Mangoes
The most important recommendation we can make is eat the mangoes (manga). Filipino mangoes are the best mangoes you will ever have the pleasure of ingesting. We found the taste and quality of the fruit to be phenomenal on every island we visited. You wont be able to bring any back with you so eat as many as you can while you are there. You can however bring back dried Philippine brand mangoes. These are not as good as the fresh fruit but they are still pretty good. We have found that in the USA, Costco carries them and we purchase them regularly.
By Region
Luzon
We started out our trip in Manila. It was cheaper to fly here from the states than Cebu. The Manila airport did not have air conditioning when we arrived, which was quite miserable. We were lucky enough to have friends collect us from the airport, which saved us a lot of stress. I’m extremely glad that we did not rent as car since the flow of traffic was incredibly chaotic and confusing to us. Departing the airport was a huge culture shock compared to the states.
Hotel Sogo Malate (avoid)
The first two night in the Philippines we stayed at hotel Sogo Malate, whose motto is “so fresh….. so good.” However, our experience with them was anything but fresh or good. The whole building smelt like disgusting bleach, but yet did not feel clean. This was mostly due to thousands of cockroaches roaming around from the lobby to the guest rooms. We did not unpack our suite cases at all while we stayed here. Any clothes items we did happen to take out, were thoroughly checked before repacking. The most disgusting spectacle we witnessed was all of the bugs that decided to enjoy breakfast at the hotel’s breakfast buffet. Even though this really grossed us out, it didnt seem to phase anyone else that was at the buffet. It is important to note that the Sogo hotel is a chain with many locations, with some of them possibly being acceptable. However, the Hotel Sogo Malate, which happens to be located in the red light district, was disgusting and really did not feel to safe. Although prostitution is illegal, many drug syndicates own “bars” around the hotel that are basically brothels. After the first two days we thought we might not be able to handle the Philippines, but we were pleasantly surprised by the remainder of the trip.
Cebu
Cebu city, the capital of Cebu, was in my opinion nicer than Manila. It is easy accessible by plane for as little as $40 from Manila. From the moment we arrived in the airport, you could see the difference.
Carmen, another city in Cebu, is about an hour and a half drive north of Cebu City. We stayed in a property with 4 small homes on site on the beach. The property had a pool and over looked the ocean. We actually met a lot of in-law for the first time here. Was a great place to have a large gathering and enjoy the company of others.
Danasan Eco Adventure Park
Danasan Eco Adventure Park, which was located up in the mountains from Carmen, was about a 2-hour bus ride. It would probably be much quicker if you rented a motor bike or got a shuttle. The Danasan Eco Adventure Park was absolutely beautiful. It was surrounded by lush green landscape and had great views of the sunset over a very distant ocean. The absolute best part of the park was the weather. Since it was up in the mountains, it was several degrees cooler out, making the days and evenings very enjoyable. The adventure park had a hotels with many rooms to rent or tents to camp in. We stayed here for several days. It also had an onsite restaurant, which was nice. We would highly recommend going here since it’s filled with fun things to do and we would definitely go here again. Also, if you do decide to visit the adventure park make sure to bring lots of bug spray. Here is a link for more information on Danasan.
Camotes Islands
Camotes Islands have breathtaking white sand beaches and clear blue water. There are many hotels on the island most appearing to be on or around Santiago Bay Beach. We stayed at a sort of B&B hotel right on the beach. There seemed to be some type of miscommunication, and the owner of the hotel gave our reservation to someone else after our first night of staying. An owner of a local restaurant ended up letting us stay at one of his houses that he rents rooms out of. It wasn’t on the beach, but was within a 5 min walk and was very nice. The beach itself has several restaurants that serve pretty good and affordable food. We enjoyed ceviche and many mango smoothies.
During our entire trip in the Philippines, 15-20 in-laws that were residents of Cebu, traveled with us and made us feel safe. The people in the Philippines seem to appreciate tourists and were extremely hospitable.