A comprehensive itinerary to the best+accessible+affordable places in the Coral Triangle

[Searcaigh]

SB seems to suggest I can skip Bunaken to just focus on Bangka if I want reef, and Lembeh for muck.

Check out Murex's package "Passport to Paradise" which covers Bunaken from their Manado base and then onto Bangka but boat and finally into Lembeh Straits by boat. I did this trip back in 2015 when they launched it and it was pretty damn good.

 

[Centrals]

Thanks! That's exactly what I meant. And that's also the reason why I'm skipping Moalboal until it recovers. (typhoon damage in cebu phillipines particularly moalboal) - pronoun is She/Her, btw

After going back and forth a million times, now I realize even Anilao and PG are too hard for me unless I come with a local friend in her car. That's the problem with PH - it's such a pain in the neck to get around. Even the most straightforward transfers resulted in all the difficulty hopping between different public transports or tuktuk rides. The time I went from Panglao to Cebu, not only the whole journey from hotel to ferry to airport bus already super annoying and exhausting, the supposedly 30mins bus ride from the pier to the airport lasted almost two hours. And everywhere was so hot. Traffics was so slow. Cebu City is so dusty and noisy and busy and hot I really don't ever want to return.

Looks like you really can't avoid at least some connecting flights and some lengthy transits and some backtracking. Perhaps this is how you can do the PH leg with minimal pain:
1. Fly into MNL, bus and taxi to: Anilao
2. Ferry from Batangas to: Puerto Galera
3. Ferry to Batangas, bus to MNL, MNL-USU: Coron
4. USU-DGT: Dauin
5. Ferry from Dumaguete: Siquijor
6. Ferry from Larena to Tagbilaran: Panglao
7. Bus to Ubay, ferry to Port of Bato: Southern Leyte
8. Ferry from Massin to Cebu: fly out from CEB

For those especially wimpy like me, only 3-6 are truly accessible.

I would not worry too much about the typhoon damage in Moalboal. Thing will recover/repair quickly. Malapascua was back to normal pretty quickly after Yolander(2013). This is Philippines and typhoon is FACT of life.
If getting to Anilao and PG would require a local with her own transport then you should not be bothered with the country. I did not have that luxury 26 yrs ago to PG. Incidentally both places are dead easy to get to.
The only time that I ever need a taxi is the journey to/from the airport.
BTW, how do you travel normally in SE Asia? There is no such thing as straightforward transfer in this part of the world unless you want to be packaged. Any exception in Vietnam?

 

[FT]

Pardon my gender error please, dumpsterpurrs. The Manila-Anilao-PG itinerary is much easier for those with money to burn which up till now has mostly described my style of Phils travel.
It is possible to book a reliable private driver to Anilao. I can recommend Tourist Driver Arnold Sanchez, but your resort can also recommend. Then it used to be possible to book a direct boat Anilao to PG, but I do not know what the coast guard strictures on bangkas have done to that.
Centrals is right that trike - jeepney - public ferry - trike is possible and much cheaper, and can be considered part of the fun, especially if you are under 1.8 m tall or 100 kg.

 

[dumpsterpurrs]

I would not worry too much about the typhoon damage in Moalboal. Thing will recover/repair quickly. Malapascua was back to normal pretty quickly after Yolander(2013). This is Philippines and typhoon is FACT of life.

That's good to know! Actually Pulau Weh and Phuket/Similan also recovered remarkably well after the Boxing Day Tsunami. There are areas with broken coral fields but you can avoid them as many others have either bounced back or newly proliferated. It did take some years though to get to a healthy level again.

If getting to Anilao and PG would require a local with her own transport then you should not be bothered with the country.

That's my suspicion too

I did not have that luxury 26 yrs ago to PG. Incidentally both places are dead easy to get to.
The only time that I ever need a taxi is the journey to/from the airport.

I think maybe I'll be able to make a two week trip to just PG and then Anilao on the way back. It's the thought of staggering that amount of travel with the rest of PH that really overwhelmed me and why I wanted an easy solution

BTW, how do you travel normally in SE Asia? There is no such thing as straightforward transfer in this part of the world unless you want to be packaged. Any exception in Vietnam?

