Going to the Philippines for the first time...

[thejet]

Palawan used to be a hidden gem however more and more tourists from the west and Europe are coming in.

If you go to El Nido - which I'm sure you're already planning to, do the island hopping. Beautiful sights and picturesque views that you'll remember forever. The locals put an emphasis on restoring the natural habitat so you'll have to pay a fee for every activity you do, but it's just minimal. and to be honest - I didn't mind paying for it anyways because restoring that natural beauty is imperative. 
Also if you can scuba dive - do it in El Nido. It's like jumping in a real life aquarium. it's amazing.

Boracay got too commercial and although it's fun, and more lively than El Nido - you can tell they've been disregarding the beaches a lil. Hopefully that doesn't happen at El Nido.

Here are some pictures:

Puerto Princessa

El Nido.

Some pics I took. Small sample size. I can post more later on.

 

[pums]

Born and raised in the Philippines still lives here if you have any basic questions I'll try my best to answer

 

[jjs]

Went there a year and a half ago.

Dope experience. I was traveling alone and never felt unsafe.

El Nido was my favorite. Very laid back place, island hoping is amazing and that basketball court in the center of the city was dope. Playing pick up ball with the local teens

Having a crowd of 50-75 people for a pickup game >>>>

No atm there though, so cash in before.

Boracay is nice but very commercial.

Did the north also, didnt stay long in Manila, the charm of the country is def in the country / islands

 

[SplinterMatic319]

go to my hometown dumaguete.........jump off point to these spots:


Oslob (swim with whale sharks)
Dauin & Apo Island world class diving/snorkeling also swim with sea turtles
Waterfalls
Mountains & volcano climbing (mount kanlaon &mount talinis)
Ziplining/ATV in valencia
Twin Lakes
Dumaguete also has a crazy amount of expat population and dope *** food

 

[SplinterMatic319]

Went there a year and a half ago.

Dope experience. I was traveling alone and never felt unsafe.

El Nido was my favorite. Very laid back place, island hoping is amazing and that basketball court in the center of the city was dope. Playing pick up ball with the local teens

Having a crowd of 50-75 people for a pickup game >>>>

No atm there though, so cash in before.

Boracay is nice but very commercial.

Did the north also, didnt stay long in Manila, the charm of the country is def in the country / islands

bro the only thing i hate about playing ball in the PI is these mfers outlet pass 80% of the time as soon as you make a basket

 

[benzilla427]

bro the only thing i hate about playing ball in the PI is these mfers outlet pass 80% of the time as soon as you make a basket

Bruh. I played with my cousins at the barangay court, it felt like a track meet. I'm a hefty guy and I play like a big man so it was definitely not conducive to my playing style

Had me reaching for my inhaler.

 

[11wordisbond]

You couldn't outrun dudes wearing chanelas?

 

[benzilla427]

You couldn't outrun dudes wearing chanelas?

Nah b, them dudes on one. I'm all bout the post lol. I'd bully in then paint and score then they'd just throw a hail mary inbounds. Tsinelas dudes were on my team. The other team had a barefoot guy though...

 

[SC kid]

 The other team had a barefoot guy though...

He had dat crackhead defense tho

 

[al audi]

Beautiful place to visit.

I never been, but I would not be against it.

 

[mycoldyourdone]

was there about 2 weeks ago. i miss it.

-do not drink the water. ALWAYS GET BOTTLED WATER. DRINKS WITH NO ICE. even food that is washed or treats that are made with water are not really safe for your stomach.

-unlock your phone and get a smart/globe prepaid sim and get 7 days unlimited internet for like 400 php. data everywhere helps a lot. gps is good too.

-use the **** out of uber. so cheap and the cars are clean. you might have to contact them though if they are kind of dumb. so much traffic can make the 5 mins away thing more like 15 mins away going around for no reason.

-traffic in manila is just atrocious. you seriously need to check out google maps before you go anywhere because what should be a 15 min drive can literally take 1h and a half. check out google maps with traffic on, and measure when you need to leave. add 15 mins give or take to what you see. and tell your driver to stick to google maps cause they like to go other routes when they see traffic, when staying in that traffic could be the best bet out of all scenarios. they dont really trust computers yet.

-manila is overpopulated as ****. 3 am, theres still a billion people outside with kids running around.

-gas fumes. musty smell. dirty walls. you'll understand. 5 star isnt what youre accustomed to. it's like mexico 5 star. so if youre a princess, always go for the best possible choice.

-use looloo.com, tripadvisor to see best ratings of places you want to eat or stay at.

-cousins say this is a good blog, never used it though
http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/

-use tinder lol. 85% garbage. 10% trans (srs). 5% decent ones.

-if youre up for it, theres an app like uber called grab, theres grabbike. its like uber but for a motorcycle. you can skip a lot of traffic when youre on a bike. do at your own risk though. and its pretty much only for solo trips. i think you have to pay cash, cause my credit card didnt work with the app.

-if youre only staying in makati, youll be fine.

-keep cash on you. i took out cash from atms all the time. they usually give out 1000s. a combo at mcds is about 112 php so you can judge how you want to split all that up. its good to have 100s and 50s for little things.

-phone chargers work, but dont plug anything else. i broke my hair trimmer cause the volts are different there.

-for some reason, kfc is so good there. also mcds has fried chicken, which is pretty good too.

-go get multiple massages. and spoil yourself. dont go to the cheap places. you can go to a nice clean one with good amenities for like 30$

 

[mangudai954]

Is it advisable to haggle prices? If so, are there places where its inappropriate?

What are the best places to visit?(Not overcrowded, inexpensive etc?)

What are the ways that locals try to hustle tourists? I saw mention of the bullets, and reused bottled water.

I have so many questions

 

[wettyfap]

AIR FORCE ONE!!!!

haggling price you better be fluent in Tagalog if not theyll sniff you out bring a relative to haggle for you.

too many places to visit onemonth is not enough

nice clothes/shoes if your clothes smells good off the dryer then youre a target. if your english slips they will sniff you out. pick pockets are slick so hide the valuables. two hands on your fancy cellphone. roll deep i had my cousins 10deep come with me or an entourage to keep an eye on you. $20 feeds the whole crew.

drink RED HORSE

ITS MORE FUN IN THE PHILLIPINES