Sarah Lindsay

All locals were very kind and friendly. All drivers except for one showed up on time. This one driver said he was told to be there at 8:00 per the company and our itinerary said 7:00.
Excursions were not always as represented. Example the firefly evening was supposed to be two different boat rides into the bay for a
dinner on a floating restaurant followed by view of the city lights and then the fireflies. In reality it was a river boat ride on a small skip. We never saw the bay or a floating restaurant, it was a buffet on land.
Island hopping in El Nido was amazing however was not as represented. We were told we would go to Big Lagoon, Entalula Island, Helicopter Island, Snake Island and Cadlao Lagoon. The above islands are actually a combination of 4 different tours and we were only able to see 2 of these locations.
The ATV ride was 90% city streets.
The Bohol Countryside Tour was great however we were unable to do the add on cable car tour due to our driver picking us up one hour late. This was not the drivers fault but a time issue between pick up company and Kimkim.
We were scheduled for a sunset sailboat ride and we were told our time was up 10 minutes before sunset.

This was a really large trip with 12 people over 12 days. Over $40,000 was paid for this trip not including the price of the airline tickets to get to the Philippines. The planning of this trip spanned around 9 months. The bulk of the planning I needed help with was coordination of transport between hotels, inter island domestic flights, and a few excursions. The core of this was achieved with Sarah. However a few major issues occurred during our trip which could have been better laid out to me or planned differently. One was the ferry from Cebu to Bohol. We wanted to go from Boracay to Bohol so Sarah booked us a flight from Boracay to Cebu then a ferry from Cebu to Bohol. OMG what a waste of a day and an experience I never want to have again. The airport in Bohol was 5 minutes away from our resort, but we ended up spending 12 hours commuting from Boracay to Bohol rather then just taking a flight. If Sarah had pointed out options I would have never taken that ferry. Then a bucket list item of a whale shark tour was completely botched. Our group woke up at 4am to be ready for our whale shark tour but the operator never arrived. I tried to get ahold of the tour operator, Sarah, and her assistant. By the time someone returned a call it was too late to do the excursion. I never heard back from Sarah which left a sour taste in my mouth. A big mess up like that I should hear from the person whom I trusted to make this dream vacation work. I did hear back from Sarah’s assistant with some excuse about dates being mixed up and we would be refunded for the excursion. However missing out on a bucket list item like this feels like only a refund misses the mark on fixing the wrong. Overall the trip was successful and we will have memories of a life time. The transportation companies Sarah provided us with were very nice and punctual. Also our accommodations during our entire stay were excellent. However with the issues we did have, those cannot be overlooked or forgotten.

Sarah was great during the planning process (we had a lot of iterations). She was also helpful during our trip - one of the drivers didn't know where to go for the Pagsanjan Falls excursion and another day, there was miscommunication with our driver and instead of viewing the Taal volcano, we went to the city of Taal. It worked out because we went on another day to view the Taal volcano and were also able to go on a boat ride which we really enjoyed. All of our drivers were excellent and we arrived safely to all our destinations (including when one of the vehicles broke down on the way to the airport - they quickly provided another vehicle to pick us up). Our tour guides were great. Glen, who did the tour of Intramuros and China Town was very enthusiastic. He also had us try some food along the way. Andre who guided us to the Taal volcano was very accommodating. We wanted to try balut and he took us to a place we could try it. Overall, we enjoyed everything we did. The negatives included going to the city of Taal by mistake and wasting time, the waterfall we were taken to after viewing the Taal volcano was disappointing (I wouldn't call it a waterfall, it was nowhere near the pictures on their site and the path there was through people's living spaces), we ended up canceling the hike to mount Daraitan because we realized it would be more difficult than we were anticipating after further research and lastly, we cancelled our food tour because we didn't want to return to China Town again when we were already there a couple days earlier.

We started our trip in Manina for 1 night. The driver that picked us up from the airport was there waiting and ready. But he dropped us off at the wrong hotel. Luckily the right one was across the street. Day 2 Jonathan picked us up and drove us to Ilocos Sur. Jonathan was great. But our hotel Staylite Candon Hotel was not good at all. The water was cold, they provided 1 towel for 2 people, the bathroom was covered in mold, the only gave us 1/2 a roll of toilet paper. We were supposed to stay 2 more nights but we stayed with family instead. Staylite would not give us a refund. Jonathan made some suggestions and took us to Vigan and a US military memorial. I found my uncles name on the wall that fought in WWII and was missing in action for 30 years. His remains were eventually found and he is buried at Arlington. None of my family knew that he was memorialized in the Philippines.
Day 5 Jonathan drove us back to the Manila airport. We took a plane and ferry to Boracay. There was someone there at every step to help us through. That was very nice.

