Destination 1: Tagatay
- What to expect
An hour and a half’s drive south of Manila in Cavite province is Tagatay — an area packed with lush national parks, soft green mountains and the famous Taal Volcano. The volcano rises out of the middle of a crater lake, and the surrounding hillsides mean you have breathtaking views down on to this natural phenomenon. The area’s nature parks make it ideal for hiking, mountain biking and horseriding. But that doesn’t mean your holiday has to be all action — this area also has a variety of quiet spas tucked away on the hillsides and picturesque waterfalls that are perfect for romantic picnics.
- Your wellness fix
If wellness is what you’re after, you can really get away from it all at the Nurture Spa (www.nurture.com.ph). The spa’s lush gardens, cool pools and streams, and open-air pavilions where you can enjoy some of the treatments provide the perfect zen escape. The spa menu is made up of a range of traditional Filipino massage treats, with enticing names like Payapa (using rosemary, ginger and peppermint essential oils) and Nilaib, where steaming hot pouches of traditional herbs are wrapped in banana leaves and used to ease aching muscles. You can stay in traditional Ifugao huts, which are simple wooden structures with a ladder leading up to your basic, but comfortable sleeping quarters. On the ground level, hammocks are strung up outside — ideal for idly lazing away an afternoon. A two-night package for two people in an Ifugao hut, including all meals and three spa treatments each, costs from 17,000 pesos (around Dh1,350). If you’re after a bit more luxury, there are also more conventional air-conditioned rooms that are traditionally decorated.
- Your food fix
Sonya’s Secret Garden (www.sonyasgarden.com) isn’t so secret anymore, having gained a very loyal clientele thanks to her menu offering freshly harvested produce from her surrounding farm lands and herb-filled hot house. Lunch here is a charming experience — mismatched tables and chairs, tumbling tropical plants and lily-filled ponds are all housed under a giant marquee. The menu is set, and hasn’t changed for the last ten years, since Sonya first opened her kitchen up to the public. Pull up a chair at one of the tables, sip on a glass of freshly squeezed green mandarin juice and slowly work your way through the menu. First up is a create-your-own salad from the numerous bowls and dishes filled with fresh salad leaves, fruit, vegetables and homemade dressings, plus fresh breads and a range of delicious homemade dips, pestos and pate. For the second course, a giant pot of pasta is placed in the middle of the table alongside a variety of toppings and sauces. For desert, expect glazed sweet potatoes, banana rolls and sticky chocolate cake.
After lunch you’ll want to take a stroll through the beautiful gardens, which are dotted with welcoming relaxation huts. There is also a traditional spa plus several cottages where guests can stay overnight on a bed and breakfast basis. Each cottage is light, bright and gorgeously decorated with antique finds, old frame pictures and crowded bookshelves. I loved the special touches here — vases bursting with blooms from the garden; wispy paper-thin drapes blowing in the breeze; and four-poster beds piled high with pretty embroidered cushions. Accommodation is 3,000 pesos (around Dh240) per person.
- Your action fix
There are several mountain bike and hiking trails in the area, which are easy to access. Your hotel should also be able to arrange a guide who can take you on a sunrise horse ride down to the shore of the crater lake, where you can enjoy a picnic breakfast. For thrill-seekers, the Tagatay Ridge zipline cable tour will have you taking in gorgeous views of the lake, volcano and jungle at a hair-raising 60km per hour. Visit http://tagaytayzipline.com.
- Ultimate love attraction:
On moonlit nights, Sonya’s Garden hosts firefly watching evenings — the ultimate date for star-struck lovers.
