YZ250 said:
Reasonable drive in the Philippines? Ha! We went to Lake Taal once which is only 30 miles south of Manila and it took 4 hours.
I would stick with Boracay as I think that is the easiest one to get to from Hoyt's list. It's a short flight, about 5 minutes from the airport to the boat, then a very short boat ride to Boracay. The other places require flights, drives and boat rides that are longer than that for Boracay. It's really going to depend on what else you have planned. If you only have 7 days then I think you only have time for going around Manila and going to one other island. If you a lot 2 full days on another island then I would also consider Coron. Maybe El Nido if you can get a flight there. But you may be spending more time in transit instead of enjoying your time.
All good points. Something you need to know before going to PH is that travelling is a chore. Between long bus rides, traffic galore, delayed flights, cancelled ferries, etc. it can take a LONG time to get somewhere. For instance, I went to Puerto Galera last September for 3 weeks to dive. You definetly need to have a Hakuna Matata mentality when in SE Asia in regards to logistics. Here is how it worked to get to PG.
Landed in Manila at 10pm
Used a Grab to hotel
Up at 6am
Grab to Bus Station (20 min)
4 hour bus ride to go 91km (Usually 2 hours but traffic was horrendous)
Arrive at Batangas Port
Wait 3 hours for next ferry due to weather delay
One hour ferry ride to PG
15 min trike ride to hotel
If you do Coron, do not fly to Puerto Princesa, just fly to Coron and then use the ferry to El Nido(about 4 hours). You have a 4+ hour bus ride from El Nido to Puerto Princesa if you go that route. I would much rather be on a boat looking at pretty water/limestone cliffs than a bus. If you want to do active things like snorkel, dive, boat tour, hike then I would lean more to Coron/El Nido. If you want to see pretty water, little more nightlife and lounge around then maybe Boracay is your answer.
