Philippines

A university town and provincial capital, bustling and relatively urbane, Dumaguete is also a convenient base for exploring all that southern Negros has to offer. The small city center is as cramped, noisy and chaotic as any another city in the Philippines, but Dumaguete's harbor-front promenade, lined with upmarket bars, restaurants and food stalls, and blessed with peaceful sea views, is an undeniable draw. After becoming familiar with the city – one only needs a couple of days – it becomes a comfortable place to return after short stints diving, hiking or swimming nearby.

The crystalline waters of Bacuit Bay are a fantasy-scape of jagged limestone islands, mesmerising from any vantage point, whether under the water, in the air or lying on a beach. Easily the rival of southern Thailand or Halong Bay in Vietnam, the islands hide so many white-sand beaches, lagoons and coves, not to mention hundreds of species of fish and coral, that you’ll be overwhelmed.

Home to dazzling white-sand beaches and astonishing coral walls, the world's smallest mammal and its biggest fish, eastern Visayas are the aqua heart of an island nation. This region's natural appeal is utterly compelling – the Chocolate Hills of Bohol and shimmering millions of sardines of Moalboal, waves and caves of Samar and waterfalls and rice terraces of Biliran.

Until the "discovery" of whale sharks off the coast here in 1998, Donsol, about 28 miles (45km) southwest of Legazpi, was an obscure, sleepy fishing village in one of Sorsogon’s more remote areas. In 1998 a local diver shot a video of the whale sharks and a newspaper carried a story about Donsol’s gentle butanding. Since then Donsol has become one of the Philippines’ most popular tourist locations, though the permanence of its shark population is now in question.

If you've spent a bit of time in Manila, you're probably clawing to get out to the countryside for some fresh air and relaxation – as many locals and ex-pats do on weekends. Surprisingly, you don't need to go too far to leave the city and most of its traffic behind.

Nothing defines Palawan more than the water around it. With seascapes the equal of any in Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ most sparsely populated region is also the most beguiling. The 403-mile main island stretches all the way to Borneo.  

To many travellers, North Luzon is simply the Cordillera. These spiny mountains, which top out at around 2900m, are beloved, worshipped and feared in equal doses by those who witness them and those who live among them.

Once the hub of a booming sugar industry, these days Bacolod is known for its food and convenience as a transport hub. There are a few sights of historic interest and good restaurants, and it's a useful base for Mt Kanlaon Natural Park or the nearby historic district of Silay.

Cebu is the hub around which the Visayas revolve. It is the most densely populated island in the Philippines and is second only to Luzon in its strategic and economic importance to the country. This is one of the most prosperous regions in the country – the 2016 growth rate was 8.8%, considerably higher than the national average. Tourism numbers are booming, Cebu draws almost two million foreign travellers a year. The island's prime attractions are its white-sand beaches and spectacular diving, chiefly off the northern tip of Cebu at Malapascua and down on the southwest coast at Moalboal. And don't ignore much-maligned Cebu City, which has lively bars, emerging eateries and burgeoning retail appeal.

This group of islands in the far north of Palawan, also known simply as the Calamianes, is a bona fide adventurer's paradise, with wreck diving, kayaking, island-hopping and motorbiking leading the way. It's a bountiful region filled with white-sand beaches, coral reefs, dense rainforests, mangrove swamps and the crystal-clear lakes of Coron Island.