Best Summer Destinations in the Philippines, HongKong, Singapore and Thailand

Let me quantify my bizarre yet best nature trips that I’ve wandered so far. I deem there were far more terrific heavenly places that other travelers/adventurers have seen most than my own favelist here. But these divine destinations and ultimate nature outings of mine are just few of the many idyllic and beautiful places that thrilled but sometimes bored me each time I reminisce and revisit it.

BEACHES/ISLANDS

Camiguin Island, Mindanao – truly I see this ‘island born of fire’ as hot summer place! It plays host to seven volcanoes, including the still-active Mount Hibok-Hibok. The volcanic island allures me with its simple yet rustic lifestyle, beautiful mountain ranges, white sand beaches and blue waters. It boasts grand panoramic views situated in a pear-shaped island desired by many vacationers and foreigners. I’ve memorable pictures taken at the sunken cemetery with a huge cross floating on the beach, the attractive Katibawasan falls, ruins of Catarman church, and then dip in a spa-like hot springs of Mambajao in Esperanza. Also, the PHIVOLCS station at the slopes of Hibok-Hibok is a must see and the life-size Stations of the Cross, somewhere in one of the mountains. Sad to say, I wasn’t able to see the famed White Island with powdery sandbar and the picturesque Mt. Hibok-Hibok as grand backdrop.

Corregidor Island, Cavite – been here thrice and standing tall like McArthur exclaiming his famed line, “I shall return’. Surely I will return over and over to this tadpole-shaped island soon with my wife and son. Corregidor Island is memorable to me because it was here where I brought my parents and brothers when I first received my first paycheck from my first job. This was my simple treat to them that really paid off for more blessings. Very historical and educational and is proximate off Manila Bay via commercial ferry. The island tour and its melodramatic Malinta tunnel lights and sounds presentation can take you back in time during the horrors of WW2.

Guimaras and Inampulugan Islands – also been here thrice, seeing its beauty in pre and post-oil spill spell. Still, Guimaras and Inampulugan Islands can become premiere ecotourist destinations. Saved by the present progressive governor who wants Guimaras to become self-reliant not only from its mangoes and cashew nuts exports but also to harness the skills and talents of its smiling natives. Favorite pasalubong: Mango sauce, used by my wife to serve me her delightful mango-flavored carbonara, a.k.a ‘carbo mango’.

Donsol, Sorsogon – the only consolation in my month-long stay here was inspired by my batchmates in anthropology fieldschool during the last quarter of my college. We excavated artifacts from Spanish period shipyard for our archeology class and did commendable cultural research work with my groupmates and best buddies Jonwell and Patrick. Notwithstanding that the biological anthropology part of our fieldschool was conducted in Magallanes, Sorsogon. Regrettably, the class didn’t see Donsol’s marine treasures - the ‘butanding’ or whale sharks, known as the largest fish in the world, despite that it was peak season when we stayed-in.

Honeymoon Island, Palanan Isabela – flying a chartered plane from Tuguegarao City airport and across the distance from a bird’s eye view, above the wilderness of the largest virgin forest in the country, crowns of giant trees in vast Palanan’s jungle look like bunches of broccoli. Inland, I never thought that it stood historic since the Americans captured Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo here. My first time to throw up sailing at the vast Pacific Ocean off Honeymoon Island to search for band of nomadic Agta. Auspiciously we reached a village surrounded by coves with very refined white sands and outlandish exquisiteness of unique flora and fauna.

Honda Bay, Palawan – i might come back by end of May in Palawan. The last time I’d been to the ‘last frontier’, it possessed me with unique spirit as if I was transported to Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. Clear streams, acropolises of limestone hills, refreshing environment are striking vignettes to the soul. Rice paddies gracefully grow at the lush mountain’s foot. Winds flirtingly blow northeast. The balinsasayaw and other migratory birds splendidly flock, flying in V-formation across the clear blue skies. This paradise-island swanks elongated shores of white crystalline beads of sands and ideal place to plant and grow various species of mangroves. In Honda Bay, I enjoy gawking at kayaks frolicked by disgraced wave, battling against a new cyclone of winds.

Huan Hin, Thailand – the ‘favorite summer vacation of Thai royalty’. Upper class resorts, spas and five-star hotels flank fronting the beach line. Wonderfully sketched and is attracting massive Caucasian tourists, rivaled by Pattaya and Phuket Island. The place is known for its night market but strolling along the beach and horse back-riding seem to be a good idea when I was there.

Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro – thanks to ndcp for sponsoring my wife and me with the rest of the research gang to enjoy a hot summer gig last year. There was nothing to worry about food, beer and wine, and transport because everything was free for this trip. Splashes in warm water, snorkeling, fast-paced banana boats, poises and poses in front of flashes, spectacles of unknown souls, in a summer hotspot – full of merry people.

