Island-hopping on the Philippines
I really love remote tropical destinations undiscovered by tourist hordes, so a trip to the Philippines was an experience of a lifetime for me.
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We spent 12 days in the Philippines, where we stayed in thatched-roofed, gallery-style bungalows standing in the shade of palm trees, right on the oceanfront.
This relatively simple, authentic accommodation caters for all our needs: there’s a communal dining room serving very tasty and fresh, locally sourced breakfast, a yoga terrace, surf rental and a big, cozy bar.
Most of the islands are small and can be explored in an hour at most, and like the locals we took the local wooden motorboats between them, which was an extraordinary experience in itself.
Several times during the trip we visited fish markets, where we picked through the freshly caught crabs, fish and octopi, after which we sailed with our stock to a neighboring island, where the locals prepared it for lunch for us on open fire and served the food in the traditional banana leaf-trays. The culinary experience was further enhanced by the breathtaking scenery, the likes of which I had perhaps never seen before.
The nature on the island is as if it had been arranged: the sand is bright white and even, the turquoise water is crystal clear, colorful fish swim around you everywhere, the beaches are lined with huge palm trees, and a rainbow often appears over the ocean. On top of that, dolphins were jumping around while we were sailing. It was just like a Windows screenshot, so beautiful that it was almost kitschy.
The locals are incredibly friendly and welcoming and they speak very good English, which is surprising in such a remote corner of the world. They speak to each other and tourists with respect, patience and love, we could learn a lot from them. They share what they have, they invite you into their homes, one time for instance Janó tasted freshly picked sea urchin with the local guys. The local society is women-centered, women are the main leaders of the family, and everyday life revolves around them. It’s a very different set-up from what we’re used to in Europe, and it made a very deep impression on me.
Perhaps my most memorable experience of the whole trip was surfing. In the Philippines camp, beginner surfers are given special attention, with each camper having their one on one lesson with an instructor.
They took us out by boat straight to the line up. It was a fantastic experience to dive into the ocean from a boat and then have an incredible surf session with our group being the only ones in the water. It was here that I really felt how much I can enjoy this sport and how quickly I could improve with having a personal trainer.
After the first surf session, I got the familiar muscle aches, so we visited a local massage parlor. The experience was so great that we became regular customers and stopped by every day on the way home from surfing. We still talk about those massages from time to time.
Many people say Siargao is like Bali 30 years ago, when it wasn’t overrun with tourists. We were there four years ago, but I’d go back any day. The scenery, the community, the local flavors and the surf around the island is like nowhere else.