Wanderlust Travel Magazine (UK)
The Philippines’ most adventurous UNESCO wonders
The Philippines isn’t just beaches. There are around 7,640 islands, and beyond their shores lie great adventures: landscapes sculpted over thousands of years, jungles veined with caves and seas alive with coral. Many have even been recognised as UNESCO World Heritage sites and those willing to explore will uncover some of the wildest travel experiences on the planet.
DISCOVER A DIVER’S PARADISE
While many of the world’s coral hotspots struggle, Palawan’s Unesco-listed Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park is that rare exception: a densely packed underwater eco-system that’s thriving. Pure isolation is the secret to its success. For centuries Tubbataha’s waters were unreachable by local fishermen and left to flourish. Now, thanks to the continued protection of the park, over 360 coral species can be spotted here, accompanied by 700 fish species, turtles, sharks and mantas.
Just reaching Tubbataha is an adventure in itself. Permits must be booked far in advance, as only a handful of liveaboard boats are allowed to make the long journey (10–12 hours) from Puerto Princesa. When you arrive it can feel like you’re the only ones left in the world as you bob alone on the Sulu Sea, your only company the rap of the waves, and the odd whale shark or turtle drifting too close to the surface.
The park is divided into three sections, with week-long trips typically focused on the dramatic walls and drop-offs of its two main atolls (North and South). Dive the Malayan Wall to see schools of hammerheads plunge the deep and moray eels patrol the reef rock. Seafan Alley reveals a mesmeric garden
of lacy gargonia wafting in the current, Shark Airport lures whitetips by the hundred, and the Deslan Wreck is home to vast schools of predators, from great barracuda to tiger sharks.
NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND
It’s not just underwater where you’ll find a hidden world. Through the jagged karst mountains of the Unescolisted Puerto Princesa Subterranean River NP, on the west coast of Palawan, flow the tail-waters of the Cabayugan. As it tumbles through craggy mountain caves and into the Philippine Sea at Sabang, it makes up one of the planet’s largest underground rivers.
Boats enter the cave’s karst maw lit only by shafts of natural light and the swinging torch beams of the boatman. It’s like drifting into another realm. Entire endemic species dwell down here, although visitors may only travel part of the river’s eight kilometre length, after which it narrows too much for the wide outriggers of the bangka boats. It’s time enough, however, to spy great cathedrals of crystalline rock, bats roosting overhead, and long stalactites dangling like overgrown incisors.
Once the boat deposits you back on the beach, you won’t regret returning to Sabang via a five kilometre hike. This forest route is soundtracked by the rustle and thump of long-tailed macaques swinging from tree to tree. The park is even home to a distant relation of the Komodo dragon, although this two-metrelong lizard is far shyer than its swaggering Indonesian cousin and rarely seen. Even more adventure is found at the nearby Ugong Rock, where rope-assisted climbs explore its karst caves and a zipline offers bird’s-eye views over the spinach-green forest.
STEP BACK IN TIME
They say good things come to those who wait. The Unescolisted rice terraces of Banaue, which contour the Cordillera Mountains of Luzon’s Ifugao province, are the result of 2,000 years of patient cultivation. They’re a hiker’s dream. From afar it looks as though huge green thumb prints were simply pressed into the land. Walk its trails up close, however, and a different story emerges as you realise each terrace has been carved by hand, representing generations of fascinating work.
The terraces are spread across five clusters, with some rising above 1,000m in parts. Each area is unique, and within them exist entire communities with their own culture and traditions. The central Mayoyao terraces, for example, are interspersed with old-style bale (houses) and alang (granaries); Hungduan is famed for the spider’s-web-like appearance of its paddies, particularly those around Bacung; and the main village of Bangaan is known for its old-school Ifugao hospitality.
For the best views, visit during the lively harvest season, with June and December alive with festivities for those trekking the villages and paddies around the famously picturesque Batad area. Here, two-day trails see visitors overnighting in community stays for a closer look at local life. Finish with a side trek in the peaks of the Cordillera (2,702m Mount Amuyao is a worthy challenge) followed by a few restorative hours in the hot springs of Bogyah. A perfect finale not just to one of the great hiking experiences in the Philippines but to your whole trip through this unforgettable country.