help needed

Hi
Arriving in manila in october and planning on diving in Manado. Would like some info on other things to do on the island...is there anything else???? Thinking of heading over to Pandan island and take day trip to Apo reef. ....
But was wondering if it was possible or worth hiring a car for a few days to look around mindoro..anyone??? If not then....
Also wondering about areas around manila..if we hired a car for a few days what would be a good itinery, we are interested in beautiful scenery, getting away from it all and adventure. .... Heard about rafting on the Pagsanjan river which sounds like fun anyone been there/done that????

Does anyone have any advice and /or info on car hire.

Also is it possible to a medical for OW in Manado???
Thanks

hi there

unless you are referring to mindoro, manado is actually a not a philippine island but is part of indonesia and i'm not sure if presently there are flights going there from manila (a few years back there were flights via Boraq airlines from Davao City ).

am not really sure if there are car rental companies in mindoro, but you could ask any resort or dive op there for assistance and yes, besides the sea there are other things of interest that can be visited (i'll look for my adventure guide and try to post possible destinations)

for areas just out of manila...considering your interest in Pagsanjan yes it is usually a place visited by tourists which is just around 2 hours from manila. you might want to check out hidden valley (alaminos, laguna) or Villa Escudero (tiaong, quezon). you could probably inquire at the hotel you're planning to stay at for their options on Southern Luzon tourist spots as there are usually packages available and these usually provide the better value (including transport,meals,entrance fees, etc.)

HTH

jon

Thanks, yes Mindoro was where i meant... slip of the finger!!

Thanks for the help, hadnt really thought about staying in Manila though, we were looking more to just driving around and sort of stopping off at places we liked, finding accomodation as we went[. Do you think is safe to do this.Thanks for your suggestions will look them up, and any others you have.I saw some geat photos of rice terraces...are they in the north. There are so many great things to see and do i am already thinking we will have to come back. This is our first visit, i have spent most vacations in indonesia and malaysia and felt i should see some where different, But i cant get enough of those places and the diving was excellent there.

The ideal plan would be to be able to pick up a car when we arrive back in Batangaas from Mindoro and then drop it off at manilla before the flight home, but im guessing that wont be possible, So pick up and drop off in manilla would be fine.
Im really into wildlife trecking and just hanging out in beautiful scenic areas but my husband (thats mimoun) wants a bit more action and a 4x4!!!
Im trying to organise this trip to get in a good mixture of diving and everyting else and with only 21 days to do it in its hard!!! but loving it, and cant wait to be there.
thanks again
s
unless you are referring to mindoro, manado is actually a not a philippine island but is part of indonesia and i'm not sure if presently there are flights going there from manila (a few years back there were flights via Boraq airlines from Davao City ).

am not really sure if there are car rental companies in mindoro, but you could ask any resort or dive op there for assistance and yes, besides the sea there are other things of interest that can be visited (i'll look for my adventure guide and try to post possible destinations)

for areas just out of manila...considering your interest in Pagsanjan yes it is usually a place visited by tourists which is just around 2 hours from manila. you might want to check out hidden valley (alaminos, laguna) or Villa Escudero (tiaong, quezon). you could probably inquire at the hotel you're planning to stay at for their options on Southern Luzon tourist spots as there are usually packages available and these usually provide the better value (including transport,meals,entrance fees, etc.)

HTH

jon[/QUOTE]

[hi
i was also wondering if it will be possible to bring a car over to mindoro and drive around the whole island. i read there are car ferries to abra de ilog.
what are the roads like in october... fun or too dangerous.
Just throwing ideas around at the moment
thanks
s

if that's the case (renting a car for the duration of your trip), you might want to arrange that with your hotel's front desk here in manila. they should be able to arrange something for you...am not really sure how much that kind of "tour" would cost though.

by the way, could definitely ferry a car to mindoro

in the meantime you could wait for other suggestions from other local guys here on the board

i think its going to be too expensiveto hie for the whole trip and will be wasted if we do several days diving which i plan on!

