Mistake #1
Choosing too many islands
Four islands in ten days means four travel days, four check-ins and almost no real holiday. Two bases plus one day trip is nearly always better.
My Philippines · by Authentic Booking Service
You only get one chance to get your Philippine trip right.
I live in the Philippines and personally inspect hotels, islands, restaurants, activities and transfers so you avoid expensive travel mistakes before you even arrive.
Verifiable local expertise
Since 2021I have lived in the Philippines since 2021
150+Hotels personally inspected
18Islands personally explored
24 hResponse within 24 hours
Why choose me
Every recommendation comes from a personal inspection.
I never recommend anything I have not seen, slept in or ridden myself. The goal is simple: no costly mistakes, no wasted vacation days.
Hotels: I sleep in the rooms
I visit the properties, compare room categories, noise, real cleanliness and breakfast. I know which ones to refuse and exactly why.
Ferries and transfers: I ride them
Real schedules, sea conditions, van versus bangka, honest travel times. One impossible connection can cost you an entire island of your trip.
Beaches, restaurants, activities: checked
I check the beach at low tide, the tour guides, the dive centres and the places where the food is genuinely good — on the ground, in person.
Zero expensive mistakes
Wrong island, wrong season, wrong side of the bay. Most itineraries I am sent contain at least three mistakes. I fix them before you book anything.
Avoid at all costs
The Most Expensive Travel Mistakes
These are the three mistakes I correct the most. Each one can cost you several hundred euros and two to three days of holiday.
Mistake #2
Booking the wrong transfers
Domestic flights connected too tightly, a ferry cancelled by swell, a pointless night van. One bad transfer collapses the rest of the itinerary.
Mistake #3
Sleeping in the wrong location
In El Nido, Boracay or Panglao, 800 metres changes everything: swimmable sand or mud, quiet nights or speakers until 3am.
Who I am
A local expert, not an agency.
I have lived in the Philippines since 2021. My job is to travel the islands, sleep in the hotels, board the boats and verify every address before recommending it to a traveller.
When you write to me, you are talking to the person who actually saw the place last week or last month. Not a call centre, not a catalogue.
More about meInteractive map
Where should you actually go?
Open an island to see the hotels, beaches, waterfalls, viewpoints, cafés, diving spots and hidden gems I recommend, filtered by the way you travel.
Tap a marker to open my personal recommendations for that island.
Northern Palawan
El Nido
Limestone bay with lagoons, four tour routes and four very different places to sleep.
Hotels
- Corong-Corong: sunset-facing boutique rooms, quiet after 22:00
- Lio Beach: resort comfort, five minutes from the airstrip
- Town: only if you want restaurants at walking distance
Restaurants
- Grilled fish on the town beachfront
- Filipino-Spanish kitchens near Calle Hama
Beaches
- Nacpan for length
- Duli for surf and emptiness
- Las Cabanas for sunset
Viewpoints
- Taraw Cliff at sunrise with a guide
- Las Cabanas zipline platform
Cafés
- Third-wave coffee on Real Street
- Bakery breakfasts before boat departure
Diving
- Dilumacad Tunnel
- South Miniloc coral garden
Hidden gems
- Cadlao Lagoon by kayak
- Sibaltan on the east coast
Transportation
- Fly into Lio (ENI) rather than driving 5h30 from Puerto Princesa
- Tricycles are fixed price by zone; agree before boarding
Practical advice
- Tour A sells out in high season, book the early departure
- Power cuts happen; confirm your hotel has a silent generator
Sample itineraries
Featured itineraries
Real routes I have built and refined, with transport, hotels and realistic budgets.
10 days · Comfort
Palawan Essentials
Two bases, one ferry, zero wasted days. The clean way to see Bacuit Bay and the Coron lakes without living in a van.
1 350 EUR excl. international flights14 days · ComfortVisayas Discovery
Canyoneering, sardines, Chocolate Hills and waterfalls, connected by short ferries instead of long flights.
1 750 EUR excl. international flights12 days · PremiumHoneymoon Signature
Private boats every day, the best rooms in Lio and Station 1, and a private paraw sunset sail.
4 200 EUR excl. international flightsA question? Let's talk directly.
No forms, no call centre. You write, I answer — from the Philippines.
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A personal reply within a few hours, Philippine time.
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24 destinations