Our first island getaway

There are many lovely places to go in the Philippines but most of them you have to fly to. We wanted to go somewhere we could drive to so we decided on Peurto Galera. It takes about 1 ½ hours drive south of Manila to a place called Batangas. From there we hired a private boat to take us to the island.

There are many resorts on the island and they vary greatly. Some are a little seedy, some are a lot seedy and some are really lovely.

Friends recommended Coco Beach Resort. It was really pretty with its own private beach and all the bungalows nestled into the hillside.

It was also all natural so no concrete or glass anywhere to be seen - mostly thatched bamboo with doors and windows with mother of pearl inserts. Each room is serviced by a local family who lives beside it. They are very proud of their responsibility and live from the tips. A trap for young players though, you do need to ask if the room has hot water! The sunsets were lovely though.

The food and naturally the cocktails were good

and they took us snorkelling to other beaches.

All the resorts run fantastic dive centres too. Naturally we bought lots of hand made things to add a local touch to our home and also to help the locals as their only income is from the tourist trade.

In true island style, we had a huge beach BBQ on the Saturday night with a live band and dancing on the beach. It was the latest I had been up since we arrived!!

The trip home was a little rough and wet but it was all worth it.