I thought I would fall immediately in love with the Philippines. However, as I left the country, I found myself saying “I will never go back.” I had some pretty epic fails on my trip. Plan your trip to The Philippines right and avoid my mistakes!

I’d seen all the amazing photos in the lead up to my arrival. The huge cliffs, crystal clear water and tropical islands all had me super excited to get there and experience everything for myself.

Unfortunately, a series of events had me really disliking parts of my Philippines adventure.

The Thing About Expectations

I had set my expectations really high but had failed to plan properly. While on a 6 month trip around Asia, I didn’t want to be too rigid. I wanted to leave some things to chance and spontaneity. 

In my opinion that didn’t work for me in the Philippines. The Philippines has over 7500 islands to choose from. Each with its own varying weather systems. Some with accessibility issues and others shutting down during the low season. I’ve since discovered that research is essential when you plan your trip to The Philippines.

Hindsight and Learning the Lessons

Even the most experienced travellers, have bad things happen. Things can, do and will go wrong. Not all trips are going to be memorable for the right reasons.

 I don’t see this trip as a failure, I don’t blame The Philippines. I see it as lessons I needed to learn. Not to become complacent whilst travelling and there is absolutely nothing wrong with planning a trip. It is sometimes 100% necessary!

So What Went Wrong?

Plan Your Trip To The Philippines: Tip #1

Know The Entry Requirements

No Brainer right?! Wrong!

I’m normally super organised when it comes to entry visas and how to enter a country according to their immigration laws. I mean I’ve travelled to 57 countries, I’m not new to this.

I had done my due diligence and researched whether, as an Australian, I needed a visa. Nope! I did not need one. You beauty!

What I hadn’t done was find out if I could enter on a one-way ticket.

What I had failed to see in my research was, that without a return ticket out of The Philippines they weren’t going to let me in the country.

I didn’t see it on the Australian Government visa website, none of the blogs I read had mentioned it, the airline I had booked through had not raised any red flags with me when I had booked my one-way flight online.

It wasn’t until I was standing at the check-in counter at Saigon airport that this came as a HUGE and gut-churning shock.

A mad scramble ensued to log into my phone and book a flight out of the country, just so I could get into the country. Due to some other frustrating factors, I had a matter of 15 minutes to do this, check-in, get through security and to the gate, so I could board.

So, avoid that mistake and make sure you have thoroughly researched what entry visa you need, if any, depending on your nationality. Also, ensure you have a return ticket booked before you arrive at the airport.

Plan Your Trip To The Philippines: Tip #2

Know How You Are Going To Get Around

Ride Shares

My first mistake was ordering a GRAB (the equivalent of Uber in Asia) from Manila Airport to my hostel and not focusing properly when ordering the car.

When the driver arrived, there was someone else in the car! huh? That’s not normal!!

I had inadvertently ordered a GRAB Share, meaning multiple riders and multiple drop off locations. Not to mention 45 minutes into the trip we picked up another passenger. So my short trip ended up being 90 minutes with two other drop-offs along the way.

By the end of the trip, I was busting for the bathroom, beyond tired, hungry and upset. I just wanted a shower, have something to eat and get to bed.

Learn from my mistake and be prepared with your transportation options before landing. If you do opt for a rideshare make sure you are 100% certain with the type of ride you have booked and are comfortable with that option before confirming.

Ferries

My second transportation mistake was travelling via ferry from Coron to El Nido in rough seas.

Some ferry trips in the lead up to mine had been cancelled by the Coast Guard.

So, imagine how lucky I felt when I found out the one I had booked, was going ahead and I could get there the day I had wanted.

However, my feeling of luck turned to terror very quickly when we got out into the open seas. It was a white knuckle journey the entire time. The boat was rolling up and down the waves. I honestly thought we were going to capsize, numerous times. It was the scariest boat ride I’ve ever been on.

I was planning my escape route, I was psyching myself up to jump overboard and planning to swim to shore. It was seriously frightening! Thankfully we made it, but I was an anxious ball of nerves. No more ferries after that!

Avoid that mistake and travel by plane if you do decide to go to the Philippines in the low season.

Traffic and Distance

My third transportation mistake was not fully understanding traffic conditions. Or, how long it would take to get from the airport to my accommodation in Cebu.

I flew from El Nido to Cebu and had booked a lovely looking villa. It was located halfway between the airport and the activities I wanted to do.

The villa said they had an airport pick up option so I asked for a pickup. They explained if I was part of a group they would pick me. But alas, I was solo, so they suggested I get a white cab. I was furious! The cost of a white cab was the equivalent of $70aud

I realised quickly why they didn’t want to collect me. It’s a 3-4 hour journey, one way! Traffic is horrific in Cebu, especially around the airport, and parts of the journey are through some very windy hills.

It ended up taking close to 5 hours to get to the hotel. Insert crying, angry, regretful face.

At this point, all I could think about was making the same long ass journey back to the airport. I didn’t want to pay the same stupid amount of money. When you’re budget backpacking that really, really hurts!

