Shores Full of Surprises

Piecing together my first vacation in the Philippines was like assembling a jigsaw puzzle without seeing any of the pieces. Of the country’s 7,107 islands, 5,000 are uninhabited. That left me researching Web sites, books, Internet message boards and Manila travel bureaus for the right places to visit.

I admit, the Philippines may seem like an unusual choice for leisure travelers. I too have heard the horror stories about ferry accidents and, more recently, about kidnappings by insurgents seeking an independent Islamic state.

But that turmoil is confined to the far southern region of the country. I had heard of tiny islands farther north lined with limestone cliffs and palm trees, of verdant hillsides ringed with golden sand and coral reefs. The country intrigued me as an exotic yet affordable outpost where few Americans, military excluded, have ventured.

As a scuba diver and a lifelong beachcomber, I settled on four islands for a monthlong solo visit earlier this year: Panglao, a speck of land known as a prime year-round dive site; neighboring Bohol, home of the striking Chocolate Hills; Boracay, a rollicking party island with the pristine White Beach; and Palawan, where dozens of gorgeous islands are a short catamaran ride from shore.

The start of my journey, unfortunately, wasn’t so idyllic. From San Francisco I flew to Singapore and then to Manila, landing an eye-blurring 36 hours later.

The beauty of island hopping here is that multiple carriers fly within the country. The ugly part of island hopping is that you must use Manila as a base. The capital is a crowded, steaming center of 12 million people living in pollution so thick that the growing skyline is a mere rumor when you look from the airport.

During holidays, many folks here do the sensible thing: They leave. And at 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 30, the morning after my arrival, the airport looked like the fall of Saigon. Filipinos and thousands of expats jammed a departure gate the size of a school cafeteria. Thankfully, I had a reservation. My two-hour flight south to Bohol, my first destination, was packed.

After 2 1/2 days of travel, I finally found bliss. I arrived at the Bohol airport and took a short van ride to the airy wooden lobby of the Bohol Beach Club, which lies across a bridge on the tiny neighboring island of Panglao.

I checked into a large bamboo-thatched bungalow where a long string of palm trees swayed a few feet from my door. Just beyond, glistening water and fine white sand beckoned under a cloudless sky and 85-degree weather.

I rolled out my straw mat, looked around and saw I was the only person on the sand. It was the day before the most hyped New Year’s in ages, and I was alone on what I consider one of the world’s greatest beaches. All this for $80 a night.

I rang in the New Year at a beach feast and fireworks party. At about $11, the celebration was probably one of the least expensive on the planet, given the price-gouging that seemed prevalent elsewhere.

In the evenings to come, I grazed at the resort’s huge buffets of Filipino cuisine: the national dishes of adobo (chicken or pork in soy, vinegar and garlic), lechon (suckling pig), fresh fish and pasta. I sipped $1 rum-and-Cokes made with the Philippines’ excellent Tanduay rum. About $13 was enough to cover a fine meal.

For a little variety, I took a 20-minute trip down the beach to the village of Alona on the southern coast of Panglao, a popular outpost for whale watching and year-round scuba diving.

In the days that followed, I discovered the scenery on the islands isn’t limited to the beaches. The Philippines has more than 10,000 species of trees, bushes and ferns, and the vegetation gets dense just a Frisbee throw from the ocean.

Two Canadian couples and I hired a driver for $18 to explore the land one day. With the Eagles playing on the tape deck, we cruised back over the bridge to Bohol and its geological oddity, the Chocolate Hills.

After an hour’s drive through lush plantations and past shirtless boys playing basketball with netless hoops, we came across a vast plain and climbed a long, steep staircase. At the top, for as far as we could see, were huge, green mounds rising up to 350 feet. They were everywhere. The official count is 1,268.

The hills are so named for their brown appearance in the dry season (generally late November or December until May or June). No one is exactly sure how they developed, but some geologists believe Bohol was underwater during prehistoric times. Volcanic eruptions caused the bottom of the sea to rise, and water smoothed and rounded the formations.

The scene was all too bizarre. I needed a beach. In the Philippines, that’s never more than a few minutes away.

If it’s a beach you want, there’s no better place than Boracay, my next stop. It’s a sliver of sand in the middle of the country.

To get there, I flew to Manila, then took an hourlong flight to the island of Panay. I made my way to a nearby beach where a young, well-groomed man with a Willy’s Beach Resort T-shirt greeted me and put me on the club’s catamaran. (A public boat also makes the 30-minute ride from Panay to Boracay for about 50 cents.)

My catamaran cruised up the length of neighboring Boracay, home of what seemed like the world’s longest palm-lined strand. White Beach seemed to stretch forever. From southern to northern tip, the beach snaked up the coast nearly unbroken for five miles.

A Filipina in native garb greeted me off the boat with fresh mango juice, and I checked into a spacious room at Willy’s: king bed, refrigerator, TV with HBO and a balcony overlooking the beach.

The island is full of natural wonders: bright turquoise, almost transparent water like one might see in Tahiti; coral reefs less than 100 yards offshore packed with tropical fish; and snorkeling and scuba diving with up to 100-foot visibility in summer.

Sunbathers find a gem too. Workers sweep pebbles off the fine-grain beach every morning.

