Here’s an original question…Where can I get away to (in Asia) for 5 to 7 days of R&R during the CNY?
Somewhere warm, quiet, relaxing near a beach…for less than $20000 NT, including flight and accommodation. I don’t care if it is Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia etc
Thanks
You’re asking the wrong question, I think. Having left it so late, you’re probably better asking “is there ANYWHERE I can get flights and accommodation in Asia over CNY? I’ll pay whatever it takes.”
I think most people book their CNY flights many months in advance.
Yup ! Maybe the charters to that rundown version of Caesars Park in LAOAG , phillippines may still be on with one of the local airlines. Quite fun actually.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) has Taipei-Puerto Princesa (Palawan) for NTD 12,000+ (Jan 31-Feb 4).
Stay at Ysabelle Mansion for NT$600/night w/free airport transfers and breakfast (NT$2,400 for 4 nights).
Book the tours with them (Underground River tour, Island Hopping in Honda Bay, half day in El Nido Islands) for around NT$3,000, includes lunch.
Use the rest of your money for dinner and drinks (food is cheap). Don’t forget the Airport fee when leaving.
I think that’s around NT$20,000.
That’s a good deal to Puerto. If you want somewhere cheap to kick back on the beach, just head up to Port Barton. El Dorado has some cheap rooms. There are others. Underground River is just a boring cave with a river in hyped by tourist people. You can island hop for less off Port Barton.
Cupla issues with OP and replies so far.
NT20,000 all-inclusive (for what you want – beach, solitude) is really really tight. Airfare is going to eat up more than half of that no matter where you go. Sandman is right. Too late now.
CNY is Feb. 2, which may or may not conflict with ryanx’s work schedule, therefore Jan. 31-Feb. 4 is kind of backward.
I just booked my itinerary. Round-trip to Manila on Cebu Pacific on Feb. 3 = NT3,000 (returning Feb. 10). Any day between Jan. 29 and Feb. 2 you’re looking at minimum NT12,000. Wait until after the actual holiday and save. Oh, also, don’t bother trying to get a flight out of Phils around Feb. 6-8. I mean, you could bother, but it’s expensive. I double-checked the PAL flight to Palawan for Feb. 2, 3, and 4 and you’re still going to pay NT12,000+.
Puerto Princesa is not the place in Palawan to lay around the beach. It’s a good jumping off point. The problem is it takes almost the whole effing day to get up to Barton or El Nido in a provincial island bus. That’s two wasted days going back and forth. Feiren nailed the Underground River. Skip it.
I think OP will be surprised how cheap Phils isn’t going to be during this time. Half of South Korea will be waving their pesos around. All prices get jacked up. Haven’t been to Ysabelle Mansions but NT600 sounds like a pipe dream rate during CNY.
Another option is fly into Manila, take a two-hour bus ride to Batangas, hop a ferry boat to Puerto Galera (Sabang) and get a walk-up room on White Beach.
[quote=“super_lucky”]4. Puerto Princesa is not the place in Palawan to lay around the beach. It’s a good jumping off point. The problem is it takes almost the whole effing day to get up to Barton or El Nido in a provincial island bus. That’s two wasted days going back and forth. Feiren nailed the Underground River. Skip it.
El Nido takes an entire very tiring day that you will spend another day recovering from. Besides, El Nido is way expensive.
Port Barton took about 4 hours I think on the bus last time. The road is better now.
I agree that Phils is surprisingly expensive for both accommodation and food. Which is weird given how poor it is.
Thanks for your tips guys & gals.
I am flexible with my dates and flying into Manila and going onto Puerto Galera seems a cheap option. Looking at Philippines Airlines website, if I go on Jan 25 and return Feb 5, total will be just under 9000 NT, the only real problem is the flight times. It gets into Manila from Taipei around 7:30pm, I am not sure if there are any buses running to Puerto Galera and any ferries running to White beach.
Also coming back, the flight from Manila is at 7:20 am and that really means staying over in Manila for one night on each leg of the trip.
[quote=“ryanx”]Thanks for your tips guys & gals.
