Aerial view of a green limestone island in El Nido, ringed by white-sand beaches and turquoise shallows.

Trips · The Philippines

Bohol, Boracay, Coron and El Nido.

Four stops across the Visayas and Palawan: Chocolate Hills and tarsiers, white sand, limestone lagoons, and the islands of El Nido.

Why go

Limestone islands, water so clear you can see the reef from the air.

The Philippines is a country of more than 7,000 islands. This trip takes four of the ones people plan a whole holiday around, and strings them into one route: Bohol inland and on the beach, Boracay’s long white shore, then Palawan for Coron and El Nido, where the cliffs drop straight into turquoise lagoons.

You move by plane and boat. Days are for swimming, island hopping and looking up at rock that used to be coral reef. Evenings are for the same water, quieter.

The route

  1. Bohol · Panglao, the Chocolate Hills and the tarsier sanctuary
  2. Boracay · White Beach
  3. Coron · limestone lagoons and island-hopping by bangka
  4. El Nido · Bacuit Bay and the lagoons

We went late December into early January: a few days on Bohol, then Boracay, then Coron and El Nido in Palawan. Flights between the islands are short; the island days are by boat.

What we’d skip

[TODO: Ceci’s list.]

Best time to go

  • December to May. The dry season for most of the country: clearer water and more reliable boat days. Christmas and New Year are the busiest and the most expensive.
  • June to November. The wetter months. Storms are more likely, and some boat trips get cancelled. Palawan can still be beautiful between the rain.

We went at the turn of the year and found warm water and full boats. Shoulder months in the dry season are quieter.

Sunset over boats in the bay at Panglao, Bohol.
Panglao, Bohol.
A Philippine tarsier clinging to a branch among green leaves in Bilar, Bohol.
Bilar, Bohol.
The Chocolate Hills of Bohol, rounded green limestone hills under a blue sky.
The Chocolate Hills.
Ceci in a red dress on the white sand of Boracay, beside a dark rock.
Boracay.
Aerial view of Boracay’s turquoise water, white sand and beachfront buildings.
White Beach, Boracay.
Paraw sailboats silhouetted on Boracay at golden hour.
Boracay, evening.
Ceci in an infinity pool overlooking palm trees and the sea on Boracay.
Boracay.
Turquoise lagoon between limestone cliffs in Coron, with outrigger boats.
Coron.
Ceci in a life jacket on a boat in Coron, waving, limestone cliffs behind her.
Coron.
Aerial view of a small limestone island and bright blue water in Coron.
Coron.
Aerial view of a narrow lagoon between steep limestone cliffs in Coron, boats in the turquoise water.
Coron.
Ceci and her niece silhouetted on beach swings under a thatched umbrella in El Nido.
El Nido.
Top-down aerial of a clear turquoise cove and jagged rocks in El Nido.
El Nido.
Wide view of limestone islands and boats in a bay near El Nido.
El Nido.
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