VISIT COCO GROVE BEACH RESORT, SIQUIJOR ISLAND, THE PHILIPPINES

A family holiday to Siquijor Island in the Philippines should be on your holiday bucket list – and the best family resort in Siquijor is the Coco Grove Beach Resort. We’ve stayed here twice now, and it just gets better every visit. With three pools and a shallow beachfront with an amazing house reef, Coco Grove Beach Resort is spacious and low key with 10 x more palm trees than guests, and staff who are so happy and kind. You have to plan a family holiday here in Siquijor. Honestly if there’s one place I want you to bring your fam to, it’s here.

Siquijor is known for its beautiful beaches, plunging waterfalls and elusive faith healers. A fear of witchcraft stifled the flow of local tourists to the island for many years, and while its popularity is rising its beaches, jungles and waterfalls remain lazy and unspoilt.

In this post I share what to take to the Philippines, why you should stay at the Coco Grove Resort and how to get there.

First of all – you definitely need travel insurance – its really a non-negotiable with traveling. We use Covermore.

We also use a VPN to protect our data and allow us to watch shows from home. We use Express VPN and this link gives you three months for free. Read all about why you need a VPN.

Here’s our Philippines packing list for everything you need when you’re traveling here.

Getting there:

International flights will usually take you to Manila or Cebu  – for Siquijor the best airport to arrive in is Mactan Cebu Airport. You can either spend time traveling through Cebu Island down to Dumaguete or stay a few days in Mactan on arrival  – it has fabulous resorts like the Shangri La Mactan and we also recently stayed at the Solea Mactan, and many others of varying prices. If you stay in Mactan you can catch the 8am ferry from Cebu Port.

It’s just a 30 minute ferry ride from Dumaguete or a four hour ferry from Cebu via Bohol. You can also get here from Camiguin too. Check the ferry network for details – we usually ask the front desk of where we are staying for ferry times and either just go down there 90 mins before it leaves or in peak times we will ask them to book for us.

Coco Grove Beach Resort fronts the Tuboc Marine Sanctuary along a white sandy beach lined with palm trees, lounges, cabanas and hammocks. A beachside pool, one of three scattered through the resort, is huge and blue surrounded by palms, frangipanis and hibiscus with a swim up bar and shallow childrens’ play area.

The beach is only meters away and has a very shallow incline from the sand, perfect for smaller kids to splash and play in. Further out, the snorkelling is fabulous – corals, fish, starfish, eels – it has everything and the water is beautiful and clear.

The resort has a dive centre where you can hire snorkel gear and canoes or organise a trip over to nearby Apo Island to see the turtles.

Every day I went to the complimentary 7am yoga class on the beach before breakfast. Breakfast here is a beautiful way to start the day, Each morning Emmie and I sat at a table on the wide sand, just metres from the water and ordered the Filipino breakfast – tea, delicious torcino pork with boiled rice and tomato and two fried eggs, fresh fruit and juice. Lunch at the Coco Grove Resort was chicken and rice or spaghetti by the pool, with our dinner beachside from the restaurant or at the weekly beach barbecue featuring local entertainment, fire dancing, and traditional songs and dances from the staff.

Each morning Emmie and I sat at a table on the wide sand, just metres from the water and ordered the Filipino breakfast – tea, delicious torcino pork with boiled rice and tomato and two fried eggs, fresh fruit and juice. Lunch at the Coco Grove Resort was chicken and rice or spaghetti by the pool, with our dinner beachside from the restaurant or at the weekly beach barbecue featuring local entertainment, fire dancing, and traditional songs and dances from the staff.

Outside the resort is an amazing natural world to explore including the sensational jade green Cambugahay Falls, white sand beaches like Palliton and Apo Island for swimming with turtles and other marine life. And you may also wish to find a Bolo Bolo – faith healer – although I sadly had no such luck. ‘He is a carpenter by day,” one of the staff told me. “And he is working on a house that’s out of range. We can’t get him on his cell phone.”

But now Coco Grove can organise a visit for you should you wish, as well as tours to special paces around the island.

The slowing setting sun sends golden light down to the water and guests meander to the beach to watch the sky turn dazzling shades of red, orange and pink. Apo Island is silhouetted across the sea and fishing boats bob in the shallow while families play and couples hold hands and sip their evening drinks.

It’s the most beautiful place we’ve ever stayed. Honestly, if you can make it, go.

Check prices and availability here.

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