Our two months in the Philippines has flown by and we miss it already…although maybe not the food (sorry guys). Two months wasn’t enough time! We only made it to 21 of the 7000 or so islands so barely scraped the surface. It’s one of our favourite countries now and we had so many once in a life time experiences that I felt it justified an extra post for our favourite moments.

~ In date order ~

1 – The Batad Rice Terraces

Views don’t get much better than this! We were totally wowed by the amazing views here and voted it one of the best we’ve seen in all our travels. Plus the area had hardly any tourists around so it was wonderful to explore all on our own.

2 – Riding on the roof of a jeepney – Bontoc

The view of the rice terraces, open road and cloud below us while sitting atop a jeepney was totally awesome. It’s a common way to get around this mountainous region, not the comfiest and bloody cold but worth every frozen second.

3 – Boracay Island

Even though we visited in Algae season we still loved it here. Paddle boarding over the crystal clear sea and basking in the sun. In the evening we would sit and watch the sunset with the cheapest cocktails we found in the Philippines at only 70 pesos £1! Yes it was stupidly busy with tourists but it was still worth it.

4 – Sugar Beach, Sipalay

A true highlight of the Philippines for us, this remote beach was so peaceful and perfect. We had the most unique accommodation in all our travels with an awesome, spacious Nipa Hut and a friendly dog to hang out with every day. Days were spent chilling in hammocks, beautiful sunsets would soon light up the sky in psychedelic colours and then the Milky Way would be revealed in the dark of the night.

5 – Snorkelling with turtles – Apo Island

The waters around Apo Island are full of huge turtles. We spent all day snorkelling with these cuties and loved every minute of it. We even saw a pod of spinner Dolphins on the boat leaving the island.

6 – Swimming with Whale Sharks – Oslob

There’s few places in the world where you can have a guaranteed swim with these majestic Giants Oslob is one of them. Sadly it’s only guaranteed because their fed and we really hated that…BUT we still loved the experience and will always remember it.

 

7 – The sardine run – Moalboal

We went snorkelling and diving with millions of sardines darting around and making the most incredible shapes. It was my favourite dive to date and it’ll be hard to beat swimming through a cave of sardines.

8 – Kawasan waterfall – Cebu Island

A stunning milky blue waterfall with numerous pools and falls to jump from and play around in. The picture speaks for itself.

9 – Island hopping – Alona Beach

We saw Dolphins, snorkelled with a huge variety of fish around Balicasag Island and admired a sinking sand bar. The perfect mix for an island hopping trip.

10 – Sleeping in the jungle – Loboc River

We stayed in a rustic hut next to the Loboc River and it was wonderful, just the sound of the jungle (interrupted only by the splash of Craig jumping in the river) and light from the fireflies.

11 – Motorbiking around Bohol Island

An all round awesome day; zip lining, meeting the worlds smallest primate, seeing the chocolate hills and riding through untouched Bohol where the locals practically Mexican waved us through each village.

12- Island hopping – Bacuit Archipelago

The most dramatic islands scenery surrounded by the clearest sea imaginable and dotted with hidden lagoons. Pure paradise.

13 – Nacpan Beach

Our favourite beach in the Philippines. It was a perfect mix with two idyllic beaches, white sand, blue sea, friendly locals, rustic villages, cute puppy’s, jaw dropping viewpoints and a tranquil place to relax for a few days.