Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR), the Philippines’ premier leisure airline, will offer a “Buy 1, Take 1” Batanes roundtrip promo and up to 75% off on Boracay and Tablas roundtrip tickets at the 2010 Philippine Travel Mart (PTM) Sale on September 3-5, 2010 at Booths 108-109, SM Megatrade Halls in SM Megamall.

Batanes Sabtang Lighthouse

Travelers can purchase “Buy 1, Take 1” Batanes roundtrip tickets for only PhP 14,344 all- in for travel until December 19, 2010. Boracay and Tablas roundtrip tickets will be at PhP 3,500 all-in for travel until October 15, 2010, and PhP 4,463 all-in for travel from October 16 to December 19, 2010. Continue Reading

Where’s the best place in the Philippines? If you ask me, you are going to get a prejudiced answer. I made up my mind long ago and while I’ve seen plenty of other amazing places in this beautiful country. I think Babuyanes is the best for me, let me share to you why it is and will always be the best place for me.

Kids in Babuyan Island

A part of it must be the difficulty of getting there. From Manila it takes at least fourteen hours by land to get to Aparri and then another four hours by boat to Camiguin Island. From there, it’s just a hop, but it never gets easy. Nor does it get boring, or ugly, or crowded with tourists. Ah….I love the Babuyanes! Continue Reading

There isn’t much better than dropping your gear on snow white sand, grabbing your snorkel, and then walking into crystal blue waters where you will see thousands of fish, very few tourists, and the cares of life will disappear into the perfect hide away spot.

Real White Sand Beach in Puerto Galera

You might think you would have to go to the farthest reaches of the Philippines in order to find a place like Encenada Beach, but in fact, Puerto Galera is only about 160 km from Manila. Located on Mindoro Island’s northern peninsula, this is a world class diving and snorkel spot and one of the best places in the Philippines for outdoor activities of all kinds. Whether you are into trekking or just discovering new isolated coves with undisturbed sand. This is the place for you to go. Continue Reading

Boracay Island can provide thumping avenues to be explored by tourists. Despite of so many options for tourists, it becomes all the more imperative for most to stay at the right zones where they can find a perfect mix of accommodation with sumptuous and affordable food options. Some of the in-budget staying options at Boracay Island include:

Boracay Beach Front Accommodations

• Blue Mango – It is one of the perfect destinations to stay right at the center of White Beach. They have a restaurant that offers local and international cuisine.
• Taj Guesthouse Boracay – My favorite place to stay in Boracay, It is a boutique style guesthouse just few steps away from D’mall – the perfect place if you want to eat, party or fix your pasalubong shopping.
• Moreno’s Place – It is an ideal accommodation for those who are on a tighter budget. The private rooms with fan may cost around 600-900 Pesos while the air conditioned facility can be negotiated in and around 1000-1500 Pesos depending on the season.
• Dave’s Straw Hat Inn – It s one of the most affordable lodging option located at station 3. The rooms are small with friendly staff but the rates might be on a bit higher side than the other similar options.



My favorite Strawberry Shake

• Little Corner of Italy – The facility is popularly known as “Da Marrios” and is run by an Italian. There are two distinct budget options to go with – Budget common rooms (for up to 4 persons per room) with fan, common shower and toilet. The other option is to choose bungalows which are ideal for 2-4 persons and the price starts from 1800 Pesos.

Boracay Islands can offer tourists ideal zones to pamper their taste buds. Some of the popular in-budget eating options include:

Boracay Cheap Accommodations

• Bamboo Lounge – It serves handpicked selection of world class Chinese food in an al fresco setting.
• Coconut Bar/Restaurant – It is located near to boat station 3 and serves Filipino and International cuisines in a native setting style to the guests.
• Blue Jade Café – It is one of the popular Café’s located in D’Talipapa. Guests can shop around for sumptuous sea food options and have them cooked at the restaurant. The restaurant also offers delicious Asian and European delicacies.
• Lovell’s Swiss Bakery – It is Baracay’s first European bakery shop which can offer tourists to choose amongst fresh pastry’s, puffs and assorted cookies and other bakery options.
• Obama Grill Bar Restaurant – Foodies cannot afford to miss this steak restaurant which offers sumptuous grill bar options and priceless ambiance.

I’ll be visiting the island next week and hopefully I can add more accommodations and eating options on the list:)

If you are a diver like me, then Coron must be on your radar when travelling in the Philippines. Coron is a gorgeous town located in the province of Palawan. It is part of the Calaminan Group of islands in northern Palawan and has been listed in Forbes Traveler Magazine’s top ten best scuba dive sites in the world.

Approaching Barracuda Lake

Known for its underwater views of sunken Japanese ships from the World War II era, I found this area to be absolutely stunning and breathtaking. Located on the northern end of Coron Island is another popular lake called Barracuda Lake. Continue Reading

South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR) and Microtel Inns & Suites will be choosing eight lucky bloggers to join an all-expense paid bloggers’ tour of Boracay from September 10 to 12, 2010. This includes round-trip tickets from Manila to Caticlan and accommodation at Microtel Boracay.

 
Pinoy Travel Bloggers in Boracay – January 2008

To be selected, you will have to write a blog entry telling us why you should be chosen to join the tour. Each blog entry must have a link to the SEAIR website , the SEAIR Facebook Fan Page , and the Microtel Philippines website . Continue Reading

One of the things I love about being in Puerto Princesa is the ability to island hop and see all the amazing little spots that exist nearby. The day after we had a wonderful time in Nagtabon Beach Cove and Puerto Princesa Underground River, our next day destination was a usual route for tourists – the famous Honday Bay.

Honda Bay Tourist Information Center

The snorkeling and diving spots around Pambato Reef is totally mind blowing, although I was not able to snorkel during my recent visit. I can say that there’s still incredible underwater visibility and huge fish density based on my fellow bloggers testimonial. Continue Reading

Puka means hole and while you may have thought that it is a particular kind of sea creature that lives in the puka shell, that’s not right. A puka shell is simply a small shell with a hole in it. Also known as Yapak Beach, this area was popularly known as Puka Beach due to abundance of puka shells bleached white under the mighty sun.

Puka Beach

So a puka shell necklace is a necklace made from shells with holes in them. The reason I am telling you this is because when I was up at Puka Beach on Boracay a few weeks ago, I heard an American girl ask her boyfriend “What does a wild puka look like?” Continue Reading

One of the things I love about traveling in Palawan is that it’s easy to find directions and the locals are tourist friendly. Most people come to Palawan because of its beautiful beaches and relaxing pace of life. Just like I do.

Nagtabon Beach : Secret Revealed

After having dinner near the pool, Norsan Barilea – Microtel’s Marketing & Communications Manager discussed to us our next day itinerary. We are still waiting for our confirmed schedule for the Underground River tour and while having coffee in the hotel lobby, we explored for other places to visit after or before the “UR” trip. Continue Reading

Along with fellow travel bloggers Anton, Winston, Eric, Ferdz, Mica and Dongho, We were invited by Microtel Puerto Princesa to experience one of their newest property in Palawan. From the airport, a van sponsored by Ellen’s Travel and Tours brought us to the resort directly from the airport after few short stops in some tourist spots along the way.

Microtel Puerto Princesa Facade

While the “micro” makes it sound like it is a tiny resort, Microtel in Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan is pretty big. It’s only been open for a little over a year and as I sit under the coconut palms in front of my suite room it’s pretty hard to imagine and describe a better place to stay in Puerto Princesa (If theres one!). Despite the fact that Puerto Princesa is sorrounded by beautiful beaches, Microtel is the only beachfront hotel in the entire City. Continue Reading