Boracay was nice. But very crowded. The Hennan Park Resort was great. Loved the pool and massage poolside. But too many screaming splashing kids ruined it a bit. Also, guests had their clothes drying out in front of their hotel rooms on a rack and all over chairs and bushes. It made the hotel looked a little trashy.

Day 6 we did a boat tour. We really enjoyed that. The water was so warm. We had to find our way back after the tour. No driver.

Day 7 we were picked up and went to the airport for two flights to Puerto Princesa. Our flight was delayed and we were rerouted. I got in touch with the tour guide and the driver was waiting when we eventually arrived. We missed the firefly and dinner cruise that night. The tour guide gave us a cash refund. But we were still disappointed to miss it. We stayed at the Hue Hotel and resort. It was very nice.
Day 8 we did a bat cave river tour and saw a few monkeys. That was a lot of fun. We would have liked to stay in Puerto Princessa longer. It was the cleanest place on the trip.
We drove to our next hotel Lime Resort in El Nido. The hotel was very nice. We did 2 boat tours. Tour A we were not clear on where to ren Masks and snorkel. We thought it would be on the boat. There was no mention that we had to get them from someone on the beach. Luckily we were able to borrow some on the boat or it would have been a total dud for us.
Tour B the next day we found rentals. The water was great. But one stop (where we saw a lot I'd fish we quickly saw a lot of jelly fish and jumped out of the water.

Day 11 we took a 4 hour ferry to Corona. Again we had someone walk us through every step and a driver was waiting for us to take us to the next hotel The two seasons. The hotel was great. But their tv and tablet were down. So the bathroom had clear glass walls and Zero privacy. My boyfriend and I got to know each other much better.

Both boat tours were great both days. However the last one we rented a kayak, snorkel gear and fins. We were never told anything about how much it would be and were told at the end that it was 1650 pesos. Luckily we had it. The guide promised change for 2000 and we got off the boat and he was gone.

The next day we flew back to Manila and then the next day we flew home. Drivers were ready and waiting for us along the way.

Overall we had a great time on the trip. There are some changes that I would have made.

Considering how inexpensive everything was in Philippines, I think that we paid way too much for the whole trip. I liked the convenience of having it planned out and scheduled and booked for us. But I could have done it for less than half the cost we paid.

Sarah from The KimKim was great and very responsive. The travel agency service was exceptional.

We felt great in the planning process and leading up to our arrival.

1) However, our experience was different. We did not feel like you appreciated or respected our time. Specifically: you had us cross Cebu island TWICE. Moalboal should have happened first and then Oslob for whale sharks should have happened on the FIRST leg and would have put us close to ferry point to go to Siquijor. Instead we spent multiple days sitting in a car going from one place to the next. We trust YOU to guide us on the logistics. Do you think sitting in a car is a fun way to enjoy your vacation? Another example: returning to Dumaguete from Siquijor instead of staying on Siquijor island - especially since our hotel was not close to anything.

2) We wish you had given us all the available options for transportation. For example, we would have paid what it cost for business class on OceanJet business in order to be able to go outside. Additionally, we spent 3 hours on a ferry on one leg to Siquijor when our return was 40 mins - so there was a faster option versus sitting on a slow moving boat.

3) Ethical business partners: for the scuba diving trip, the guide that took Nick repeatedly touched and damaged coral reef.

4) Guides: our guides were very friendly and very nice and professional. However, they had very limited ability to communicate and very limited ability to share local knowledge and culture. We were dropped off at places with little information. Additionally, we didn't have much, if any opportunity to learn on the long car rides.

5) We appreciated responsiveness from travel agent on the ground, but the change in start times on multiple dates was frustrating.

While hotel locations were not great, the hotels themselves were clean and good value.

Hotel Reviews

Moalboal Tropics

Moalboal

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Henann Tawala Resort

Tawala

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lighthouse Point Hotel

Dumaguete

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Harold’s Evotel

Cebu

Clean rooms, friendly staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Moalboal Scuba Diving Adventure

Moalboal

Fabulous instruction, very good equipment. One of our 3 guides repeatedly touched coral, thereby damaging it.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Whale Sharks and Kawasan Falls

Philippines

Loved the canyoneering experience. However, we didn't get to Oslob (because of the driving route being so long) to see whale sharks which is reason for overall review.

Quality of Experience

This is only for the canyoneering experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Excellent and very helpful staff on canyoneering experience

Transport

Bohol / Panglao: Island Hopping and Dolphin Watching Tour

Philippines

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Nice friendly staff, but didn't stop at one of the islands on the agenda and then was not helpful with snorkeling - kind of just gave us the gear and told us to go while they waited.

Transport

Bohol Country Side Tour

Philippines

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Nice friendly staff, but wasn't able to share any information about places we visited or about the area and culture.

Transport

Siquijor Island Tour & Cambugahay Falls from Dumaguete City

Dumaguete

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport