7 nights, 4 stops. This is one of the routes we actually run across Philippines. It is the spine of a trip, not the trip. Tell us how you travel and the plan reshapes it into yours.
Each stop earns its nights. The quiz decides how long you stay in each, and whether a stop drops off entirely because it is not you.
A river canyon of turquoise pools and rock slides at Kawasan, a million sardines swirling twenty metres off Panagsama Beach, and 1,776 grass domes rising out of Bohol's green interior.
A reef break peeling off a wooden boardwalk at Cloud 9, palm lined roads across Siargao, and across the Bohol Sea a volcanic island with a white sandbar and a cross marking a cemetery that sank below the water.
A reef break peeling off a wooden boardwalk at Cloud 9, palm lined roads across Siargao, and across the Bohol Sea a volcanic island with a white sandbar and a cross marking a cemetery that sank below the water.
From the Philippines file. Real places, filed by people who went, not scraped from a Top 10 list.
5.5 kilometres down a river canyon in southern Cebu: trekking, swimming, cliff jumps, natural rock slides and passages under stalactites, finishing at the base of Kawasan Falls. The price is regulated, which is unusual here and worth knowing before anyone quotes you higher.
A resident school of over a million sardines sits 20 to 30 metres off Panagsama Beach at about 10 metres depth. Unlike the South African version this is not seasonal: they are there most days, in roughly the same spot, and you can reach them snorkelling from the shore.
A reef break peeling off a wooden boardwalk on Siargao's east coast, with dozens of other spots scattered around General Luna. It is biggest from September to December on Pacific typhoon groundswell, and the season runs roughly September through March.
A turquoise lagoon in Del Carmen, about 45 minutes by scooter from General Luna. PHP 100 entrance plus a PHP 50 environmental fee, kayak rental PHP 300 for a regular kayak or PHP 500 for a transparent one.
Whole roast pig, seasoned inside with lemongrass and aromatics so it is eaten without sauce, which is the argument Cebu makes against every other version in the country. Zubuchon is the one Anthony Bourdain publicly called the best pig he had eaten. Carcar, an hour south of Cebu City, is the older market version: saltier, plainer, cheaper, sold by the kilo off the carcass.
A vegetarian, organic cafe on Tourism Road near Cloud 9, smoothie bowls, fresh juices and loose leaf tea, PHP 200 to 350. Communal tables make solo seating normal rather than noticeable.
A local Filipino BBQ stall in Catangnan barangay near General Luna, sweet sauce grilled skewers at street stall prices, the authentic local counterpoint to the town's surf cafe scene.
Five short questions, about three minutes. The plan starts from this route and a library of Philippines trips we have tested, then reshapes the nights, the food and the days to your pace and budget.
No sponsored stops, no filler days. If a place stays on your plan, it earned the spot.