Destination 2: Boracay
- What to expect
Close your eyes and picture island perfection. Chances are Boracay will be a pretty close match. This slim, slither of an island is just seven kilometres long and a short one kilometre wide at its narrowest point. Running virtually the full length of the one side of the island is the four kilometre-long aptly named White Beach. This beach is the nerve centre for much of the island action and is lined with beachside accommodation ranging from backpacker style simple rooms to five star resorts; vibrant restaurants and clubs; vendors selling freshly-dived pearls; and masseurs offering cheap beach massages. Besides the powder soft white sand and turquoise water, the brightly painted traditional paraw boats that line the beach give it a faultlessly picturesque image. To the north of the island is the more secluded Puca Beach plus Mount Luho, which offers good views over the entire island.
- Your wellness fix
Boracay’s beauty and the boom in tourism development means the island is a magnet for boatloads of both foreign and local tourists. This gives the clubs and restaurants a vibrant, busy feeling, which is great for nights out. But at the end of the night and during the day, you might want to escape all the action. Discovery Shores (www.discoveryshoresboracay.com) is a sanctuary for the senses — a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World Group, the hotel is set right at the far end of White Beach, away from the more raucous action. The rooms — each with either a ground-floor outdoor seating area or a balcony — are built in tiers down the hillside, which means each room has good sea views. A cascading water feature forms the centre piece of the hotel, with a pool and outdoor restaurants fronting onto the beach. Discovery Shores is also home to the island’s top spa — Mandala. As well as more conventional massages and facials, the spa also has daily yoga classes, an in-house Reiki specialist and rejuvenating water treatments, including Watsu and Water Dance. Rooms start from 10,400 pesos per night (around Dh825).
- Your food fix
There is a seemingly endless choice of restaurants — mainly on White Beach. Seafood is obviously big on the menus, and you can feast in both humble and extravagant settings. A five minute stroll
down the beach from Discovery Shores is Sea Wind (www.seawindresort.net), a laid-back more traditional style hotel that hosts nightly beach barbecues.
Sea Wind started off as just a small guest house on the beach around 20 years ago, but over the years has been developed into a warren of hotel rooms and suites set in a tropical paradise garden filled with winding paths, stairways and bridges. Skip lunch before heading here for a memorable sunset dinner served at tables on the sand lit by giant flaming torches. A huge selection of fresh seafood, including prawns, calamari, squid, a variety of fish and more is laid on ice alongside
cuts of meat and chicken. Select what you want, hand it over to the chef then sit back and sip a cold San Miguel while you wait for it all to be barbecued to perfection.
The desert table is extra special — home made puddings including old-school truffles and macaroons plus slices of juicy tropical fruits. With more than 4km of beach laid out in front of you, end the evening off with a wander down to one of the lively beach bars and be entertained by local musicians. Room rates at Sea Wind start from 6,700 pesos per room (around Dh530).
- Your action fix
Water sport fundis can keep themselves busy from dawn till dusk on Boracay. Kayaking, diving, snorkelling, windsurfing, kite surfing, sailing, parasailing, jetskiing and skimboarding are all on offer. Set a day aside for an island-hopping trip on a paraw that includes numerous stops for snorkelling. The clear water, pretty corals and thriving tropical fish life means you’ll have a fun time even if you don’t have much snorkelling experience. The trips usually include a seafood lunch at a beach hut restaurant. The trips can be organised through your hotel — or just stop in at one of the many boat tour operators along the beach. More experienced divers can enjoy exciting wreck dives a short boat trip away from White Beach.
If you’re after a laugh, try zorbing, which means being rolled down a hill or across water in a giant transparent plastic sphere. Exhilarating… and just a little crazy! There’s also a golf course, great bike adventures and horse riding tours.
- Ultimate love attraction
Pack a picnic, hail a tuk-tuk driver and head up to deserted Puka Beach for a sunset to remember.
Luxe accommodation and idyllic beaches make Boracay the perfect location for an island escape
Visit Magellan’s Cross then while away the day at Plantation Bay Resort on Cebu
With 7,107 islands to choose from, it would be impossible not to experience your ideal holiday in the Philippines. Honeymooners can hide away in luxe beach resorts; wellness wannabes can get their holistic fix tucked away in authentic mountain spas; city slickers can shop and party 24/7 in Manila; and action bunnies can get their thrills on hiking, biking and diving adventures. The list is endless.