Thankfully, I met a couple who were travelling to the airport the day I had planned to leave. They offered to take me to the airport. Not for free though, I still had to pay. But this time only the equivalent of $50aud.

For that reason, avoid this mistake and when you plan your trip to The Philippines fully investigate the time it will take from the airport to your accommodation. Investigate traffic conditions and fully understand airport pick up options in full. Do it all before deciding to travel somewhere or book your accommodation. 

Plan Your Trip To The Philippines: Tip #3

Accommodation Isn’t Always As It Seems

Manila

My hostel in Manila ticked all of those boxes. A basic breakfast was included, I could get a private room with a shared bathroom within my budget and close to the ferry company that I needed to book to get to Coron.

Except it had been oversold in its reviews and the photos that were online. 

The place was a dive!

My bed squeaked when you looked at it. The air conditioning didn’t work. The bathrooms were tiny with no ventilation, therefore mould everywhere. Other guests left empty toiletry bottles in the showers, which were never removed by the hostel cleaners. 

Whoever took the photos for Hostelworld had done a stand-up job in portraying a hostel that looked nothing like the photos.

This mistake is somewhat unavoidable!

Unfortunately, if photos don’t portray the true nature of the hostel, other travellers leave overly nice reviews and the hostel staff and cleaners don’t uphold certain standards, you can’t avoid it.

The best you can do is get the hell out of there as quick as possible

Coron

The hostel I booked in Coron, I refer to as “the health hazard hostel”. It was awful. I had travelled overnight for 14 hours from Manila to Coron on a ferry. Unfortunately, I had barely slept, getting a total of 4 hours of sleep. A quick tuk-tuk ride to the Hostel saw me there just in time for breakfast.

I was desperate for a couple of hours sleep, after breakfast and before venturing out to explore. I checked in and they showed me my room.

Down two flights of stairs in the basement. My room was literally a dungeon. The rain was leaking through the walls and the roof. There were puddles of water under each window. Mould had taken over the bathroom, so much so you could actually smell it. The bed linen felt damp to the touch. It was horrific!

But, I was absolutely shattered. So I lay my towel on the bed, used my neck pillow to rest my head on and slept for 3-4 hours.

Even more, annoyingly the WiFi-only reached the third floor, where the router was and didn’t reach any other levels.

When I awoke I felt grimy and gross. There was NO WAY I could stay a minute longer let alone another 2 nights.

Know When To Call It

I immediately hit the streets of Coron, knocking on doors, checking rates and looking at rooms before making my decision. Eventually, I found the perfect little BnB that ticked all the boxes. It was a little more expensive but for some comfort and cleanliness, it was worth it. I was so happy to be out of that hell hole.

Avoid that mistake and pay a little extra for a comfortable room.

El Nido

By the time I booked somewhere in El Nido I thought I’d done a better job.

To be fair, it was really only the weather that dampened this hostel experience.

Because it was a little outside of the main area of El Nido, in a local fishing village amongst the local families, I went ahead and booked it.

Finally, I felt I’d found somewhere with everything I needed. Breakfast included WiFi, my own private balcony overlooking a secluded bay and a private bathroom.

All boxes ticked.

Due to 4 days straight of shitty rainy weather and some big overnight storms, this accommodation grew increasingly less desirable. Twice in the 4 days, the power was cut, therefore, no WiFi. Furthermore, on the day I had booked a boat tour it was cancelled. My new plan was to sit on the balcony and blog. Nope! Couldn’t do that either.

Also, the host didn’t have a backup generator. Face-palm!

Therefore, the short walk from town now was a total nuisance. Because I had to walk in the rain and in the dark due to no street lights. I started avoiding going in there. It wasn’t that I felt unsafe walking around El Nido in the dark but it really was just a nuisance being that far out of town in the rain. I felt trapped.

Avoid that mistake and stay close to town and double-check with your hostel that they have a generator just in case.

Plan Your Trip To The Philippines: Tip #4

Travelling in the Low Season

Weather

Firstly, I’m an absolute advocate and believer in travelling to countries during the shoulder or low season. However, The Philippines is not one of them. The weather had a huge impact on my trip and my mood.

I was there in July and it rained the entire time.

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Consequently, this meant cancelled boat tours. Shady snorkelling trips in rough seas. Traipsing around in the rain. Everything is waterlogged including hotels. Ferries between islands cancelled or extremely treacherous. No beach days. Murky water. Power cuts. No Wifi.

And when it rains in the Philippines it is torrential and it is constant.

Avoid that mistake and book your trip for the summer/dry season which is between November and April. The low season is June to September

Construction

El Nido was so high on my Philippines bucketlist. But I quickly discovered the majority of it was under construction.

Buildings were being demolished and rebuilt. There had been an order by the government that any building too close to the beach was to be ripped down and rebuilt, further back from the water’s edge. And the best time to do this was, you guessed it, low season.

