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.

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.

While only 7km tall and at its bikini line 500m wide, tiny Boracay is the Philippines' top tourist draw, fuelled by explosive growth and a tsunami of hype. The influx of visitors caused the Philippines government to temporarily close Boracay to tourists for six months. This 'rehabilitation' period, was used to restore the island to its former glory and it has since reopened with a limit on the number of daily visitors.The centre of the action is dreamy White Beach, a 4km, postcard-perfect stretch of sand lined from one end to the other with hotels, restaurants, bars and dive shops several blocks deep. The beach path is typically awash with visitors, including large groups of package tourists. The ocean is full of romantic paraws (an outrigger sailboat) giving rides; colourful parasails fill the air. After perfect sunsets, live music breaks out, and fire dancers twirl their batons.

Hemmed in on all sides by dramatic rice terraces, Banaue is directly accessible from Manila and can sometimes get overwhelmed by visitors. It's hard to blame them: the local mud-walled rice terraces are pleasingly different from the stone-walled terraces in most of the Cordillera. World Heritage listed, they're impressive not only for their chiseled beauty but because they were introduced around 2000 years ago.

The capital of Aklan Province, Kalibo is primarily an alternative port of entry to Boracay and the site of the granddaddy of all Philippine festivals, the raucous Ati-Atihan Festival in January. At other times of the year it’s a fairly typical loud and congested Philippine provincial city draped in spaghetti-like electrical lines.

This was Typhoon Yolanda's “ground zero”. Tacloban took a direct hit on 8 November 2013, when the mother-of-all tropical storms destroyed the city. Yet as you walk through Tacloban's streets today, it's impossible to imagine the apocalyptic scenes on that fateful morning. The center has been fixed up, hotels have been repaired and there's even a degree of cafe culture evident. Tacloban's bars are again filled with local drinkers instead of relief workers. Yes, the city has resumed its role as the commercial heart of both Leyte and Samar.

Relatively unspoiled and an ideal size for exploration, Camiguin (cah-mee-geen) is notable for its imposing silhouette – drop it down next to Hawaii or Maui and it wouldn’t look out of place. With more than 20 cinder cones 100m-plus high, Camiguin has more volcanoes per square kilometre than any other island on earth. And because it’s untouched by large-scale tourism and one of the more tranquil islands around – the 10km of Gingoog Bay separating the island from the mainland is partly responsible – those who do come feel proprietorial about this little jewel and guard news of its treasures like a secret. Besides the usual diving, snorkelling and sandy beaches (except for offshore ones, beaches have brown sand), Camiguin offers a chance to climb a volcano and a seeming endless supply of jungle waterfalls and hot and cold springs.

Panay's largest city is just right. It's big enough to offer a scaled-down version of the urban comforts you get in Manila, yet small enough to remain accessible and down-to-earth. Ilonggo, the people of Iloilo, are rightfully proud and connected to their city's past and invested in its future. Come here for fascinating history, buoyant nightlife and a side trip to rural Guimaras island.

Sitting among mist-shrouded mountains, tiny Sagada is the closest thing the Philippines has to a Southeast Asian backpacker hub, yet it's possible to find tranquillity along its many hiking trails and get your adrenalin pumping on adventures in the depths of its caves. There's a mystical element to this village, a former refuge for intelligentsia fleeing dictatorship: the centuries-old coffins high up along limestone cliffs lie close to the sky, and days and nights are peaceful thanks to the lack of tricycles or much other traffic.

This tiny 12-hectare volcanic island, with its one beachfront village, is known for having some of the best diving and snorkelling in the Philippines thanks to a vigorously defended community-run protected marine sanctuary established in 1985. There are 400 species of coral (one side of the island's reef was severely damaged by a typhoon) and 650 species of fish, including five types of clownfish and green-sea and hawksbill turtles. You'll also find gorgeous white coral-sand beaches, some fine short walks, a friendly island community and excellent views back to Negros, crowned by Mt Talinis.