Volare Staging

If you're looking for a place where you won't get disturbed and you'll get the chance to fully unwind, then Patar is the perfect getaway. In a place with almost no cellular reception, you'll have more than enough opportunity to enjoy the beach and have a beer by the shores at night. Patar is a white beach located in Bolinao, Pangasinan. It's also an hour away from another Philippine summer destination, the Hundred Islands.

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Here's a tip: Sometimes, you can grab the same tour for a cheaper rate via Metrodeal. There are times where they offer vouchers for Sun Cruises' Corregidor tours, and it's not every day, so when they do, better grab them!

It will be a long time before El Nido in the Philippines is outranked as my personal favorite vacation destination. To get to this paradise, take a flight from Manila to Puerto Princesa. From the airport there, you'll have many options waiting for you to get you to El Nido. Generally, it will take you around 6 hours by land to get there, but it's definitely worth it.

In El Nido, there are standard island hopping tours that departs daily. You can get one easily from your accommodation, or if they don't host it, they'd usually take care of finding you one. The options are different by the locations that the trip will stop in (options are A, B, C, D) and almost all operators that offer the tour share the same price as regulated in the area.

I'm backtracking this trip up on the blog, so I don't recall which tours exactly we got, but check out the locations and photos below and you might get an idea. Here are the highlights of our El Nido trip:

As someone who has lived in the Philippines up to this writing, it's surprising to many that the first time I'm setting foot in Boracay is now that I'm more than two decades old. My father has told me that the last time he was there, the area was not yet commercialized that fast food wasn't available at all. Now, that has all changed when even the newest activities, restaurants or fast food chains are available on the island.

This summer seems like the first one where I'm spending so much time on the beach! Boracay is no exception to great beaches, but aside from that, what made my experience more memorable were the activities that I tried during my trip. Don't get me wrong, the beach was beautiful with its white sands on the shore and blue waters that make you want to dive in. It's just that this entire Boracay experience wouldn't have been complete for me if I hadn't done more - so I did.

Things-to-do in Boracay

Island Hopping + Snorkeling: We took off via pump boat to explore more islands, caves, and more. We also put on our snorkels and said hi to many fish under the sea!

Parasailing: Those who were brave enough hopped on a speedboat to the middle of the sea where we strapped on our parachutes and waited to be thrown up the air. This would have to be one of the most memorable beach activities ever! It was pretty scary at first, with that feeling in your stomach that you get when you're high up, but I guess after a while it was totally fun. As the speedboat pulls you higher and around, you forget everything else and just become happy :)

Paraw Sailing: This was said to be best done during the sunset, so this was the activity that we did to cap off our day. It was a calm boat ride where you can lay under the sails, feel the wind blowing at you, and enjoy the extraordinary view of the sunset from across the sea.

ATV: Back on land, this activity would be perfect for adventure seekers. We rode individual ATVs through a course with ups and downs (and sometimes scary slopes), but that doesn't stop anyone from driving fast! You don't need to know how to drive anything to do this, you just need to know how to be safe and have an awesome time at the same time.