How to Get Around Philippines

Flying is not optional

The Philippines is 7,641 islands in three main groups, and no amount of planning makes that a land journey. Domestic flights are how visitors move between Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, with Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and AirAsia connecting Manila and Cebu to every regional hub. The practical consequence is that each island group costs a flight to reach, so a two-week trip realistically covers one or two of them rather than the archipelago.

Ferries

Inter-island ferries are extensive and far cheaper than flying, and considerably slower -- an overnight crossing where a flight is an hour. They are the right choice for short hops within a group, especially in the Visayas where islands are close together, and the wrong choice for crossing the country. Two things are worth knowing before booking one. The advisories are blunt about the safety record: the ferry and passenger boat network has a poor record of maritime safety, boats sometimes lack lifesaving equipment, and maritime rescue services may be limited. And sailings are weather-dependent in a country that takes around 20 typhoons a year.

Local transport

Jeepneys are converted vehicles running fixed routes for a flat fare, with the destinations painted on the side rather than displayed on a screen; you pay by passing money up the vehicle and you signal to stop. Tricycles cover the last stretch where jeepneys do not go. Both are cash, both are cheap, and both require knowing the route name rather than the street address.

Manila

Manila traffic is among the worst in the world and it should shape the day rather than be endured by it: journeys inside the metro can take three or four times what the distance suggests, so plan one part of the city per day and treat a cross-city trip as an outing. The LRT and MRT lines avoid the traffic where they go. Ride-hailing apps are the easiest way to move door to door, with the same caveat about traffic.

Typhoons decide

Around 20 typhoons hit the Philippines each year, and most of them happen between June and November, disrupting flights and sailings at short notice. This is not a reason to avoid the country; it is a reason to keep a spare day before an international flight and to avoid booking a tight island-hop at the end of a trip.

One or two island groups, not three

Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao are separated by flights, and each hop costs most of a day once transfers and airport time are counted. A fortnight spent on Luzon and the Visayas works; the same fortnight spread across all three is mostly airports. Decide the groups first and the islands within them second.

Keep a buffer day before the flight home

Around 20 typhoons hit the Philippines each year and most happen between June and November, disrupting flights and sailings at short notice. The cheap insurance is structural rather than financial: end the trip in the city you fly out of, with a day in hand, rather than on an island that needs a boat and a domestic flight to leave.

How a jeepney actually works

The route is painted on the side, not shown on a screen. You board at the back, pass the fare up the vehicle -- often through other passengers -- and say or knock to stop. The fare is flat for the route rather than distance-based. It is cash only, and knowing the route name matters more than knowing the street, because the destination board is the route and not the address.

Plan around Manila rather than through it

Traffic in the metro is severe enough to be the binding constraint on a day. One district per day is the workable pattern; the LRT and MRT are the only reliable way to beat it on the corridors they serve, and a car or ride-hail across the city in the late afternoon can take hours. Allow for it on the way to the airport especially.