FOREIGNERS on HOW to Travel PHILIPPINES for FIRST TIMERS

You say there's so much to do in Coron, I'm like what? Like there's just island hopping because as much as I love Coron on Coron Island, it's like it's a little bit limited. All right, this video might be useful for those of you who have never traveled the Philippines. So let's see what these people have to say. What's up Philippines? Welcome back to your host Nelly. Yeah, that's me. I am a traveler and a foodie and I've lived in the Philippines for four and a half years. I have seen over 50 provinces and I think I can say a lot about how to travel the Philippines. And these foreigners are claiming how to travel the Philippines. Your perfect two-week trip. I hope they're not putting too much into the itinerary. I know that it is quite tempting to say, okay, let's do this and that and that and that. But you know, Philippines consists of over 7,000 islands. So yeah, it's quite a lot of travel time. A lot of coordination, a lot of logistics that you have to consider. And travel days are sometimes, although it just seems to be like one hour away, it can end up taking almost the whole day. So let's watch it together and see what these people have to say. Welcome back to the other side with Ian and Anna. In this video, we're going to share with you a perfect two-week itinerary to the Philippines. And also the best things you could do in this beautiful country. This video is in collaboration with the Philippines Department of Tourism and Tourism Promotions Board. The Philippines is so special to Anna and I. We spent around three months traveling all throughout that country. And let me tell you, it's the number one country we always tell people to visit. All Filipinos are ready to welcome you back with a new campaign called It's More Fun With You that invites tourists to look forward to coming back to the Philippines, especially after those two years of COVID. I also recommend visiting the Philippines during their dry season, which is from November through April. I also think a lot of people make the mistake of flying into Manila, which is the capital of the Philippines. I recommend flying into Cebu City. There's actually cheaper flights to there from places like Chicago or LA. It depends where you are. My recommendations for your two-week trip to the Philippines. First, you're going to fly right into Cebu City. Take a bus three hours down to Mobile. You could swim the sardines and turtles. Go to Kawasan Falls for some canyoneering. And then you can head to one of our favorite laid-back islands called Sikihor. I know I said it's laid-back, but you have ropes swinging there. It is laid-back. You have cliff jumping. And it's just such a peaceful, beautiful island. From there, you could head to Bohol. After all that fun on those three separate islands, you could head back up to Cebu City and take a flight directly to Siargao. People call it the New Bali. Anna and I stayed on here for two weeks straight and didn't get bored once. Next up is itinerary two, where I recommend, again, to fly into Cebu City. Take a bus down to Mobile. Kind of do the same route as itinerary number one. And then head back up to Cebu City and fly to Coron. This is where you can do boat tours with these limestone rocks that are out of this world. This is where people go and are absolutely mind-blown. You could do Coron, El Nido, Puerto Princesa. There is so much to do around this area. So those are my two itineraries. I hope that's clear for you. And now let's look at the best things to do on each of these islands. Okay. Three of these islands have consistently been voted the best in the world by major travel publications. These three islands are Boracay, Palawan, and Siargao. Boracay. Wait, what? They did all of these travels in two weeks? All right. That is quite a lot. I was home to one of the best beaches in the Philippines. That's more stressful than relaxing to me. The best I've ever been here. But we're excited to go one day. We have, however, been to Palawan. Only two sections. We visited El Nido and Coron. Both are home to massive limestone rock formations that tower over these pristine waters. The most popular thing to do on these islands is a boat tour. We did the ultimate island hopping tour in Coron. And I think it ran us between $30 and $40 per person, which is just amazing value for what you get. You embark on one of the most majestic adventures of your life while sailing through water that turns 50 different shades of blue. I agree. It was practically a whole day going to Kayangan Lake, Twin Lagoon. We swam at a shipwreck. And there's actually a lot more on that list. Of all the spots in the Philippines we've been to, I think that this ultimate island tour gave us the most pretty views. I know that's a hard thing to say, but I really think where we were in Coron is the prettiest of all. I don't know if it's my favorite, but it's the most beautiful. You don't need to spend too much time on Coron because there's actually not much to do on the mainland. Okay, yeah, I agree. When he said there's so much to do in Coron, I'm like, what? There's just island hopping. Because as much as I love Coron, on Coron Island, it's a little bit limited. It's a very small island, though. But if you are a huge fan of the ocean, there are plenty, plenty island hopping activities that you can do. You can do free diving as well. It's a very, very popular spot. You can also do scuba diving. Water activities are big here. And after that, you can take a quick ferry from Coron to the big island of Palawan, which is where El Nido is. In El Nido, you also have those island hopping tour adventures. We were in a small town called Bukhana Beach. It was about an hour from the touristy part of El Nido. Oh, wow. We met some of the most amazing people. Filipinos are extremely friendly. They are all in your business. And all they want to do is help you and hang out and talk. They speak almost perfect English. And finally, the third island that was voted one of the best to visit is my personal favorite, Siargao. Sadly, the Philippines has just been hit by a typhoon and Siargao was drastically affected. Some of our favorite spots on the island are completely destroyed. So we're gonna have some information in the description below that we hope