I would search for restaurants online, walk there and realise there was no building standing there, and a sign across saying closed for the season.

Cancellations and Shady Tours

I booked a sightseeing boat tour one day, however, due to the weather and sea conditions, it was cancelled.

However, the next day it went ahead, the morning weather was lovely and sunny. However, it quickly turned bad and rained most of the time. We were in extremely rough seas whilst snorkelling and couldn’t see a thing. We kayaked in the rain and we were freezing cold on the boat. The rain was blowing in sideways.

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Oh, and it’s the season for Jellyfish. Yep! We all got stung.

As a result, it’s a boat tour I’ll never forget because it was so awful!

However, the craziness of the trip was lessened somewhat because I met the most amazing group of people from Ireland. We quickly became friends through the shared humour of the ridiculousness of this boat trip

So, avoid that mistake and stick to land-based activities during the low season.

Plan Your Trip To The Philippines: Tip #5

Research Your Activities Thoroughly Before Participating

I was telling my new friends from the boat tour, that I was going to go swimming with Whale Sharks in Cebu. Laura quickly told me the grim reality of this activity.

Consequently, I was shattered. Not for me, for these poor whale sharks. As a result of this conversation, there was no way I was going to participate in this. I was not going to further encourage any harm to these beautiful creatures by participating.

Because of that conversation, I did all my research. I should have done it first and foremost.

Thankfully, Cebu is full of awesome adventure activities. I conquered some fears by Canyoneering down to Kawasan Falls and throwing myself off a few 40ft waterfalls. Talk about exhilarating. Finally, I was also able to have a couple of beach days in Moalboal.

Avoid that mistake and fully research any and all animal-based activities before you travel. It’s never, ever too late to back out of participating. There will always be something else for you to do. Even if it means sitting by the pool for the day instead of endangering the lives of animals.

Plan Your Trip To The Philippines: Tip #6

Don’t spend too much time in Manila

Well, what is there to say about Manila. I hated it. I gave it two opportunities to win me over and both times it failed.

To be completely honest and frank it is a horrible city. It has no redeeming qualities about it. It is a concrete jungle of the worst kind.

Furthermore, it’s overpopulated, polluted and the traffic is absolutely horrific.

Avoid that mistake and give it a complete miss in my opinion. It’s only good for flying into and straight back out of. Head straight to the islands instead.

Were There Any Positives?

Seems like you are probably wondering whether I had any positives during my trip.

Absolutely I did. Due to the people. Isn’t that what a part of travelling is. Meeting people, learning about them and sharing a part of their journey and yours.

Firstly, I met and became friends with two gorgeous girls, Leah and Nichole, from the USA when I was in Coron.

Secondly, Graham, Laura and Fiona, from Ireland, who I met on that fateful boat tour in El Nido. We continued to hang out at the local Cafe catching up for dinner and playing card games.

I again caught up with Laura and Graham again in Bali, where we celebrated Laura’s birthday in Canggu one evening.

Jham, the best canyoneering guide you could ask for.

He was so nice, professional, encouraging, helpful and super adventurous. Doing back-flips off 50ft waterfalls. Also, encouraging me to jump off a few too.

I went zip-lining, solo, in Las Cabanas, El Nido, from the mainland across the open ocean to a little island. Such fun!

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Finally, toward the end of the trip, the weather in Cebu was beautiful and sunny.

Probably, my favourite little beachside spot, Moalboal. It’s is a gorgeous little beachside town, full of great beaches, restaurants, cafes, snorkelling and other water-based activities. Maybe, one day I’ll go back again.

Furthermore, I always felt really safe the entire time I was there. Certainly, to the extent of being able to confidently walk around every town I stayed in, at night and never felt threatened or unsafe.

Finally, the local Filipino people are beyond lovely. Their smiles light up your days and their hospitality knows no bounds.

So! Will I Ever Go Back To The Philippines?

100% YES

But only after careful planning!

What To Do Differently Next time?

The Philippines needs next level planning. Researching, planning and booking everything well in advance should be a priority. Above all, I will make sure I have my return flight book before I get to the airport, as should you.

Similarly, travel in the right season. As much as I hate to travel in peak seasons because of the crowds, I will absolutely do that next time. For the reason that I want to see that crystal clear water. Experience the amazing snorkelling and beaches. Also, to avoid the constant rain and death-defying waves.

Furthermore, I will also carefully decide which islands to visit based on activities and ease of transport to get there. Islands will be limited to 1 OR 2 locations. As a result, I will be able to thoroughly enjoy my time in each place. No more wasting half my trip travelling between locations.

Finally, I will fully research all activities that I want to do to ensure they are ethical, enjoyable and right for the season.

I strongly encourage people to take the time to plan their trip to the Philippines. Especially if you are looking at going in the shoulder or low season. There is nothing to say you can’t and won’t have an amazing time. As long as you arm yourself with all the right information. You plan your trip according to the season in The Philippines and you go with your eyes wide open.

You might enjoy this post about how I planned for my six-month journey around Asia.

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