There is no question that the Philippines is a beautiful country filled with various natural wonders and attractions that make it seem like ‘paradise on Earth’ on many counts. In visiting the country, you will find plenty of beautiful places to visit – whether you are into chasing rivers and waterfalls or trekking up mountains or exploring hidden caves and lakes or swimming in the deep blue sea. They’ve got everything covered…
But did you also know that the Philippines has its own version of the Maldives? If you can’t visit Maldives just yet, check out the local version: the Manjuyod Sandbar located just off the coast of Manjuyod in Negros Oriental, Central Philippines.
You can access this lovely destination via Dumaguete City (there are direct flights from Manila to Dumaguete and vice versa), just a little over an hour away. Boat rides to the sandbar take just 10-15 minutes.
What’s even more exciting is that if you have plenty of time on your hands, you can choose to book the trip to the sandbar via Bais City so you can take a sidetrip out to the middle of the straight to go dolphin watching! Just make sure to go to Bais early in the morning (5 – 6AM would be perfect!) so you can best enjoy dolphin watching; afterwards, the boats will bring you straight to the sandbar.
Aside from dolphin watching and swimming in the clear waters at the sandbar, you can also visit other nearby attractions such as the twin lakes up the mountain in the town of Sibulan or the caves and springs in Mabinay.
Check out the Maldives of the Philippines and other nearby attractions in this video by Christian’s Travel Vlog:
i’m coming home.. 😀