As I'm travel planning for Borneo, I just love how easy it is generally in Malaysia to either figure out a reasonable transport plan or it would be just as easy to stand around asking and someone's bound to take you to where you need very quickly, either by a scheduled bus, a minivan, or hitchhiking. I'm literally spending two months there out of a stretch of about six months this year. Even Indonesia is usually pretty easy to just wing it, there's always a tuk-tuk willing to help if you ask nicely enough. I've mucked about many remote corners in Indonesia, never really have a problem getting anywhere without chartering a private car or pay for a tour. The hardest was Central Sulawesi, I wanted to go camping and visit Tanah Toraja during their Harvest season and funeral rituals. But alas, a staff at Makassar Airport who gave me a ride out of the airport (UPG didn't have an airport bus at the time, I was trying to walk out but he passed by and offered me a ride when I asked for direction), well this guy just got off his shift, but spent a couple hours trying to help me find what I needed. That's how it is in many SEA countries. There's always a relatively easy solution when you're in Viet Nam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei, and likely even Cambodia but I haven't traveled extensively there, only like a dozen weekend-one week trips. But those five I have, and can keep traveling to very remote places in all of them with some level of ease, despite my sickly health (have I told you guys about my 48hrs of throwing up and vertigo after traveling to Phuket in Feb? From Sai Gon. Yeah. and I've been bedridden ever since returning.). Only been to Laos once, can't really comment. Never been to Myanmar or Timor Leste. And we don't need to mention Singapore in this discussion do we xD

I've concluded that traveling in those SEA countries asks you to show up as a good guest they want to host, and the people will almost always deliver (you to where you want, if not where you need).

PH is just a strange case. When I was a kid I used to think of them as the most developed in SEA (and maybe at the time with all the US money, they were the richest). Didn't realize how uneven development was/still is in PH. Inequality is staggering. I estimate among my friends, the ratio of rich vs poor from each country is highest in PH, by a long mile. Even in Metro Manila, hospitals and the healthcare systems in poor neighborhoods collapsed under COVID (they don't share the same budgets, and Manila does give a high level of fiscal autonomy to local gov).

Oh and I still think you really need to come back to Viet Nam if only for the food. When you visited, the country was so poor it was not possible to feed guests the best Vietnamese cuisine could offer. I promise you Hanoian food of today won't disappoint. Even some of those touristy restaurants do get it right. There's also a vibrant contemporary food (and microbrewery) scene, esp in SG, and it wasn't killed by the pandemic.

 

[Centrals]

Oh and I still think you really need to come back to Viet Nam if only for the food. When you visited, the country was so poor it was not possible to feed guests the best Vietnamese cuisine could offer. I promise you Hanoian food of today won't disappoint. Even some of those touristy restaurants do get it right. There's also a vibrant contemporary food (and microbrewery) scene, esp in SG, and it wasn't killed by the pandemic.

Not a chance!
Food is NOT the reason for me to travel. I eat to live. period.
There is nothing in your country that interested me. The war had done a thorough job in decimating most historical monuments. The Imperial city of Hue? If you had been to the Forbidden Palace in Peking then....
Looking for the Cham Temple outside Da Nang and the reception that I received by the local was pathetic, there were only interested on US$.
Never ever have any issue in travelling in Philippines from North to South.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Wow. Great thread. I know what I'm going to do when I retire and have six months to kill.

The closest I have gotten to this kind of hopscotching was when I visited Borneo, dived Sipadan, and then hopped down the coast to Balikpapan and flew to Manado to dive Lembeh. That was a lot of flights and ferries. I can only imagine what a trip like this would involve.

 

[jjmochi]

For those curious about the Anilao-PG transport, a private boat now costs 20k php. Private van (2k) plus water taxi (10k) is a bit cheaper and takes ~an hour longer. Private van to Anilao from Manila airport is 6k. Pricey!

 

[Centrals]

For those curious about the Anilao-PG transport, a private boat now costs 20k php. Private van (2k) plus water taxi (10k) is a bit cheaper and takes ~an hour longer. Private van to Anilao from Manila airport is 6k. Pricey!

Rip off.
I only use public unless there are few more people to share the cost.

 

[Grateful head]

Are any parts of this itinerary feasible for two middle aged adults, leaving from the Midwest U.S. and having only a traditional American vacation time allotted (10 days or so)?

 

[Centrals]

Are any parts of this itinerary feasible for two middle aged adults, leaving from the Midwest U.S. and having only a traditional American vacation time allotted (10 days or so)?

Diving or sight seeing?
Philippines:
1. There are non stop flights from NYC, LAX and SAF to Manila by PAL and other airlines.
2. Anilao( well known for macro) or Puerto Galera( bit of everything). Anilao is more or less dive/eat/sleep from the same resort. Only 3hrs from Manila airport. Puerto Galera is across the channel and have far more flexibility regarding dive centre, resort and restaurant.
3. SB invaded Puerto Galera few years ago and stayed at Atlantis(expensive).

Atlantis Puerto Galera Resort - Atlantis Dive Resorts and Liveaboard Philippines

Atlantis Puerto Galera is beautifully built into the hills of Sabang Beach,minutes away from over fourty dive spots! Our dedicated beachfront dive resort incorporates 40 rooms with exquisite vegetation, and all amenities to create a dive vacation of a lifetime! Offering up to 5 guided boat dives...

atlantishotel.com

There are cheaper but comparable resorts around eg. El Galleon(Asia divers) and La Laguna Beach Club and Dive Centre etc.

Thailand:
1. LoB to Similan(seasonal, Phuket in Thailand).

Please check your flight connection to Manila and Phuket.