you check out because... Okay, hold on. This is an old video. I just wanted to give a disclaimer. I have just recently been to Siargao. It is back to its beauty. It looks prettier than ever. Shining bright like a diamond. So if you want to go, now is the time. This island has given us so much and we just want to be able to give back to it. Thanks, guys. And let's move on to why Siargao is so special. It is the surfing capital of the Philippines. The government realized how many wave finders were coming there to surf and the government decided to brand it as the new Bali, which it kind of is. It's the perfect way to explain Siargao. Although I love Bali, it has become a bit touristy and kind of crowded. Siargao still maintains that small island vibe with really just one stretch of restaurants and things to do. But the amount of adventures you get to have on Siargao are endless. Starting with, of course, surfing. This is one of the first places Ian and I really tried surfing. And we also did boogie boarding on the big waves to the right of Cloud 9 because we were not about to try surfing in the big waves. But they have like four-footer waves, six-foot waves. It's a really good place to surf if you like to do that. Afterwards, you can grab one of my favorite smoothie bowls ever. I don't know if it's there right now because of the typhoon. There's plenty of tours that you can do off of Siargao, including the three-island tour, which we did, and the Soho and Cove tour. People love the Soho and Cove tour because it reminds them of Palawan with those limestone rocks. Basically implying that Siargao is the only island you need to see since it has a little bit of everything. They also have that world-famous rope swing that's surrounded by hundreds of lush palm trees. You can explore caves, see white sand beaches in the north and waterfalls. Honestly, the list goes on. I really hope you get to see Siargao one day because it is glorious. Another spot that we love is Cebu. We actually went there and visited it again when we went back to the Philippines. We actually hit up the exact same spots, which are in Mobile. Here you can swim with millions of sardines. And this is one of the only two spots in the world that you get to swim with sardines. I know that sounds crazy because we think of sardines as like this yucky food, but it's really, really magical. Once a team of marine conservatives declared the Philippines as the geographic center of marine biodiversity in the world. So it's a paradise for underwater life and you can find this all over the Philippines. While you're swimming with the sardines, you will see turtles. Please do not touch any of the wildlife. This is a lesson I learned the hard way. I was a little bit more ignorant back in the day and I touched a turtle. You can be fined up to $1,000 and get jail time in the Philippines. They really take preserving their wildlife seriously, which I appreciate. Don't freaking touch the animals. And one thing you have to do absolutely 100% is canyoneer to Kawasan Falls. Kawasan Falls is tiers of waterfalls and you basically trek through a jungle, swim through lagoons and jump off cliffs to get to the final waterfall. It was an experience that I had never even thought of, but it has to be one of my all-time favorites in the world. Because if you know us, we love water. We love cliff jumping and it was just a day of absolute chaos and fun. While you're in Cebu, make sure to hit up Siki Hort. Okay, Kawasan Falls is the only spot that I haven't visited yet with the canyoneering? No, wait, cliff jumping? Whatever they're doing. They're like, it's a full day of adventure. I went there, but I didn't do the activities. So I just looked at the waterfall, which, you know, I have to go back. Island, it's one of our very special places because it's very chill, not so crowded. Here they have an amazing cliff jump into the sea. But while you're not adventuring, there's just other things to do like snorkeling and relax. I love relaxing. It's a great chill island. We've also visited destinations like Boho, seeing those chocolate hills and Dumaguete. There's a place there called the Maldives of the Philippines where you're going to see those houses on stilts. And everywhere we've been in the Philippines is worth visiting. It's just up to you to decide which path you want to take. And hey, if you have the time, go everywhere. And that's a wrap. Comment down below what islands you're most excited to visit. And also make some recommendations. We need a Philippines trip so bad. We miss it so much over there. I'm also going to link some tours down in the description below for you guys to check out. And hopefully you like and subscribe. So this video gets pushed out to travelers just like you. We're going to see you in the next one. Okay. Overall, great summary. There are amazing spots that they visited. Definitely worth going there. I 100% agree with them. However, if it is a two-week trip, I would not do it. It's just you will feel so exhausted from just like jumping from one place to another if you want to squeeze in all the spots that they visited. Because it's basically just like going like crisscross. So it's going to drain you. I would rather say go there. Pick one destination or two destinations. One island, whatever. Maximum two and see how you like it. And then just come back and explore the next one and the next one. So you have always a reason to come back. Always a reason to explore. And there's still the excitement that you bring with travel. And then of course, it's also better if you travel slow. I learned it for myself. Traveling fast has drained me a little bit. I'm taking it a little bit more easy now. When I'm staying in places longer, I try to stay in a place and try to see how can I live here potentially or how is it living here. So for example, last time when I went to Chabao, I just really went to see if I could really stay there for long term, eventually moving back. So let me know what you think about these destinations. For those of you who have traveled, what is your favorite spot? What is one place that foreigners should definitely see? What are your top three? My top three? Batanes, Chabao, and Palawan. It's out there. And that's it for today. I'll see you guys next time. What's up, Philippines?