With just one short week to explore, Sally Emery selects three destinations and heads off on an island adventure.
Getting there: Etihad Airways has daily flights to Manila. Prices start at Dh1,975. The flight is direct and takes nine hours. Visit www.etihadairways.com.
Getting around: There are a variety of local inter-island airlines, including SEAIR (www.flyseair.com); Cebu Pacific Air
(www.cebupacificair.com) and Philippine Airlines (www.philippineairlines.com).
For more information: Visit the Philippines Tourism Board websites wowphilippines.com.ph and www.experiencephilippines.ph.
Destination 3: Cebu
- What to expect
Cebu is a large island south of Manila that is perfect for couples looking for a cultural fix alongside a beach break. Cebu has earned a place for itself on the historical map, thanks to the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who landed here during his round-the-world voyage more than 500 years ago and began converting the local tribes to Christianity. His luck ran out, however, when he tried to win over a tribal king on Mactan island, Datu Lapu-Lapu, and was killed in the resulting battle. The island has some fascinating monuments, forts and citadels, as well as Magellan’s Cross and a monument to the island’s hero, Lapu-Lapu. Added to this historical mix, are orchid farms, pristine beaches, majestic waterfalls, wildlife sanctuaries and some of the country’s top resorts and spas.
- Your wellbeing fix
If rest and rejuvenation is what you need, check yourself and your partner in for the Loving Life package at Mogambo Springs Spa at Plantation Bay Resort (www.plantationbay.com). Choose the four or seven day programme, which will see you checked into one of the beautifully decorated spa suites which is separate from the rest of the resort and housed within the Japanese style spa complex. The Loving Life package includes specially prepared, nutritionally balanced meals; yoga, breathing and stretching exercises; massages and treatments; colonic cleansing; plus fortune telling and poetry readings. The spa itself has healing hot and cold water pools set under an elevated bamboo ceiling. As spa guests, you will also have access to all of the resort’s facilities, which include wallclimbing, waterslides, a saltwater lagoon, plus a range of watersports.
- Your food fix
For a romantic night out, head to Anzani (www.anzani.com.ph) — Cebu’s most acclaimed restaurant. With dazzling views over the city, owners Marco and Kate Anzani are both trained chefs, who opened the restaurant to recreate the best dishes from their travels around the world. The menu is mainly Mediterranean, the food is all freshly prepared, and the atmosphere is both chic and relaxed. The restaurant is in Panama Heights, near the Marco Polo Hotel. For more local flavours, try sampling some of the barbecued meats from the many street vendors — like grilled chicken feet, which locals affectionately call ‘adidas’.
- Your action fix
Like Boracay, you can choose from a whole gamut of water-based sports. The South High Hills on Cebu island offer some of the country’s most beautiful hiking trails, with peaks reaching 1,100 metres. If you’re relatively fit, you can sign up for a day trek to the top of Osmena Peak. This jungle trek will allow you to experience the natural beauty of Cebu — plus you’ll have the bonus of breathtaking views and visits to smaller mountain villages. Visit www.action-philippines.com to find out more.
- Ultimate love attraction
Pretend you’re in fairy land and take a stroll through the Jamalan Butterfly Sanctuary. This secret garden isn’t easy to locate, so check that your taxi driver knows where he is headed.
Getting there: Etihad Airways has daily flights to Manila. Prices start at Dh1,975. The flight is direct and takes nine hours. Visit www.etihadairways.com.
Getting around: There are a variety of local inter-island airlines, including SEAIR
(www.flyseair.com); Cebu Pacific Air (www.cebupacificair.com): and Philippine Airlines (www.philippineairlines.com).
For more information: Visit the Philippines Tourism Board websites www.wowphilippines. com.ph and www.experiencephilippines.ph.
