Why not explore Palawan further down apart from your pet destinations (Puerto Princesa, El Nido and Coron) and cross over to the town of Cagayancillo (150km southeast of Palawan’s capital) to encounter an extraordinary experience at Tubbataha Reef. It is declared as a National Marine Park in 1988 and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1993. The CNN Travel ranked Tubbataha Reef as the 8th Best Dive Site in the World and is also one of the Most Outstanding Coral Reefs in Southeast Asia.
The more adventurous nomads, who at the same time are passionate environmentalists, would not miss this islet in their list of holiday splurges. The word ‘tubbataha’ means “the long reef exposed at low tide”.
Best time to visit: From mid-March to mid-June are the seasons of clear sky, calm sea and around 30-45 meters of visibility which is the best time to visit Tubbataha Reef since diving conditions are at its finest.
How to get there: Take a regular flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa. The presence of dive operators at Puerto Princesa airport makes it easier for travelers to sojourn to Tubbataha Reef. The operators can assist the guests on the way to pier which takes only few minutes from the airport. It’s a 10-12 hour boat ride from Puerto Princesa to Tubbataha Reef Marine Park. If your hotel is at Puerto Princesa, most dive boats leave the pier early in the evening and arrive at Tubbataha early the next morning. You can stay the whole day to lavishly explore the Marine Park and leave early in the evening to return to Puerto Princesa the next morning.
Bucas Grande resides in the lone island municipality of Surigao del Norte popularly known as Socorro. Mother Nature has bestowed Bucas Grande Island with a fairly peaceful shorelines if you’re up to a uniquely serene escapade.
It is a lush, tropical paradise and the quintessence of a melting pot being strengthened by foreign and local tourists up to this time. Foreign voyagers have testified that you can sum up the likes of Bohol, Tagaytay, Palawan, Boracay, etc. into one and you will come up with Bucas Grande Island where you can see everything that you only get to see partially from one tourist attraction to another.
Try diverting your interests from the typically favored destinations such as Boracay, Baguio, Chocolate Hills, Hundred Islands, El NIdo, Coron (and the likes) to those equally exquisite but more unique journeys that can bring you the feeling of how it’s really like to live in a “paradise on earth” along with “knowledge breakthroughs” more eloquently.
One of my practical resolutions this year is to spend more time exploring the road less traveled. I do not need to mesmerize myself in belonging to the year-round huge crowds of the most overrated destinations in the Philippines just to fit in. You see, the Philippines has more than 7,100 islands and certainly, we do not have to overpopulate the same holiday destinations every year.
It’s time to keep moving and give other splendid islands a chance to prove its worth and position at the top ranks.
I invite you to challenge yourselves along with me as I recommend this top 3 most exquisite but rarely explored holiday destinations in the Philippines:
- Discovering the breadth of the enchanting Sohoton Cove is the best adventure to take in Bucas Grande where you will experience the mystifying blue lagoon that embraces the sea-cave, cavern, adjoining walls of stalactites & stalagmites and a variety of enthralling flora & fauna inhabitants;
- Moving forward, you can climb the charming forest and breath-take the oozing upland view parks or catch a tremendous sight of rock formations;
- Get to swim with the thousands of non-stinging jelly fishes or just simply swim by the inland lakes, falls and rivers;
- You may also try a trekking adventure through the rugged trails or;
- Simply immerse yourself with the ancient culture, tradition and humble beginnings of the island (which is my most favorite part of traveling – that is learning!);
- Followed by a healthy meal from the freshest catch of the day.
Despite the low publicity, you should know by now that everything in this island is a big WOW and is richly blessed with astounding natural wonders. Thus, a special visit to this Hidden Jewel of the Pacific is incredibly worth it.
Best time to visit: In the absence of a forecasted typhoon or other natural calamities, you can visit Bucas Grande Island anytime and mainly during summer.
How to get there: Take a flight from Manila to Surigao City (which is the main transit point) or from Cebu City to Surigao City in getting to Bucas Grande Island. Air Phil Express flies from Manila to Surigao daily except Wednesdays while Skyjet flies from Manila to Surigao every T-TH-Sundays. Whereas, Cebu Pacific flies daily from Cebu to Surigao.
At Surigao City airport, you can take either a tricycle or a multi-cab which drives to Port/Pier 1 to take another journey of 2-hour boat ride.
Since Bucas Grande is more popularly known as Socorro, make sure to use the latter term when asking for the motor boat at the port which will take you to Socorro. The regular scheduled sail trips to the island is between 11am to 12 noon from Mondays to Saturdays so make sure that you arrive the port before 12 noon.
If you’re on the “never been seen before by my naked eye” travel quest scenario, this seemingly underrated but very moving tourist attraction is by far the definition of the word ‘adventure’ is best associated with.
A third class municipality in the Province of Sorsogon (located in the Bicol region, south of Luzon), Donsol’s ‘Swimming with the Whale Sharks’ was featured as the “Best Animal Encounter in Asia” by internationally acclaimed Time Magazine in 2004.
- Swimming/interacting with the whale shark is definitely a “MUST-TRY” in Donsol expedition. You will be guided by seasoned Interaction Officers, Spotters and Boatmen. An experience with the ocean creatures is a description of how magnanimous the wonder of nature is and how little we can do compared to what our Creator has done so magnificently. And what we thought could be a death-defying interaction with this big ocean creatures is actually one of life’s most gratifying experience to be able to encounter the therapeutic world of other tremendous creatures if done properly and with a lot of respect;
- Get awesome sightings of Manta Rays at Manta Bowl which is the cleaning and feeding ground for big ocean creatures;
- Take a unique Night Firefly Tour and Shrimp-catching Night Tour which is available all-year round;
- Experience a great Trekking and Biking adventure with the abundance of hilly areas and fields of Donsol.
Best time to visit: Whale sharks sightings occur between November to June with its peak presence during February to May.
How to get there: Take a regular one hour flight or via 10-hour bus ride from Manila to Legazpi City. At the Legazpi City Bus Terminal, there are public (estimated PHP60/pax) and private (estimated PHP1,500 for 12 pax including the driver) vans you can take for another 2-hour land journey to Donsol, Sorsogon.
Like I always share, traveling is the best form of learning. And isn’t it more favorable for us to leverage on our scheduled travel holidays not only by relaxation but also to discover diverse useful insights about our target destinations which are always available to every daring and optimistic nomads.
As we take our passion for traveling to greater heights – the unconventional way – it’s high time to utter out loud with this very rewarding phrase “I came, I saw and I conquered”.
Let the voyage begin to this desirably exotic places and pride ourselves with being able to launch a different kind of life’s journey in this promising New Year! Hail to ONE PROUD PHILIPPINES!!
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