San Juan, La Union – the north’s ‘surfing mecca’ is a place to be for wannabe and good surfers who dare the waves with their death-defying stunts. A long stretch of black sands and awesome mountains on both ends show the magnanimity of the stunning surf beach. There’s a tourist inn, the only tall edifice at the exclusive beach front of mostly rich businessmen and beach addict in San Fernando. But usually silence enshrouds the young night that only murmurs of the sea can be heard aloud.

Silagiin Bay, Zambales – Not the usual summer vacation when we arrived here in this unexploited cove of Silangiin Bay in Zambales, across the distance from Subic Free Port. Handsome rock formations and denuded mountain ranges astound me to safeguard the virgin cove from typhoons. Good investment for possible summerhouses and recreational facilities for retired people. But it boasts great seascape and panoramic summit.

Siloso Beach, Singapore – Not the type of beach resort that I would want to enjoy and stay longer. I was laughing at myself when I saw this place because everything can be so artificial. Yes the place is artificially made for tourists and residents of tiny Singapore in Sentosa Island. Money can buy artificial happiness. Yep, Singapore has lots of money and can buy powdery sands from Indonesia or the Philippines to reclaim a beach resort. Consolation prize: tour around Sentosa Island.

CAVES and HILLS and MOUNTAINS

Underground River, Palawan – a candidate to the seven nature wonders of the world. A grand entry to St. Paul’s Subterranean Park welcomes all kinds of tourists. I was astonished by the towering limestone formations. Hanging mosses like curtains to great palaces of limestones. Monitor lizards and monkeys are guardians of this gorgeous paradise. Jurassic park when I mesmerized about the place. Appearing like a celebrity among the planet of giant lizards and monkeys. The mouth of the cave is magnificent. Visitors are ferried by boats inside the majestic cathedral cave’s mouth. Peculiar shapes and blasphemous religious figures formed by stalagmites and stalactites can be seen inside. Flying foxes or bats hanging atop magnetically sleep in the dark caves. Cold water drifts through the caves. Echoes of visitors thump the curved corners.


Callao Caves, Cagayan – from a rough trail going to the town of Peñablanca, I could see the beauty of Sierra Madre mountain ranges. Bravura rugged rocks stretch along the mighty Pinacanauan River. A few slopping limestone formations above the cliff reveal the caves as one of the promising archeological sites today. Behind the Callao caves, the premier and most fascinating cave sites exude a hundred unexplored caverns of the town blessed with unique beauty. There’s a chapel in the first chamber and kayaking in its mighty river is an exhilarating experience.


Sumaging Cave, Sagada Mt. Province – the small community is intimate. A pine forested area. Some great men lived here like the Philippine’s father of photography named Masferre and known historian Henry Scott. Some says it is the Philippine’s Shangri-la. If that’s the case, then I should thank my friend Daniel for inviting us in his ancestral house. Hanging coffins are the best treasures and a must see. But exploring the Sumaging caves demand more challenges and adrenaline in touring this Anglican haven. The trip was my version of seven years in Tibet. Best place for soul-searching and nature tripping.

Chocolate Hills, Bohol – perhaps God took his time when he made the Philippine Islands. Perhaps he craved for Hershey’s ‘hugs and kisses’ that time when he created this unusual geologic wonder dubbed as chocolate hills. In my journal when I toured this place I wrote, “the tarsiers might have seen how the Maker landscapes the hills. Perhaps the once barren beauty impregnates a natural park. An awe-inspiring sight that buoys up the spirit of lovers and poets. Neither ancient lore nor modern theory breaks the wonder and sensation of the hills. Summer transforms the gifts of earthly colors. But it glitters so natural like chocolates. To enliven its silence, tell the tarsiers to celebrate, ‘coz these hills are royal splendor of Bohol”. Plus traverse the Loboc River and listen to world-famous singing cherubim and seraphim group called Loboc’s children’s choir in an old church, I can attest that tourists like me will shed tears once hearing their angelic voices. This province in indeed bountiful and beautiful.

Mt. Banahaw, Quezon – mysterious as it may look like, it’s thus far the New Jerusalem for many believers. Perhaps, it’s a Zionist peak for Rizalistas. I can feel transfiguration everytime I visit here. All I can speak of are superlative words like pure, tranquil, spiritual and clean to describe this holy mountain. There are caves that can possibly cleanse your sins once you succeed crawling in jagged and rough caverns. As they say, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Baguio City – I pity people who tell me that they haven’t been to Baguio city. For God’s sake please do come. I am not from this place but it’s closer to my heart because two of my brothers studied at St. Louis University (SLU) here in Baguio City. One finished his biology and medicine degrees while the younger one finished political science degree. But Baguio is still, ‘the summer capital of the Philippines’. Before Boracay became a fad, Baguio used to be the ‘it’ place. Natural mountainscapes still befall Baguio minus SM city that has changed the urban landscape of Session Road. Might be back this May or early June for a family vacation.

