Hi All! Thanks in advance for commenting. We are coming to the Philippines late March to early April with a group of 6 adults and 5 kids from 8 - 19, flying in and out of Manila. We want to spend a couple days on Luzon but the rest of the time we assume we should probably just try to tackle one general area such as either Palawan or Cebu or one of the other amazing places in country. My question: Do most of you believe we should just try to stick to one general area after we leave Manila or should we try to squeeze in two? If you think one (or two), which one (or two) areas would it be? Palawan, Cebu, Bohol? We like beach, snorkel, diving, low key and remote. We prefer locals to tourists. We don't need shopping or night life.
1
callippo
it's right in the thick of the Easter period so decide quickly what you are doing and book everything, flights and accommodation, as soon as you can. In fact you're leaving it a bit late with a large-sized group. It's just about the very busiest time of the year.
get out of Manila as soon as you possibly can too. Aim the spend as minimal amount of time there as possible. Ideally, get a flight straight out of there 4-5 hours after you arrive.
It’s not an especially long vacation, with a group as large as this I would just choose one place.
With family groups, especially groups like this with a large age range, I usually recommend Camiguin because it has the biggest range of activities/things to do and which will appeal the most across the age ranges. Volcano trekking. Hot spring and fresh water swim holes. Snorkelling and Clam Reserve. Sunken Cemetery. Waterfalls. Snorkelling.
Camiguin would be great for you, trouble is it’s quite awkward to get to and from Manila. You have to either take two flights via Cebu (and it’s an early morning 6am flight from Cebu too) or else fly to Butuan and then get a bus to the ferry port of Balingoan and get a ferry to the island. That second option, while very do-able and not difficult, would be quite an adventure on its own with such a large-size group.
There is many other options to consider too, however not many of them have enough range of activities to keep that relatively large number of people busy for 9-10 days.
2
Thorn Tree
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