Planning our vacation to Phils in mid June

Starting to plan our vacation to Phils in mid June. Wow what a task. My wife and two oldest kids have not been back since coming to the USA. 5 years now. I have tried to start putting a rough draft of where we want to go. Arriving manila and plan two days at Tagaytay. Taking the kids to the volcano etc. From there I'm thinking Borocay two days. Duamaguette 2 days Bohol four days and camigan or davao for a few days. At that point I'll be going back home to work. Wife and kids will got to northern mindanao whit family. Some of the family will meet us in camigan or davao. I basically have 12 days on the ground. I'm taking dive lessons now so plan to dive apo island for sure. Several years ago we stayed at Santa Monica Beach Resort which I really enjoyed. Since then I've always thought I'd like to retire in Dumaguette. Any thoughts on where to stay in Dumaguette......would even consider a beach house rental. Best way to lay this out to get to all these places? Easy to fly from Manila to Cebu and take the fast craft. Better to fly into Borocay area? Geez I have to start to get a handle on this Usually opt for mid level accomodations. Certainly not a five star guy just a country bumpkin

 

Wow, that's a hell of a program.
To be frank, it is impossible.
Even if you do half of that program, you will see only airports and airplanes.
Just calm down and try to make a program that will be a vacation.
Keep in mind that travelling with children is not always easy, jet lag is a factor,airlines have delays, opening and close luggage (for 4 persons) take time, 4 persons take a bath take time, traffic delays are part of life and therefore you have to leave for the airport hours before your flight etc.
Renting a house for 2 days is almost impossible because the inventory has to be controlled 2 times(check inn,check out)and if the right person is not around it may take hours.
Just do your homework again, take a deep breath, and start enjoying making a relaxed program.

 

Your trip does sound a bit stressful, but it can be done. There are basically two options to get from Boracay to Dumaguete; fly back north to Manila from Caticlan then south to Dumaguete or fly to Cebu and take the bus to Dumaguete (there is only one flight from Cebu to Dumaguete ... early morning. It doesn't line up with the flight from Caticlan). I don't dive, myself, but for Apo Island diving, I think Mike's Resort in Dauin would be a good bet. I have heard that is equipment is ok and he has lots of experience, especially with Apo Island (I'm sure you will get lots of advice on this part of the trip). If you are staying in Dumaguete and plan to arrange your diving trip from the city, there are a a couple newer hotels that you might want to check; Hotel Nicanor and Hotel Essencia (just opened but a bit further from the Blvd), besides the more traditional Bethel Guest House on the Blvd.

Ocean Jet fastcraft will get you from Dumaguete to Tagbiliran, Bohol. The trip takes about an hour and a half and there are two trips per day, 7:30 am and 2:20 pm. There are no direct flights from Tagbiliran nor Dumaguete to Davao, so Camiguin might be the easiest choice for your Mindanao leg; taking the ferry from Jagna in eastern Bohol.

Good Luck.

 

Good advice from Firefly and Steve. If it was me and knowing what I know, I would skip Tagaytay (show it to them on the internet), go directly to Davao-Camigan out of the way and take care of family visits while recovering from jet lag and acclimating to the weather here. Then I would go to Boracay and enjoy the beach and get some sun before going to Dumaguete-Dauin to dive Apo Island. Keep in mind you if you dive there is a time restriction when you can fly after diving. Santa Monica Beach Resort is now Santa Monica Beach Club and is being renovated but is partially opened. Another alternative is to stay at Mike's Reach Resort, closer to Apo and less costly. Enjoy the trip, more fun in the Philippines.

 

I went to Tagatay also and wouldn't go back. The bus ride itself was enough to stress me out for a couple days and not much to do there anyway. If you have a kick for volcanoes, Mount Canlaon is a couple hours north of Dumaguete. If you wanted to take a trip up that way, you could talk to one of the members here, DavyL200. He can probably arrange a day trip for you.

Boracay would probably the most exciting for the kids, depending on their age, of course; things like being towed by speedboats on rafts, para-sailing, sea-doos, snorkeling, 'round the island boat trips, etc. I have been there twice and if I went back, I would probably stay for 3 full days.