Banaue Rice Terraces, Ifugao – this great rice terraces is endangered to be delisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site because of collapsing terraces. It’s a proud Ifugao-made monument suggesting that we were once great agriculturists. A living testament that rice shortage should not be our major problem. Our ancestors’ ingenuity to build rice terraces should teach us that there are other ways to solve dearth of rice nowadays. The grandest man-made wonder from the dust of nature I’d ever seen so far in the Philippines. Also, the amphitheater-like rice terraces in Batad are grandiose and everlasting.

Gran Cordillera Mountain Range – it’s said to be the highest and largest mountain range in the country. I think the people here are fierce notwithstanding their hilltribe origins. In Kalinga, I’ve joined two separate explorations. The first group with a bunch of geologists who had to scrupulously escape the wrath of natives in Tinglayan amidst a tribal war after we failed convincing them of putting up a potential hydroelectric transmission in their mountains. Then, I’d also joined the UNDP-funded team to consult locals in the clannish pine-forested barrio of Balbalasang National Park. On the other hand in Bakun, Benguet I had a fond memory when I headed a small team, on a special mission as spies for a private security company, that we painstakingly trek in Cold Mountains braving the typhoon coming but the rare view of seeing tall mountains that are covered with lush pine trees and beautiful falls live on my memory.

Mt. Makiling, Laguna – am sure all of you know the legendary story of Mt. Makiling. Aside from UP Los Baños as a major attraction here, I have two doting memories in Makiling. One was in elementary when my parents joined me to see a national Jamboree here and I was amazed that there were jeepneys trailing the mountain heights, plus seeing Team Cagayan that were so active in all the tasks during this boy scout gathering. Secondly, I recall in our Ecological Anthropology, Dr. Dalisay brought us in Makiling to see the aviary of the captive Philippine eagle a.k.a monkey-eating eagle - so tall, amazing and mighty. But recently, I’ve learned from Ms. Anabelle Plantilla, the Executive Director of Haribon Foundation and a very good and humble NGO person I’ve known so far, during our conversation in Guimaras last time, that those avian species were all dead because they were ill-fatedly unfed. At the end, Haribon doesn’t encourage animals and avian species to be locked in the zoos, cages and ocenariums because they believed that animals should live and best be freed in the wild.

Mt. Mayon Vocano, Albay – I’ve seen it from various perspectives and many times I gaze up at this so-called perfect cone from the foot of ruined Cagsaua Church, truly it’s still a majestic volcano yet deadly. I believe that each time this active volcano erupts and bursts its magma; it becomes an instant hit for tourists as well. Ashes fall down from a trajectory to grass-thatched abodes and in ruins of Cagsaua church and the still standing belfry - for centuries strangled by veins of vines.

OCENARIUMS

HongKong Ocean Park – i think it is Asia’s best ocenarium so far. It boasts four-story aquarium displaying extensive collection of marine species (more than 2,000 kinds of fish separate from jellyfish and shark aquariums) that flabbergast children and adults alike. A marine-themed amusement park that I think is more amusing than going to HongKong Disneyland. It has better Ocean Theater and deep atoll reef. A gondola lift (cable car) system makes a perfect treat to view the spectacular Repulse Bay. Hills are pasted with escalators. It seems a whole day trip isn’t enough because there are more fun and ride to choose from.

Singapore’s Underwater World – am quite disappointed when I compare it with marine aquariums at HongKong Ocean Park. The only solace was the Dolphin show at the Dolphin Lagoon in Palawan Beach around Sentosa Island.

Manila Ocean Park – am very disappointed when we went there during its soft opening. I wish the Chinese owners should have opened it with a bang when everything is completed! It’s still not worth it to visit, despite that they’re rushing in to finish the mall and hotels by end of the year. At least we’ve our own now. No need to travel abroad to enjoy ocenariums. Hence. let’s wait and see the proposed $15B investments, ala Las Vegas type of Entertainment City/Bagong Nayong Pilipino along Roxas Boulevard initiated by PAGCOR that will include the tallest tower in the world and the biggest ocenarium in Asia so far.

Ocean Adventure, Subic – this is the place to be for intimate dolphin encounter. The Camayan Wharf has very modern facilities and worthy beautiful mammal show, plus clean waters as habitat for dolphins, false killer whales and sea lions from fresh and lovely Subic Bay maritime world. But it’s quite far away from the duty shops, winding around the asphalted roads around Subic Bay. Can take you an hour if you don’t know its exact location. We were almost lost when we came here. But the experience is better than Manila Ocean Park at the moment and yet it’s quite expensive.