The Philippines still tops our bucket list 

After more than a year and a half of discovering this amazing country, you would think we had seen enough.Yet all we want to do is go right back!

Iva Agüero

@philandiva

First times are always special. The first time you ride a bicycle on your own, your first kiss, your first love, your first adventure. The same is true for travel. There’s a sense of wonder that usually comes hand in hand with a new place.

However, the thrill wears off eventually and soon, we find ourselves racking our brains for the next destination. Like most people, we have a long bucket list of places we would love to visit and we’ve been lucky enough to check a bunch of places off the list. But, there is one country that keeps staying right up there at the top of the list, no matter how many times we’ve been there and no matter how much time we’ve spent there.  You guessed it, it’s The Philippines. So while we sit here and daydream about our next holiday there, let us try to explain in three points what makes this country so unique and welcoming for travellers:

1 – The Variety

More than 7,000 islands to discover

The archipelago of the Philippines is made up of over seven thousand islands. Let that sink in for a second,  Seven. Thousand. Islands. For land travellers and sailors alike – these are magic words.

The sheer number of islands means that you can travel short distances and see landscapes change right before your eyes. If you are on a boat, a short sail will bring  you from an imposing limestone coast to a delicate  white sand beach. On land, the same road will offer the  possibility to explore distinctly different backdrops in the blink of an eye. 

You can leave the sprawling and cosmopolitan metropolis of Manila in the morning, drive along  stunning coastlines and find yourself watching the sun set behind the prefect cone of the Mayon volcano. With so many islands, the beautiful sceneries are endless and there is no way you won’t fall in love with the Philippines.

While filming for Dreamcatchers, we were lucky enough to criss-cross the country searching for  stories of people that have changed their lives and made their dreams come true in the  Philippines. Each of our Dreamcatcher stories takes place in a stunning location, all visually striking yet so different: From the limestone islands of Palawan, up the pine forests of Sagada, and down to the perfect waves of Siargao, we couldn’t believe the variety of picture perfect beauty and ambiance that this relatively small country had to offer.

2 – The Biodiversity

With climate change becoming an unavoidable reality, the Philippines is one of the most important and largest biodiversity hotspots in the world. If you love nature and everything that thrives in it, you will love the Philippines.

Home to an incredible range of plants, animals, birds and underwater life, you can find two-thirds of the Earth’s biodiversity and 70-80% of the world’s plant and animal species here. We had the privilege of swimming alongside rare dugongs for the  first time on the coast of Busuanga. In Bohol we discovered the Filipino Tarsier, one of the cutest animals we’ve ever seen. In Apo Reef, we marvelled at the the world’s second largest contiguous coral reef and some of the healthiest underwater ecosystems we have ever witnessed.

We swam with millions of sardines in Cebu, Turtles in Bohol, Sharks in Palawan, and we know this wasn’t even half of what we needed to discover under the beautiful bodies of water that can be found in the Philippines.

3 – The People

Lastly, but most important of all, the thing that makes us want to return to the Philippines time and time again is the people. The Filipino generosity of spirit and their kindhearted, joyous nature is infectious.

Everybody that you meet is kind, open and eager to share a smile with you. Phil and I were moved time and again by so many random acts of kindness that we witnessed during our travels in the Philippines. Filipino people take pride in being welcoming, polite and warm-spirited. Their goodwill comes so naturally and just for that alone we will return to the Philippines again and again.

Because being amongst kind people makes you naturally strive to be a better person – and if that’s not reason enough for everyone to visit the Philippines then we don’t know what is!

If you don’t live in the Philippines but are eager to plan your next trip there post-COVID, visit philippines.travel and DOT’s official Facebook page.