Its just nice to have the freedom to go where and stop where you want, maybe for a week back on the mainland...still thinking.
hopefully get ome more ideas
thanks

Hi Mimoun,

I've rented a scooter in Puerto Galera, Mindoro and it was pretty fun. I was only able to go as far as a nearby town called San Teodoro. The road was small and some parts were just rocky/gravel (since you're in to 4x4ing I guess you'll find this more enjoyable than a hassle ) . But the scenery was great. If I had a car I would have kept going. But I would have taken a rental car from the manila area via the car ferry as I'm not familiar of any major car rental companies on Mindoro. From PG, you'll be able to cut across to the other side where Apo Reef is (not sure how long it'll take or how the road conditions are). Along the coastal sections make sure to stop for 10 mins to take some pics and enjpy the breathtaking view.

One nice place to go just outside the manila area is Tagaytay/Taal volcano. The area is basically a huge volcanic crater with a lake in the middle. There are a lot of restaurants at the mountain edge where you can eat and enjoy the brisk breeze and view. You can also go to the lake edge and take a boat to the volcano island in the middle of the lake. There you can horseback up the peak to the inner crater. Fantastic scenery and very calm & peaceful.

If you love 4x4ing, you'll enjoy driving up to the Rice Terraces. Here are some places you might like to stop at: Sagada (Burial caves, hanging coffins) Baguio (Nice scenery), La Union (Tried surfing here, caught 1 wave in 4 hours), 100 islands/Bolinao (nice beaches), Subic Bay (lots of attractions you can do - eg swim with whales, survival course, wreck diving), Angeles City (they have a Mt. Pinatubo trek you may be interested in). If you wanna go further up there's Vigan (old spanish town) and pagudpud (northern white sand beach town getaway).

The pagsanjan rafting was alright. I was more impressed with the scenery than the "rafting" itself. Make sure they take you all the way up to pagsanjan falls, sometimes if the raft man is tired he'll only go up halfway (to the halway rest stop) and just go back down. Once at the top you can be pulled on raft to underneath the falls into the cave (can't do this at the halfway point).

And ya, Hidden Valley has some nice natural springs resorts you can visit. Great place to go with your wife.

Correigidor is a day tour you can look up. Very educational. Nice scenery. I digress, on the tour I met this internet dating couple who were meeting for the first time after 3 years of "dating". They were good looking people which totally changed my perspective of internet dating (Not trying to hint anything here!).

Last, if you are willing to ditch the car, I would really recommend the travelling around the Visayas. I've got an awesome itinerary that I have planned for when my brother comes to visit.

Happy adventures.

mimoun:

Hi
Arriving in manila in october and planning on diving in Manado. Would like some info on other things to do on the island...is there anything else???? Thinking of heading over to Pandan island and take day trip to Apo reef. ....
But was wondering if it was possible or worth hiring a car for a few days to look around mindoro..anyone??? If not then....
Also wondering about areas around manila..if we hired a car for a few days what would be a good itinery, we are interested in beautiful scenery, getting away from it all and adventure. .... Heard about rafting on the Pagsanjan river which sounds like fun anyone been there/done that????

Does anyone have any advice and /or info on car hire.

Also is it possible to a medical for OW in Manado???
Thanks

Click to expand...

you can hire the van service i use. he brought some guys up north past rice terraces to pagudpod and cordilleras.

i'll ask him his rate. for the duration of your trip. it is a Nissan Urvan.

alternatively you can just hire him to pick you up from airport and bring you to the port in batangas (ferry to mindoro)

then when you get back to mainland have him pick you up and bring you up north or some other southern spots.

visayas, you have to see the tarsiers in Bohol. i haven't seen them yet but my kids always bring our other relatives there when they visit.

he hasn't responded yet, perhaps still driving.

here goes his rate

airport to batangas pier : Php 2,500 or around US$45.00

any point in luzon at Php 4,500/day or US$ 80.00 per day.

he could also be your tour guide.

note conversion ratre based on Php 56.00 to US$ 1.00