got some qualities to it, but if you're looking to take in the best places, I wouldnt stay long. Actually I wish I'd stayed long enough to see northern Luzon which sounded great, but due to being an archipelago, you really need to have a load of flights booked to get around which is quite restricting after the freedom of mainland SE Asia.

Next I flew to Puerto Princesa for about a tenner with Zest Air. Its a small town with not much to see but a nice atmosphere. A 5 hour bus ride north is El Nido which I seriously consider my favourite place so far. Its just as gorgeous as Ko Phi Phi with not even a hundredth of the tourists. Getting a little expensive but still virtually unspoiled.

After that I flew to Cebu with Cebu Pacific which is a nicer city, but for me, a city is a city. I tried to go to Bohol twice but the ferries were cancelled due to bad weather which sucked, I hear its lovely.

Next I went to Boracay with AirPhil. The scenery is spectacular but its massively overdeveloped and pretty expensive. Got a busy nightlife and if you loved Ko Phi Phi you'll probably love Boracay.

If you want more info, my last blog post has it all, or feel free to ask!

Dom

Just want to make more people aware of the best place in Philippines, many overlook this place cos they are too busy planning the backpacker route that is palawan, cebu and boracay. I have been traveling Phiiippines for about 3 years now and even though i love most of it I always keep coming back to siargao. Nowhere in philippines do you find so much to do, so friendly locals and so little tourists. Its famous for the great surfing but lately more people been coming here for the unspoiled beaches and tropical islands that is found around the island. Because it is a part of mindanao many people avoid it, do not do that, its perfectly safe here. Two flights a week from cebu, mondays and fridays, daily flights manila-surigao.
You will not be regret it. Any questions and i would be happy to answer then for you.

tagay

[ Edit: Sorry, no promos please. ]

If you know where to go in the Philippines, then it would really be worth the experience. Try to go to Vigan, Bicol, Baguio, Bohol, Siargao... you would love it there. There are a lot of places in the Philippines that's worth the visit.

Each to their own obviously but if you're debating some SE Asia options, I'd personally put Burma above Philippines. Its probably going to be harder to sort a visa and the travelling across the country is tougher, but of all the SEA countries, Burma is, to me, the most memorable.There are some amazing sights and the people are so friendly and welcoming having being starved of contact with the outside world for so long.

I enjoyed the Philippines, but didnt really rate Manila. If you have a choice my advice would be Burma above Philippines. I love all the countries in SEA but in order of preference in terms of memories I retain from trips I'd rank them -
1. Burma
2. Laos
3.Cambodia
4. Vietnam (North better than south)
5. Philippines
6. Malaysia
7. Thailand

I don't dislike Thailand but always seem to end up in an argument with a tuk tuk driver whenever I'm in Bangkok

For me Philippines still the best destination in South East Asia, almost all of the provinces from north down to the south has lot of beautiful places to offer not to mention the sumptuous delicacies and very accomodating people.

I just love the beaches especially in Boracay and Puerto Galera.

Moderator comment: please see Forum Rules

[ Edit: Sorry, no promos please. Link to Forum Rules added. ]

Quoting Dimasilaw

I would skip the whole country. It's really not safe..security guards everywhere. Threat from terrorism and kidnapping...

whats ur basis for this ? how many times have u been there -how many times were u kidnapped? i have been to mindanao several times ,,even some muslim areas like cotabato and illigan ,nothing ever happened to me or many of the foreigners that live there .

The Philippines is beautiful -- It's definitely worth seeing if you've got the time -- With 7,107 islands, you have tons of places to see. I would definitely recommend El Nido, Palawan (for a laid back beach), Boracay (for a party beach) and Calagwas (for a rugged setting as in tents on the sand and everything). If you're going through Vietnam, you might want to consider taking Cebu Pacific -- They've got a sale right now. Like, around $25 (excluding taxes) from Hanoi to Manila.