But there is another reason that Boracay attracts 180,000 tourists a year: The island is one long bar crawl. Along White Beach, hidden by rows of palms, are wall-to-wall bars, resorts, souvenir shops, restaurants, discos and dive shops.

The U.S. military was a presence in the Philippines for nearly 50 years, finally leaving in 1992. The islands were also an R&R; destination for soldiers stationed in other parts of Asia.

According to Willy’s general manager, Bebot Gadon, 60% of the resort’s clientele is from the Philippines, 15% from Japan, 15% from Europe and 10% from the U.S.

I spent many a happy hour at Charls, a bamboo-thatched hut on the beach where people swill rum and expats watch the sun set on the Tablas Strait.

After dark, the crawl continues to Moondog’s. Sidle up to the bar and drink 15 types of shots, and you earn a T-shirt and a notch on Moondog’s scoreboard. One wall notes the success of visitors from 77 countries: England, Iraq, Liechtenstein, Lesotho . . .

The western island of Palawan, my final destination, couldn’t be more different. About 300 miles long and just a short jog wide, Palawan may be the natural jewel of the Philippines: a fascinating cave river in the central region, enticing islands to the north, and a densely forested mountainous spine running along its length.

After a flight from Manila to the Palawan capital of Puerto Princesa, a van drove five others and me north through mango plantations and jungle to the beach village of Sabang, where we embarked on the eeriest boat ride of our lives.

A long, narrow rowboat quietly slipped inside a cave river and kept going. And going. And going.

The river snakes more than five miles through the limestone cliffs of St. Paul Subterranean National Park before emerging at St. Paul Bay on the South China Sea. (Some parts of the cave are navigable only by the most skilled guides; we paddled about halfway, then turned around.)

Powerful lamps illuminated mysterious wall formations and stalactites resembling everything from lion heads to angels. Bats--thousands of them--clung to the roof. At some points, the cave above us looked as if it were painted black.

Later in my journey, I took a half-hour flight ($37) from Puerto Princesa to El Nido, an idyllic village of dirt roads, lush farmlands and neat houses surrounded by palm-covered cliffs.

With Enrico Sulayao, a tiny 38-year-old boatman we hired who insisted on being called “Boy,” I motored from island to island for two days, exploring isolated bays and secluded coves with a Danish couple, a Dutchman and a Filipino actor and his Australian wife, all of whom I met in El Nido.

On Matinloc Island we swam through a tiny opening in the limestone to find a crystal clear pool surrounded by black cliffs.

As we snorkeled around huge schools of fish, including barracuda and squid, Boy took a crude homemade spear and dove into the clear blue water. Thirty minutes later he came ashore carrying six fish, one for each of us. Few scenes define the glory of travel more than that: eating fresh fish and the world’s best mangoes on a beautiful, uninhabited island under a blue sky.

A final bonus: As I flew back home, I realized I was leaving with more than great memories and a deep tan. I also had nearly half my money left.

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GUIDEBOOK

Island Hopping From Manila

Getting there: Philippine Airlines has direct flights from LAX to Manila; there is connecting service on Asiana, British, Cathay Pacific, Japan, Korean, Northwest and Qantas. Restricted round-trip fares start at $785.

Getting around: The islands are broken into three regions: Luzon in the north (including Palawan), the Visayas in the middle (including Boracay, Bohol and Panglao) and Mindanao in the south. The recent Muslim insurgency is limited to the Mindanao islands of Jolo and Basilan.

Multiple airlines fly to more than 30 destinations within the country. Sample fare: Manila to Bohol for $129 round trip. Fleets of high-speed hydrofoils are an economical alternative. Super Ferry is one of four high-speed boat lines. Sample fare: Manila to Cebu, about 400 miles away, for $8.75 to $37 one way, depending on type of seat.

Do not take the slower, overcrowded ferries. In the 1990s, more than a dozen ferry accidents in the Philippines resulted in more than 5,000 deaths.

Where to stay: On Panglao, Bohol Beach Club has double rooms starting at $55. Address is simply Panglao Island, Bohol, Philippines 6340; telephone 011- 63-38-411-5222, fax 011-63-38-411-5226, e-mail bbclub@mozcom.com, Internet https://www.tambuli.com.

On Boracay, I paid $70 for a single at Willy’s Beach Resort (a double is $97). Address is Balabag Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan, Philippines 5608; tel. 011-63-36-288-3151, fax 011-63-36-288-3016, e-mail willys@boracay.i-next.net, Internet https://www.philresorts.com.

On Palawan, Trattoria Inn & Swiss Bistro has doubles for about $20; 353 Rizal Ave., Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines 5300; tel. 011-63-48-433-2719, fax 011-63-48-433-8171, e-mail trattori@pal-onl.com.

On Panglao, huts on the beach run as low as $20 to $30 a night ($10 in Alona on Boracay).

Where to eat: Cheap options abound, with meals under $10. Try Ka Lui, 369 Rizal Ave., Puerto Princesa, Palawan; local tel. 048-433-2580.

True Food Indian Cuisine and Swiss Inn are casual spots on White Beach in Boracay. Neither has a formal address or phone; True Food is near Boat Station 2, Swiss Inn by Boat Station 1.

For more information: Philippine Department of Tourism, 3660 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 216, Los Angeles, CA 90010; tel. (213) 487-4525, Internet https://www.tourism.gov.ph.