The Philippines & The Tao Experience

Just mentioning it conjures images of crystal clear water, white sandy beaches, secret lagoons and paradise. We were excited to fly here after our adventures in Vietnam but we didn’t really know what to expect. It’s such a vast place, consisting of over 7000 islands. With 4 weeks to explore we decided to pre-book our flights, minimising cost and ensuring we made it to the spots we most wanted to see. Or should I say, the spots we had already seen spattered across Instagram and wanted to see for ourselves.

We didn’t want to exert ourselves moving around too much so we settled on the following: Bohol, Cebu, Coron, El Nido, Puerto Princesa and Manila. Boracay was high on the visit list. Unfortunately, though necessarily, it was closed to allow for some rehabilitation.

The biggest part of our trip was our trip with Tao. But more on that shortly…

Bohol is a popular island among tourists. To the South West, there is another small island, accessible by bridge, called Panglao. This is quite a touristy area, made up of more holidaymakers than backpackers. We un-nomadically decided to situate ourselves here for 3 reasons. 1. Visiting a country we knew nothing about, we figured it would be safer to stay somewhere popular. 2. We heard awesome things about diving. 3. Mainland Bohol is only a short scoot away, allowing us to explore from our hub in Panglao.

With 9 days before our flight out of Cebu, we were planning to split our time between the 2 islands. However, the main pull to Cebu for us was to swim with whale sharks – which as I’ve mentioned in my previous post ‘animals and tourism – drawing the line,’ we decided to forgo it and spend more time in Bohol. Here we learnt how to scuba dive and explored the mainland with a trip to the famous ‘Chocolate Hills’.

El Nido is easier to access than Coron (see map below for more info). When we signed up for Tao, we chose to do the route from Coron to El Nido. Eliminating a double back on ourselves. We flew from Cebu to Coron, ensuring we arrived a couple of days before the start of Tao. In all honesty, neither of us were particularly impressed with Coron. We found we got a lot less for our money where accommodation was concerned. Our pennies were getting us shared outdoorsy style bathrooms. Cockroaches and giant spiders included.

NB: Our opinion of Coron may have been different had we ventured on any of the day trips by boat. Seeing as we were about to spend 5 days on a boat we opted out.

Finally, the big day arrived. Trust me, after a few days of total boredom teamed with the worst Wi-Fi you can ever imagine (seriously, we’d rather there wasn’t any so as not to give us false hope). We were super excited to jump on board and do some exploring. We had met our group fleetingly the night before during our briefing. They were all super friendly and we were greeted with many Happy Birthday’s for Toby when we arrived. Tao made Toby’s birthday one to remember. They provided an amazing cake, sang for him and even put on a fire show.

Well, you should check out their website for this one. They have fantastic ethics and a company culture anyone would want to get behind. We took part in the 4 nights/5 days boat expedition. I would recommend this to anyone with a sense of adventure. There is no itinerary. The guides choose the route based on a number of factors, the need for supplies, the weather etc.

I literally have no idea where we went. Simple as. I have photos of it all squiggled on a whiteboard but if I’m being completely honest, I had no signal, no WIFI and I only picked up my phone a few times to take photos. What I can tell you is that we were taken to some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The paradise image that was conjured at the mere mention of The Philippines? We saw it all in 5 days.

Oh. And did I mention we were the only ones there at every spot we visited? I’m talking entire deserted islands. Silence but for our own noise and the ocean. That means sunsets – undisturbed. No photo shoots just beautiful views. Snorkelling with turtles – without being kicked in the face by groups of tourists who can’t swim.

We would wake up, have breakfast and get back on board the boat. Then, the day is ours. We would normally stop at a couple of snorkel spots or deserted islands before lunch and after lunch. It’s up to you if you want to indulge. Want to sit on the boat, sunbathe, read your book, play games, drink all the rum? Well, you can do that too. Before sunset, we would head to our base camp for the evening where every night started with Jungle Juice and ended with more rum, card games and fun. No thinking, no planning, just go where you’re told (if you want to), eat when your fed, sit back and relax. Oh and there are puppies on board every boat. Puppies.

Tao doesn’t run during the rainy season. If you’re planning a trip to The Philippines next year I couldn’t recommend this trip enough. I hope the photos clarify anything I’ve missed. You do need a sense of adventure… There are no hotels or luxuries during the trip just lots of fun and an experience you will never forget. 

Tao dropped us in El Nido where we spent a couple of days recouping, trust me it was needed! Hot shower, comfy bed, air conditioning, pizza… The weather stopped being on our side and unfortunately, we didn’t get to do the famous zip line found at Las Cabanas. As with Coron, we had already done the best bits and didn’t opt to do any more day trips as we knew we’d be seeing things similar to what we had already seen, only busier. We didn’t want to taint our memory.

Our next stop was to see our second New 7 Natures Wonders (the first having been Ha Long Bay) Puerto Princesa Underground River. We stayed in the city of Puerto Princesa which is actually quite a drive from the wonder itself. It was a good place to base ourselves close to the airport and had a bigger variety of restaurants than if we had stayed closer to the river. The rain was really coming down by this point. We were on the cusp of dry season ending and rainy season beginning you see. Other than the day trip to Puerto Princesa’s Underground River we didn’t get up to anything at all. Not that I think there is anything to get up to here…

Once we arrived at the ticket office we queued for our boat which took us round to another bay. A short walk through some jungle and we were loaded onto smaller canoe style boats. We were given life jackets, helmets and audio guides. The cave is absolutely HUGE. We covered about 2km of the accessible part and there’s even more that can’t be reached. It is dark, full of bats (the audio guide will remind you to keep your mouth closed when you’re looking up – which, we all know now can lead to a disaster of a day!) and has some of the most amazing stalagmites and stalactites I have ever seen. It was a great experience and worth the journey from the city.