Manila & Boracay Beach Holiday, 5 Nights

On landing at Ninoy Aquino airport you are met and driven to the hotel, where rooms are ready from mid-afternoon. For families, the simplest first evening is the enormous Mall of Asia complex on the bay, with its seafront promenade, a ferris wheel and every kind of food court, including vegetarian and Indian options. Couples may prefer a rooftop bar in Makati. An early night helps, because the next morning is full.

The private tour mixes history with something for younger travellers. It opens at the American war cemetery and Rizal Park, then walks the old Spanish city of Intramuros: Fort Santiago by the river, Manila Cathedral, and San Agustin, the oldest stone church in the islands. The car then drives past the Cultural Center and Bonifacio Global City before finishing at Manila Ocean Park on the bay, a large aquarium whose glass tunnel lets sharks and rays pass overhead. The afternoon is free to rest before tomorrow's flight.

The morning flight lands at Caticlan on Panay (the fare is not in the package; we book it for you). From there it is a few minutes by road to the jetty, a short boat crossing to Boracay and a van to the hotel. Boracay is small: White Beach runs along the west coast in three sections once marked by boat stations, and D'Mall is the market-and-restaurant lane in the middle. Spend the evening on the sand, where the sun goes down straight ahead.

Nothing is planned until the late afternoon, so the morning is for the beach or a tricycle ride north to Puka Beach, a quieter stretch named for the shells once collected there. Around sunset you board a paraw, the traditional double-outrigger sailing boat with a bamboo frame and a patched sail, whose crew push off from the sand and let the wind do the rest. Sitting on the netting between the hull and the outrigger is part of the fun. Dinner afterwards along the beach path.

A day on the water around the island. Crocodile Island, named for its outline, is a reef for snorkelling among coral and small fish. Crystal Cove has a path over the headland to two sea caves and little swimming coves. At Magic Island the more daring jump from the rocks into deep water; everyone else swims from the ledge. Lunch is a barbecue on the beach, and the boat is back in time for a final sunset on White Beach.

Breakfast, then the reverse journey: van to the jetty, the boat across the strait and the drive to Caticlan airport for the flight to Manila and your international connection. The whole transfer takes about an hour and a half with waiting times, so we time the pickup carefully. With a later flight there is time for one more swim first.