Bohol has has decent beaches and a few interesting things to do (Panglao Island, tarsiers, river lunch cruise, chocolate hills (boring), to name a few). I had planned a scooter trip last year to tour Bohol and take the RORO ferry to Camiguin but the trip fell through. Might do it this spring. If so, I will post some more accurate info.

 

Some things to keep in mind:
Jetlag: Thursday 1 pm in the Philippines is Wednesday 11 pm in Kansas.
Luggage: With a party of 4 you may have some substantial luggage with you, most taxi’s in the Philippines have little or no space in the luggage compartment (filled with LPG tank).With 5 persons in a taxi (including driver)this may be a not so comfortable trip with the luggage on your knees.
Porters: At airports, ports or bus stations are taking your luggage without asking, one may go North and another South and before you know, some of your items might be lost.
PS/ In the Philippines they never steal things, but many items get “lost”
Same attention when you ride on a bus, have a window seat where you can keep an eye on the luggage where your luggage is stowed.
Airlines: Flying in the Philippines can be cheap if you buy long time in advance.
Each airline has different luggage policy from not included in the ticket price to 20 kg included.
A ticket price of 1 peso,88 peso or 499 peso has no meaning, you will most likely pay 2,500 peso /ticket
Check the website of the airline you are flying, in Manila there are 4 terminals that are only connected outside the terminal (taxi or minibus)
Most airlines close check-in 45 minutes before departure even in small airports.
Money change: The best rate you get in Manila or Cebu with money changers (not inside department stores like SM or Ayala) but perhaps you don’t want to walk around with a lot of cash. Most ATM machines distribute only 5,000 or 10,000 pesos and charge an extra 200 pesos for each transaction.
Be careful with the use of a credit card and keep a constant eye on your card during transaction (for instance don’t let a waiter bring the card to the cashier)
Climate: June is hot climate. Unless you stay permanent in an aircon area, you will like to change clothes more than ones a day. Laundry is available overnight in most hotels but is not cheap.

 

I have never been to Bohol but 4 days seems like a lot. Whenever friends have come to visit and stopped off at Bohol they were done with it after just one day and telling me how boring / underwhelming the chocolate hills are.

 

Thanks for all the great info. This will be my 3rd trip to phils. 5 years since I've been there. My wife and I have been to Tagaytay twice and I really do love it there. The beauty is amazing to me. We will skip it this trip though. Borocay is tops on my wifes want list so that is going to get a lot more attention. We have been to Dumaguette and the only reason to go is for me to dive, and also the fact that I think it would be a great place to retire. We spent 4 days in Duma last trip so we have seen most there is to see. I'm going to look at diving in Camigan instead this trip. We have been to Puerta Gallera. The revised wish list is now Borocay, Bohol and Camigan. Bohol is also on the list of potential retirement spots some day. First step is to get the tickets booked for the flight back and forth from USA. Last tuesday there was a good fare I didn't jump on that evaporated. Checking daily now hoping it comes back. Once again thanks for all the help and advice it is appreciated.

 

Last time we took the fast craft from Cebu to Dumaguette via Bohol. Keep in mind that for a land locked Kansas boy being on the water is relaxing and enjoyable I do remember it being delayed several hours. If I did throw Dumaguette back in I'm thinking we could Fly from Manila to Caticlan for Borocay.......then fly to cebu and catch the fast craft to Duma. Fast craft to Bohol and then the ferry to Camigan. I would prefer the fast craft to a bus but whichever works there. I also always have to keep in mind this trip neither my wife or my 4 yo knows how to swim so being out on the water takes on a bigger risk. This is not until mid June so have a bit to get all this worked out. My wife and kids will be going to their province after I head back to spend a few weeks with her family. We have been saving for a while to pull this off so have to make it count

 

Your plan will all click, but it may take some time. I've had better success with finding extremely cheap airfares by waiting until almost the last minute, (within 2 weeks of departure) but I only needed to find a single seat. Once the airlines get desperate to fill a partially full flight the price can drop dramatically, with the exception of Christmas time.