I am flexible with my dates and flying into Manila and going onto Puerto Galera seems a cheap option. Looking at Philippines Airlines website, if I go on Jan 25 and return Feb 5, total will be just under 9000 NT, the only real problem is the flight times. It gets into Manila from Taipei around 7:30pm, I am not sure if there are any buses running to Puerto Galera and any ferries running to White beach.
Also coming back, the flight from Manila is at 7:20 am and that really means staying over in Manila for one night on each leg of the trip.[/quote]
Yes, if you take that PAL flight, that’s exactly what will happen. I usually take that 5:25 out of TPE but now I’m partial to the Cebu Air flight that lands in MNL around 3:30 a.m. It’s much more fun. However, take the PAL and you can stay in Ermita/Malate, where a cheap room is easy to find. Taxi from the airport to Ermita is generally no more than 300 pesos at that time of night (250 to Makati) – take the official metered airport taxi – and DO NOT let the driver tell you anything else, esp. some shit about special night rates or airport tax. Meanwhile, if you haven’t spent a night in Ermita or Malate, I highly recommend the experience.
Here’s the link for Si-Kat bus and ferry lines. From what I gathered (having been 2x) these people are the most reliable of the operators btw Batangas to PG (Sabang), and a fairly organized bus/ferry operation, which isn’t saying much but nevertheless…they get the job done. Don’t trust anyone at the ferry terminal except the woman who runs Si-Kat. Bus leaves at 8:00 a.m. from the CityState Hotel in Ermita.
sikatferrybus.com/schedules_rates.php
The Swagman Hotel in Ermita is another option. Same deal as Si-Kat but I haven’t used their system. The bus leaves from the hotel at 8:00 a.m.
There are dozens of bus companies that go to Batangas at all hours (Jam Liner, Green Star, Tritran), but the ferry service ends pretty early in the afternoon. Like 4:00 p.m. I think. After that, it’s local sharks. Therefore, if you take a night bus you’re going to wind up doing a night in Batangas, which depending on your sense of adventure, could be fun. I met some divers who stayed over in Batangas town and took ferries direct to White Beach but they took one of the local boats and paid like $75 or something ridiculous.
You may chose to stay in PG proper bcuz that’s where all the action is – plus the majority of cheap lodgings. You can walk it over to White Beach if you chose (it’s a nice walk past the Korean-owned resort on the point). Otherwise it’s a five-minute jeepney or mototaxi ride.
I’m just curious – have you been to Phils before? If so, then you know that wherever you go, people are going to see you coming and try to rope you in to one of their operations. When you arrive in PG you will be swarmed by touts trying to get you to their hotel, massage, restaurant, etc. Be very very discriminating. In 99.9999999% of cases, your best bet is to say “No” to everybody.
…and I was just thinking about it since I did it over Xmas and it’s another option that skips a night in Manila: try Zambales/Iba. The last bus to Iba leaves the Victory Liner Pasay terminal at 23:30. PM me if you’re interested in that itinerary.
Really? It was dirt cheap when I visited in '96.
That was 15 years ago! It’s still really worth visiting (I had my doubts but I was wrong), but it caters to older, non-backpacker types and is therefore more expensive. The cheapest rooms I could find were in a bamboo hut flophouse a few blocks from the beach for around 500 pesos a night. Most places were 800 to 1200 and it was hard to find a place with vacancies. I think US$20-30 per day would be a reasonable budget there and you could easily spend far more if you want to leave the town (which you really do).
Stayed a night at the “Four Seasons” El Nido resort in November, paid NT2000-ish for one of the swankier rooms, which after the eleven-hour torture bus, was well worth it. There’s plenty of flophouses in the area. Vacancy was a major issue – book online in advance.
Thanks Super_Lucky for all your detailed info.
Booked my flight with Philippines Airlines for Manila on Wednesday 26 Jan, returning Saturday 5 Feb (just under 9000 NT). Now I just have to figure out everything else lol. I will take a good look at your post later and try to utilise the info there. I will most likely head out to Puerto Galera and the beaches around there, Sabang(?) etc.
I was in Phils last year same time, but I was with a friend then - this time I will be on my own, I wonder what sort of time I will have.