Straight from the airport to Makati, a shower, and dinner downstairs. Nothing more, because tomorrow starts early.
Photography by Jake Irish via Unsplash
Philippines / Southeast Asia
The Philippines, Bohol and Palawan
Manila, the Bohol countryside and the limestone bays of El Nido
A real itinerary we have designed for a client. Leave your email and we will send the full brochure.
Duration
11 nights, 12 days
Pace
Three early mornings, then genuinely nothing
Best time
November to April, dry and calm on both coasts
From
$12,400 per person
The idea
Why this works
Seven thousand islands and most visitors see one. We use Manila as a single night to reset, spend three on Bohol where the interior is farmland, rivers and tarsiers, then move to Palawan for the part everyone comes for. Sabang gives you the underground river and a stretch of coast with almost nobody on it. El Nido finishes the trip with four nights on a private island in Bacuit Bay, where the karst comes straight out of the water.
What sets it apart
- The Chocolate Hills early, then a slow lunch drifting down the Loboc river
- Tarsiers in a sanctuary that puts the animals first
- The Puerto Princesa underground river, entered before the day permits run
- A walk with a Batak guide in the forest behind Sabang
- Four nights on Lagen island, with a boat and a picnic beach to yourselves
The plan
Day by day
Open any day to see where you are, where you sleep and what the day holds. The map follows along, and every point on it opens the day that belongs to it.
The morning flight to Tagbilaran and a clifftop room above Alona beach. Afternoon in the water, evening watching the boats come back in.
Breakfast
Inland at first light for the hills, more than a thousand of them, green now and brown by March. Lunch on a raft drifting down the Loboc, then the tarsier sanctuary at Corella on the way back.
Breakfast, lunch
Out before dawn to look for dolphins off Pamilacan, snorkelling at Balicasag if the current allows, and back by midday. The afternoon is free.
Breakfast
Fly west to Puerto Princesa and drive two hours north to Sabang, where the beach runs for kilometres and the forest comes down to meet it.
Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort
Breakfast
Permits held for the first boats, then eight kilometres of navigable cave river under a limestone mountain, with swiftlets overhead. Back on the sand by lunchtime.
Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort
Breakfast, lunch
A morning in the national park with a Batak guide, learning what the forest is used for rather than just looking at it. Afternoon at leisure.
Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort
Breakfast
A short flight to El Nido and a boat out to Lagen island, where rainforest meets a wall of limestone behind the water. Nothing planned once you land.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
A private boat into Big and Small Lagoon early, before the group tours, then kayaking through water that changes colour by the hour and lunch on a beach with no one on it.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Snorkelling or a dive off the outer islands in the morning, hammock in the afternoon. This is the day nobody wants to leave.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
We drop you on an uninhabited beach with lunch, water and a radio, and collect you when you ask. It sounds like a gimmick and it is the thing people remember.
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Boat, flight to Manila and a day room at the airport hotel before the long haul home.
Breakfast
12 days|from $12,400Speak to an advisor
Where you would stay
The hotels we partner with
Makati, Manila
The Peninsula Manila
Peninsula Pen Club partner, ten minutes from the domestic terminal
Sabang, Palawan
Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort
The best rooms on the beach at the underground river
Bacuit Bay, Palawan
El Nido Resorts Lagen Island
Fifty one rooms between forest and lagoon, all meals included
Your ZOMA perks
Held on every stay in this itinerary
Because we book through preferred partner programmes, the rate matches or beats what you would get direct, and the extras are guaranteed before you travel, not negotiated at check in.
- Room upgrade on arrival, whenever the hotel can offer it
- Daily breakfast for two
- Property credit for spa, dining or experiences
- Early check in and late check out where possible
- VIP welcome and a direct line to your advisor while you are away
The fine print
What the price covers
Included
- Eleven nights including full board on Lagen island
- All internal flights, boats and private road transfers
- Private guiding on Bohol and in Palawan
- Underground river permits, lagoon boat and the island drop with picnic
- Dolphin and reef morning off Panglao
- Advisor support across the time difference for the whole trip
Not included
- International flights
- Travel insurance
- Diving courses and equipment hire
- Meals not listed, and drinks outside the El Nido board basis
Customize this itinerary
Send us a message with your dates, travelers and any requests and we will customize this journey to ensure it's fully personalized for you.
